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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 20, 2015 21:17:29 GMT -6
I'm aware of the wonderlic given by the NFL, but looking into others... Has anyone given psychological tests to your athletes to see who the leaders are, coachable players, etc. Some of the reading I've done suggests... Athletic Motivational Inventory, Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style, and Profile of Mood States for athletes. Anyone done anything like this? I'm not a trained psychologist. It seems to me that a layman giving a test like this and using the results to guide your evaluation of players is a way to get in trouble. I agree. It shouldn't take long to figure out who your leaders are. The weight room usually shows a few leaders and when practice starts, you will know for sure.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 20, 2015 10:38:04 GMT -6
Why do you run a play a 1,000 times? 999 isn't good enough..... Rooster at 999 you are still thinking about the play and your assignments. At 1,000 wow the lights go on and it is automatic for the kids. Then you are an offensive machine! For that one play.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 13, 2015 10:07:04 GMT -6
Some kids are dying to feel desired and wanted. They aren't getting it at home and these girls can fill that void. I think as coaches it is our job to talk about these things (character development) and model them. A lot of kids don't have that being modeled at home. If we don't talk about it, we are just perpetuating it. I do agree it is a locale issue in a lot of cases, but some kids just make bad decisions. A lot of the comments on this threat make me wish all coaches had to read Joe Ehrmann's Inside Out Coaching. If there is an issue, address it.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 13, 2015 9:56:22 GMT -6
My standard is twice each way, or 2 by your definition. If we are repping let say a rip move, and one kid is struggling I will have him do a few more and break it down more. The other kids know to just keep going until I call for the drill. So they may do 10 reps on one particular day, but that is a rare exception rather than the rule.
We rarely put in new drills after the first 2 weeks. I have a good idea going into a season, and will modify a bit once I see skill levels.
I will also do high level reps if we did poorly executing something. Example being tackling, if we tackled poorly in a game, we may rep tackling. If its bad form, we will run the hill come back do it again. I will do this until we ALL do it correctly. The most we have ran the hill is probably 10-15 times. Most kids have a point where they tend to get "emotional" and are so mad at me they will do whatever I ask just to prove they can do it and fear/tiredness leaves the mind and adrenaline kicks in.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 13, 2015 8:48:55 GMT -6
We do this. I love it. I think it helps a great deal. We are in a position to coach Varsity, JV and Freshman. The common language, drills and expectations make it very beneficial and have sped up the learning curve.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 11, 2015 20:38:25 GMT -6
Most of us have heard and remember that infamous line from Rocky. Mickey was on to something when it came to that part of training. My question is how do you tell or show a player that his girlfriend is seriously affecting his training (mentally, physically, etc.). I have a player or two that has fallen victim to this. One is always in the hallway arguing with his girl. Another is always late to class walking his girl to class and then showing up late to his. I will spare you all the numerous other ways that I think their training is being affected (the list could go on forever). I haven't found an effective way to express this to young guys. I've used examples of other players I've had that have made the same mistake (including yours truly), but they don't seem to really listen. I guess I was the same way at their age. I'm just trying to help them avoid the mistakes I made. Is it just something time is going to have to teach them? I'm open to any suggestions. I'm assuming you mean a toxic relationship, not just sex. I had an athlete in track get into a fight or argument or whatever with his girlfriend (also on the team) before the state finals (they were both running). His performance in the 100 sucked. He got mad after that and his performance went back to normal. I don't tell guys to break up with their girlfriends, but I do tell kids you need to set your goals. People will either do everything to support you, or hinder you. Then the question is how bad do you want to obtain your goals?
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 10, 2015 13:46:13 GMT -6
A half hour of static stretching, a half hour of individual tackling drill with one guy going at a time, an hour scrimmage stopping to make detailed corrections every time a kid makes a mistake, finished up with a half hour of gassers. In Education I call this a "nonexample." Yes, I did catch the sarcasm.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 8, 2015 11:49:13 GMT -6
Don't suck.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 7, 2015 14:33:59 GMT -6
Yet you feel the need to award non special needs kids? I don't feel the need to award anