|
Post by davecisar on Sept 2, 2011 11:42:25 GMT -6
Weve had the center look for years as do many if not most SIngle WIng teams. It is illegal to hit him in the helmet and of course we have had many teams in the 154 games Ive coached this offense try and disrupt our center. We put our Centers with our backs about 1/2 of every offensive Indy period. They snap and then have to respond to a player or coach with a tall bag right over them coming hard. Then we have him do the same thing, but to the A gap. Most of the time, we just crab block that guy, simple easy block almost 100% effective in zero splits. Ive never had a Center injured in these games, have had a few picked on and with tears at the younger level- until we call wedge or no and play games with the defender with no play etc In our leauge they quit terrorizing the C about 3 years ago because it NEVER worked and just wasted one of their better players. We might see it in a tournament- but not for long- because it just doesnt work.
In return we have gone entire seasons without a bad snap leading to a turnover. We have plenty of games with zero non perfect snaps. On occaision we might have a Center hear the play wrong and snap to the wrong player- we are a no-huddle team. But even that is rare. So far this year my rookie age 10-11 kid has had just a single poor snap- he snapped it to the wrong player- 2 games so far, about 105 snaps. My step son went an entire season without a bad snap- minus the one he snapped to the wrong guy. We snap to all 3 players all the way down to age 6 and up to age 14.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Sept 1, 2011 15:41:15 GMT -6
I think of a quote when I hear people say mindless sprints. "the harder you work, the harder it is to quit. The easier it is the easier it is to quit." If you run sprints it does not take a half an hour. We do conditioning at the end of practice and it takes us about 7minutes. In my view pushing a player past his limit and him digging down deep helps a player to develop "heart" the no quit attitude. I know you have been successful at your way but I also have been very successful. I just think its a little back handed to call them mindless sprints. I think just the opposite. It also is a sense of accomplishment in the players when they can run our conditioning program and not be tired. Our main stay is the 6 1/2. that is sideline to sideline 10seconds there 10 second rest. Do this for 6 1/2 minutes. 20 sprints very little time wasted. Works for us. Not 30 minutes of conditioing- my post lumped conditioning and stretching together which often times together equal 30 minutes Ive had just 2 drops on my last 5 teams and we dont do TRADITIONAL conditioning. However we DO GET a minumum of 50 20s in most practices. We rotate at full speed pretty much every rep on team offense and defense from a sideline 20 yards away. We are no-huddle rapid pace and incorporating conditioning within the contxt of doing football stuff made sense for us. Low drop rates, lots of running, rapid pace, no huddle seems like a good mix and has worked very well for us.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Sept 1, 2011 13:44:26 GMT -6
The First Youth Football Brawl of the 2011 Season It’s the start of youth football season, so like the leaves turning colors in Fall and the grasses turning green in the Spring, we get to see the first display of outrageously unsportsmanlike conduct from a youth football coach and fans. This atrocity occurred in Sarasota, Florida : www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/sun_coast/fighting-erupts-at-youth-football-game-08312011?CMP=201109_emailshare This one was especially brutal with the coach and fans physically attacking a referee. This one was rare in that a player even got involved and tackled the referee. It looked like something out of a British or third world country soccer match, the only thing missing was the tear gas, barbed wire and police with batons in hand. Coaches, it is our responsibility to control the crowd, that means leading by example, staying off the field during problem plays, giving the referees respect and keeping your parents and fans in line. Once they see you getting after the referees, they feel it is acceptable for them to get after the referees. It doesn’t take long for a mob mentality to develop and spill onto the field. If you haven’t had a mandatory parent meeting with the players in tow to talk about how you view officiating, you need to do one right now. Explain that everyone makes mistakes and that poor calls and no calls are inevitable, they are PART OF THE GAME, that every team must overcome. Very rarely does one call decide a youth football game, the difference between teams that win and lose is fundamentals and execution, not officiating. Poor officiating is the mantra of the weak coach who always has excuses for every loss, he loves to put blame on others. What a great life lesson you teach your kids when you get them to concentrate on what they can control and not worry about things they can’t control, like officiating. What a great life lesson you teach the boys when you show deference for authority and grace when dealing with referees. Or do you think the kids are better served by losing your cool and causing a big scene? What will the kids remember better 20 years from now, the score of that game, or your behavior? What memory do you want them to have of you 20-30 years from now? What life lessons do you want them to take from their football experience with you? Better yet, take the time to ref a game and see if you have the same attitude towards referees after that experience. Most referees do a good job and care about what they do. It’s a lot harder than it looks and in the end, most of the guys doing it do so because they like kids and love the game.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 31, 2011 17:54:24 GMT -6
Congrats, coach, all the accolades belong to you and your boys!
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 23, 2011 13:31:52 GMT -6
First some background, my 5-6th grade team went 11-1 last season, winning a Division Title, a Tournament and out of state Bowl Game. With just 2 starters back on defense and just 3 on offense, this will be a very challenging season, to put it mildly. We lost 90% of our scoring as well as a Quarterback who threw for 16 touchdowns last season and my 2 best recievers. None of the starters are playing the same position as they played for me last season. We have just 2 “striped” players over the running back weight and our starting Quarterback weighs in at just 72 lbs. We have 20 players which is down from 25 as we had a good number age up to the 7-8th grade team. We have a number of kids brand new to football and one of our kids broke his arm in a non-contact drill. While all youth teams must perfect the basic building blocks of any successful team, blocking and tackling, we really had to go to the atomic level with this group. With the league expanding again to about 100 teams, we were required to play the first game after just 3 weeks of practice. For us, the compressed schedule meant just 11 practices prior to game 1, an all time low. We concentrated on fundamentals and while our offensive line isn’t very big, they’ve bought into and mastered the two-step, angle of attack and pad level we are looking for. They also have been very good about their blocking fits and blocking the correct player on each scheme. While this team isn’t going to out physical many teams, the execution is fairly crisp. Not crisp enough to compete with our other 5-6 grade team, who dominated us in a week 3 scrimmage. We played hard, but our inexperience showed in the scrimmage. On a positive note, no turnovers, no penalties, no bad snaps and just 2 negative yardage plays in 20 snaps. On defense, we aren’t very athletic, so we struggled a good bit in space. Game 1 the 5-6 graders won 38-6, after leading 32-6 at the half. Our first team offense scored on every possession. We had no bad snaps with our rookie center, no turnovers and just 1 penalty. We came into the game with about 12 plays in our playbook and I think we ran 5-6 of them in the game. We kept it simple along with 2-3 adjustments, as we arent going to get real deep into the playbook with this group. Defensively our first team defense gave up just 2 first downs. We were pleasantly surprised as the opponent had 4 big athletic kids up front and at least 2 kids in the backfield that could have easily started for us. Our kicking game was quite good, this early in the season and our subbing was top notch, no major hiccups at all. My 7-8th grade team won 34-0 after leading 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. This team is reasonably big and athletic. If we stay healthy we have a chance at winning this 16 team grouping. The first team defense failed to yield a first down, but we had 3 turnovers and our kicking game was very weak. Lots of room for improvement with this team, but a not a bad way to start the season.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 22, 2011 4:35:38 GMT -6
Had an absolute first this weekend 5th grade kid- MPR- scale of 1-10 he is a 1 62 lbs and 3rd slowest on team Doesnt proccess information well Nice kid- always smiling Zero athleticism Likes asking questions
At halftime of our game yesterday, each coach goes through his thoughts I review what happened, what changes, goals for second half etc Then I ask for any questions- This kid raises his hand, then pulls down the collar of his uniform and asks me; DO YOU THINK MY NECK IS BROKEN? He was serious, he had a big red mark on his neck I smiled and assured him that while his neck might hurt a bit, I was pretty certain it wasnt broken ;D
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 16, 2011 15:49:13 GMT -6
Mike
If that's the case, Im all wet- all my posts said years- not grade
Yes I have seen some 7-8 grade teams block zone well, some of them didnt have backs that could run zone well. Seem lots of teams at the younger age groups really struggle with zone
I think you tried to do it with the real young kids and had a real tough time with it, which for me would be the norm.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 16, 2011 15:10:28 GMT -6
Mike
As you know the 9/10 is much different than 5-6 or 7-8, I was under the impression the last few years youve coached the younger age groups with zone, it didnt go very well. The question asked was does zone make sense for 5-6 and 7-8 year olds- Im not sure it does. Again my worst players blocking the other teams most athletic, aggressive, fast kids in space on the move- ends up me playing 10 on 11 or 9 vs 11 football.
For MANY years I coached the same age group every year- basically a new team every season This year Im coaching a brand new team of 5-6 graders who I really dont know much about at all- the 7-8 graders Im coaching Ive coached about 85% of them at one time or another. We dont start until age 7-9 and I havent coached that age group for 2 years now.
If zone is hard to teach Im not sure why you said this "ABSOLUTELY teach them zone blocking rules and start them off at the 5/6 level"
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 16, 2011 13:58:24 GMT -6
Mike
Different approaches can be radically different from each other At age 5,6,7,8 etc Im not going to have my weaker players blocking the other teams most aggressive and fastest players in space on the run- you arent going to score many points doing that.
How has zone blocking worked out for you with the little kids the last 10 years?
The questioned posed was can 5-6 year old and 7-8 year old non select players effectively be taught to zone block- is it doable, can they have success at the youth level with this. I say, not the most wise choice at all.
Again if the goal is to enhance the HS program and get them on the doorstep- AND zone blocking is so dern easy to each to anyone according to you zone guys- there is no big deal to have someone show up at the HS door with no zone blocking experience at all- according to your words. One would think that the HS coach would want to make sure the primary goal is retention- as it should be and retention is VERY closely correlated with having team and personal success on the field- which would lead one to suggest to make sure the approach used allowed the kids the most consistent ability to have success on the field.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 16, 2011 11:51:51 GMT -6
Blocking....its all the same just different ! LOL That couldnt be further from the truth by any stretch It's why so many youth coaches who know a little about the game, fail so miserably at the young age groups IMO It's why my former college head coach had an awful season coaching the little guys and we spanked them in a 100% draft league- way back when- my first coaching experience- all teams equal, yep a zone team Im still trying to figure out how this can be refuted: If zone is SO EASY, that 5 year olds can get it practicing 3-6 hours a week- it should be zero problem at all teaching a High School kid that is 3 x times plus the age of the 5 year old--and practices 12-16 hours per week ? Since it's so easy and so simple to teach at the HS and youth level both- shouldnt be a big deal what the kid is using before he gets to HS- because he is going to pick it up with zero problems and in a big hurry according to the zone experts/proponents
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 16, 2011 6:26:35 GMT -6
Above post is 100% correct Add to it, you need a back to be able to run zone AND coaches to teach the back correctly Joe Cianflone a VERY experienced youth and HS coach who was AYF's National Coach of the Year last year- won lots of National Championships with 7-8th grade kids- He doesnt even run zone some years at his age group (MUCH older than 5-8), if he doesnt have a back to run it AND he and his coaching staff are off the charts. So for the average bear- or average youth coaching group- could be quite a stretch IMO JOe- "MHCOACH" has consistently been off the charts successful at every stop he's made and is a hard core spread guy- knows his stuff, no 1 win season then wins 9 etc- his teams win 11-14 games EVERY year, no bravado etc If you try and zone with 5-6s and 7-8 non selects, look forward to a lot of really really low win seasons IMO- ask some of the spread guys who have run this at the smurf level- their records. When kids go ofer or 1 win at that age- lots of them drop football and move onto something else. The HS guy who is all gung ho to get those well trained kids to his doorstep will see them walking the halls as basketball, lacrosse and baseball players- they will have moved on from football to something they have had some success with. OTOH in 2009 two kids who I coached for 1 season each and were in my program- played 5 years ALL shoulder and rule blocking- Their teams lost a total of maybe 2 games in 5 years. They went on to get DI full rides at Ohio U. They had no problem picking up zone blocking in HS and their HS coaches were darn glad to get those kids to their doorstep who had a passion for playing the game, had confidence, had a winning history/attitude, could accelerate through contact and were coachable. The HS coaches around here are pretty good, they feel really confident that in 4 years they can teach a kid what he needs to know. They dont play frosh on varsity here and a very rare bird plays varsity as a soph If zone is SO EASY, that 5 years olds can get it- it should be zero problem at all teaching a High SChool kid that is 3 x times plus the age of the 5 year old--how to do it in the 2 years he is playing sub varsity ball, right? I didnt even get into the minimum play rule leagues which make up over 90% of youth football- where most coaches load up their defense with their 11 best and designate their offensive line the place where their very worst players will get their snaps. So the kids with no athletic ability and poor listening skills at age 5-7 are going to run zone- ok- got it. The very worst players on your team will be blocking the other teams most agressive, fast and athletic players (linebackers) in space- on the run. I meant trying to block because they will be ofer the season on actually making the block. Lots of really low scoring games would be the result. The High Schools rarely see the worst kids- 70% of them drop before they get to playing High SChool football- which last I heard doesnt have a minimum play rule, the weakest kids sit on the bench- they arent playing snaps during critical parts of the game on the -o-line. My personal experience with this: Ive started 2 programs from scratch. The kids Ive personally coached, rarely dont play HS football. Last group of 8th grade kids I coached only 1 didnt go on to play HS football- he weighed 83 lbs as a frosh. Have had over 95% retention while going 132-18 over last 15 youth seasons coaching from age 6-14. So not shooting from the hip or letting you know what happened in a 1 year stint in coaching etc
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 14, 2011 6:54:49 GMT -6
Stationary? No, the whole idea is to see how they move, drop hips, accelerrate Doesnt matter who hunters are No rules, who cares if 4 hunters go after 1 kid- I will get to see how that 1 kid moves
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 9, 2011 14:32:42 GMT -6
Coaches, I’ve seen many of you post about your first days, and how bad you are going to be. We had our first full day in pads yesterday. Last week was no pads and we didn’t look too bad, but yesterday was terrible. I didn’t want to over react in front of the players; I understand it is very Hot. We live in the Dallas Ft Worth area and it has been 105+ everyday so far. I kept the hitting down to a min during the first hour, we only fitted. No tackling. We started a 3 hole challenge and everyone looked like crap. I mean everyone. This is a returning team that made it to the Conference Championship game last year. We gave up the least amount of points in our age group last year. I’m glad our first game is three weeks away, if we played today we would be in trouble. I would like to hear from you guys why you think we all start off so slow? Is it the expectation? The boys have to get back in some kind of grove? Getting over the fear of contact? I asked my coaches last night if they could remember what we looked like last year after our first day of pads, and they all said they thought it was pretty bad. I don’t remember it being this bad. First day in pads with a lot of heat is almost always going to look bad IMO 3 hole challenge wouldnt be what I would start with Go with lower space, less intense tackling progression Angle Form tackling Splatter tackling into mat Close quarters tackling then 3 slot challenge and the kids who werent good at the other 3 wouldnt graduate to 3 slot
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 4, 2011 14:00:14 GMT -6
The youth game is quite a bit different than the HS or College game
I know when I see a team that likes to twist a lot, we run wedge extremely well against teams like that
Against teams that like to blitz a lot- quick hitters, love the dump, play action SW running toward the LOS- foot to foot splits
Ive been to both the Pop Warner and AYF National Championships the last 2 years The best 175 teams from about 1,400,000 kids Data from about 30 title games- the winning team blitzed less than 5% of the time
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Aug 1, 2011 8:53:25 GMT -6
For those of you that draft players- you should get a load out of this video:
IMO the guys who have little confidence in their coaching ability or dont value coaching at all- spend a lot of time trying to do things like this- manipulate drafts etc to get the best players
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 26, 2011 5:39:09 GMT -6
Coach, You may be aware of only what is available in your are, as a first time poster- obviously you havent been here long and have not read the 1000s of postings here that have dealt with this subject. There are more than two times as many independent unlimited weight leagues in the country than Pop Warner and AYF Combined and AYF now offers an unlimited weight division as well.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 23, 2011 7:15:17 GMT -6
Coach,
First off- 1/2 hour break? you lose guys there 5 minutes max between the 2 sessions Hudl for what they need- all about priorities- if you only have 170 minutes, is that worthy of the time? I would ask if they film games first IF they do, ask if anyone is willing to upload it to Hudl and do some editing IF you find someone to do that, THEN have a seperate session with those guys We use Hudl and are a BIG supporter of it, however it wouldnt be what Im investing time in if I only have 170 minutes Google docs and Hudl- will get some oohs and aahs- but most won't bother with it. When I do my 6 hour clinics- I go 100 mph with 5 minute breaks and I do have time to talk Hudl- about 15 minutes worth. If I had 3 hours, no
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 23, 2011 6:18:31 GMT -6
Ive done about 120 Youth Coaches Clinics in last 4 years
Only 3 hours then:
Practice Organization-- Where to invest practice time and where not to invest, getting and keeping a players attention, team/parent management, how to do evals, how to teach using progressions, discipline, warm ups, stance, cadence, conditioning, how to install schemes, how to rep schemes, how to/not to scrimmage, How to bring your team together
Defense- What makes up a sound defense, position descriptions/triats, base tech, base drills, tackling, tackling tackling
Offensive Line- Stance, perfect first step, perfect second step, combine, fits, blocking rules and how to teach them, drills, how to develop an attitude- and getting kids to love playing o-line
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 21, 2011 12:44:16 GMT -6
Coach,
With that age group, do yourself a favor and drop zone The coaches wont coach it well, the kids wont pick it up well and even a good number of running backs at the HS level I see, dont run the zone well. You have enough with Power, Counter and Trap. Run a sweep and have PA off of the best 2 running plays.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 21, 2011 9:42:59 GMT -6
My advice: Find a couple of Blocking drills, find a couple of tackling drills. Insist they do them EVERY PRACTICE. Then explain that all you want is a good football experience for the kids so they get to high school football. Then talk to them about series based offenses. Have them run the wing-t or something similar. An offense that takes 4-5 plays to move the football. If you can accomplish those things you will be happy with the athletes you are getting. Amen, ditto to that, good advice IMO
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 20, 2011 15:06:12 GMT -6
I'm with Coach Huey.....I don't really see the need for it in Youth Leagues. As a varsity head coach I want you to teach them how to block and tackle.....period. I really couldn't care less if you win a game. It's youth...let them have fun. I know it's not much fun to lose, but a pizza after the game will clear the memory of it. BLOCK and TACKLE....If you can teach them how to do those two things really well, you will win games. Just my opinion....I have the same opinion on 7-on-7....doesn't matter if they win. I want them to learn how to run routes, catch, and cover people....period. Coach, I have to respectfully disagree with you a bit on this one. A subject I have studied in depth- youth football retention. If a kid plays on a team that doesnt win a game, the likelihood of him never playing football again is LOGRITHMICALLY higher than if he plays on a team that is .500 or above- competing. Those kids live in a reset society. If a video game is going poorly- they dont play the game out, they press reset and start over. They have SO MANY choices today. If they are involved in an activity where they percieve they arent very good at, they move on to something else. Not universal to every kid- but a very big factor these days with many. If they play on 3 teams in a row, where they get their pants blown off every game, they move on to another activity or nothing at all. Ive done tons of exit interviews. Kids leave youth football because of: Poor Coaching Playing on a non competitive team Lack of reasonable playing time (not equal playing time, just seeing the field in reasonable amounts in each game) No binding friendships on the team You CAN teach great fundamentals (how you win games), be great sports, have a lot of fun, play everyone and win too, they are NOT mutually exclusive in any way. Im not sure you can have teams that dont care about winning at youth, middle school. frosh, jv, then press a button and care once they get to varsity in HS. Winning is not the end goal in youth football, helping develop that love for the game is. However if you do all the other things correctly, winning will follow. If the teams consistently fail, much higher likelihood the kid never shows up at the HS door- but they will be walking the hallways. Once we help establish that love and appreciation of the game in him- he can have a bad season or 2 and make it to the next level. However if during that first year or 2 when we are still helping to develop that love and passion for the game in that player- his teams always lose, it's going to be pretty tough to do with many kids these days. Im NOT a HS coach, but Ive coached youth football for 25 years and started and ran 2 youth programs. Just my observations from the 4 communities and Orgs Ive coached in. As always JMO and we dont use the press box either.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 19, 2011 15:31:16 GMT -6
is it really necessary to go through all that? do you a) have enough coaches to put some in the press box? b) always play on a field where there is a press box (or even stands)? c) face offensive & defensive schemes so complex that the only way to see & make needed suggestions for adjustments must come from a bird's eye view? We played all of our games in HS stadiums last year but 1, maybe 3 games on field turf last year. Most youth teams dont have the coaches to do it, some do- saw one team with 9 guys "in uniform"- I guess they were all coaches- who knows Sure gives a much better view than on the field- really big help for novice coaches trying to learn the game IMO Weve never done it
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 19, 2011 14:16:27 GMT -6
It isnt legal in our league either, you may want to ask before you make plans on doing it.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 5, 2011 16:00:33 GMT -6
These guys pioneered the mysportsdreams type concept. I know some guys that have used them and done really well- high payouts, low time investment: www.pdpcompany.com/Family run been around a long time
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 5, 2011 11:51:51 GMT -6
Anyone in the area- if you are near Corpus and want to talk football, I will be the Keynote Speaker and presenting 12 topics this weekend at the Corpus Convention Center Clinic.
It's a Private Clinic- but they do allow outside guys in and I never leave the Hotel etc- always willing to talk football. Will be there both Sat and Sun
PM me if you want to get together
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 1, 2011 22:50:39 GMT -6
If you have 15 kids- no chance they dont get enough playing time. When you play 14 vs 30- and it does happen for some. You need to have a plan in place to be able to compete and survive to play another day, Youth basketball teams play 30-40 games in a year, you dont do that in football- totally different game. You only need 5 in basketball, completely different equation. No "fat freddies" playing the entire game in basketball in 95 degree heat with 65% humidity. Interesting...in my local youth organization--don't think they are affiliated with pop warner or AYF or anything,just a large community league with maybe 10-15 teams per age division and 4 to 5 divisions. Each team is generally around 16-19 players( each of which must play the entire game on at least one side of the ball) ... however you often saw the teams winning the championships with 14-15 players. J"Clever" but jerk coaches RAN off the lesser players, allowing their better players to play both ways. Atrocious, have heard of that in some areas, never seen it first hand around here. Not sure the parents or leagues would put up with it
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jul 1, 2011 15:55:10 GMT -6
I guess I have some questions/concerns... We are going to have out between 15-20 on our 5th/6th grade team this fall. We are a 3a size school in Kansas(about 50 kids per grade). We are not a top notch play on espn youth team, but I don't understand the point of slowing the game down because your kids are out of shape. At this age with the exception of a few kids, we could play 2 games in a day. These kids go play basketball tournies in the summer where they play 5-8 games in a weekend. So this suprised me that teams have a group of youth kids so out of shape they can't play one football game at normal pace. As far as the post about cutting the number of offensive plays and defensive plays in half to be more competitive, this is my concern: So your going to cut the experience of the kids in half? You have linemen who can't pass block, receivers who don't run routes or get a chance to catch passes, quarterbacks who don't get to throw or learn the passing game. Are you doing this to only lose 14-7 instead of 28-7? I really don't care about the score at the youth level, we are going to run our stuff on offense and defense and teach teach teach. We believe with this the success will come. We also sell the kids and the parents on this philosophy. I'm completely open to what others thoughts are... If you have 15 kids- no chance they dont get enough playing time. When you play 14 vs 30- and it does happen for some. You need to have a plan in place to be able to compete and survive to play another day, Youth basketball teams play 30-40 games in a year, you dont do that in football- totally different game. You only need 5 in basketball, completely different equation. No "fat freddies" playing the entire game in basketball in 95 degree heat with 65% humidity.
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jun 30, 2011 5:35:58 GMT -6
have a lot of kids trying out. looking for good drills to evaluate have the 3 cone drill square drill things like that looking for good evaluating drills 10-11 year olds #1) Position Description and Requirements for each position- so you know what you are measuring for. Then map your evals to the attributes. We are looking for BASE football playing ability so we measure: Body Control Explosiveness Heart Base Strength We do that using competitive drills and games like: Deer Hunter Dummy Relay Races Towel Game- Tug Sumo For us, if our QB has poor body control and lacks explosiveness, it really doesnt matter if he has a great arm or not. Same for our primary reciever position- when it comes to catching the ball etc
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jun 29, 2011 13:36:18 GMT -6
Coaching Youth Football Teams With Small Numbers0 from my blog today. Several youth football coaches have emailed me this last week looking for advice for aggressively conditioning teams with very small numbers. These coaches were expecting to field teams with just 14-15 kids on their team, while competing against teams with 25-30 kids. While I agree, conditioning is important when you have teams with small numbers, there is much more to maxing out that equation than spending all your precious practice time conditioning. First and foremost the simplest thing is to make sure and go no-huddle max slowdown. Going no-huddle saves your kids from having to run in and out of the huddle all game on offense. For those that like to shuttle in plays with kids, you eliminate that running as well. As for the insanity of having your Quarterback run to the sidelines on every play- no more of that either. More importantly you the Offensive Coordinator, sets the tempo by not calling the play in until there is just 10 seconds left on the ready to play clock. By doing this you can often times take a game that has 65 total offensive snaps and make it a 50 offensive snap game. Shorten the game, give you kids a chance to catch every second of breath they can before you run the next play. Of course there are more aggressive ways to slow down games like not chasing the ball down on incompletions or having the ballcarrier set the ball down wherever he lands. You could onside kick every time to save your kids the energy of having to run down the field 30 yards and chase down an open field runner. As a coach you have to think about how far you are going to push the envelope. Going no-huddle as a starting point is a no-brainer when faced with this dilemma.
What other ideas do other coaches employ?
|
|
|
Post by davecisar on Jun 22, 2011 6:07:51 GMT -6
Very memorable game- we won in a very odd way late in the game- but what made it so special was what led up to it. I ran a large program 400 kids and was coaching an 8-10 “A” team. Went to take a look at our 13-14 “B” team- they had a bunch of studs on the team- which is a no-no. All the best kids go to “A” no stacking allowed. Huge 235 lb tackle- good athlete, 2 stud RBs etc. Seems the B coach gets to practice real early the “A” guy gets there a little late- the B guy takes all the walk ups after the initial evals and keeps them all- In addition to that he was not sticking to our agreed upon practice methodology, he was wasting most of practice on cals, agilites and conditioning. I fired him and his entire coaching staff 1 week before the first game- and with another coach who was already coaching another team- we took them over. We bumped the 4 best kids up to “A”. Week 1 real turmoil, parents and kids a bit upset- losing the best kids- but it was the right thing to do – the 1 RB scored something like 15 TDs in “A” that year etc First game we go into it with 2 offensive plays- the coach had not taught them the offense properly and wasted a bunch of time- we lost by just 3 TDs, which was encouraging.
We lost our kicker- the previous coach said he could just kick- didn’t have to practice- or learn a position other than kicking. Week 2 we lost our starting QB/OLB he broke his collarbone on skate board accident. We lost game 2, but by just 2 TDs, since we were down to 17 kids by then- we went to max slowdown. Week 3 I suspend our starting WB/CB for the week due to unexcused absence. We also lose our only big lineman- his dad was moved to a prison in MO and only day he can visit- same day we play. We reshuffle our tiny deck of 17 kids and move our starting FB to the line and now are starting the tiniest FB in 7-8th grade history- he weighs 90 lbs. We lose again, but by just a single TD. Kids coming together. The following week-we win our first game on fluky play- we quick kick on 3rd and 20 from our own 15, the safety has no clue what to do, flubs the kick, we recover and take it in for a score. Slowly but surely we get better each week, winning each game, but by tiny margins. In the meantime we have to deal with playing a set of twins, first year kids in the 8th grade, never played organized sports- 78 lbs each- malnouorished kids living with grandma. Very weak, slow, totally afraid of contact- but great kids. The following year when they tried out of the HS team- they were pulled to the side day 1 and made student managers.
Last game- played in biting cold- snow flurries. My 16 kids vs their 26. We are up late against a team much larger than us and with a 160 lb FB that is tearing us apart, this program had just 1 team- so the league put them at B to even the number of teams out- so they were much bigger and better than us. With about 3:20 left in the game and us up by 6 the clock stops working. The ref doesn’t have a stop watch- and none to be found- so he has the stat guy on the other team keep a “clock” on his watch. They keep the ball on the ground- I ask how much time left- after they run 6 plays in a row- going in and out of the huddle- 2:20 is the answer- yeah right. I complain to ref, he sympathizes, but shrugs his shoulders. They score on the next play, 30 yd rumble by the big kid. They hit the PAT to go up by 1, they are celebrating. They kick off and the kid I had been so tough on and suspended and restricted his play for missing practice- runs it back for a TD- his first of the season- we take the lead. They have the ball and 1:50 left, they run the ball 4 times- still 1:02 left- yeah right. The big kid breaks into the open, looks like he is going to score- one of the twins tackles him in first solo tackle he has made all year, kinda just gets tangled in the guys feet- he fumbles- we recover. I complain about the clock- ref says "This will be the final play" LOL- we win the game. All of us including the twins brother and the entire team were SHOCKED the kid made the tackle. We end up tied for 2nd place- we had won out. While not one of my best teams or even games- very memorable and proud moment- we were so happy for that kid and the team. Not to mention the cheaters never prosper lesson. Unlikely win- more unlikely heroes. I Wont ever forget that game or team. We could have just given up on these kids and folded them into the “A” team or cut corners and kept those studs on the team etc
|
|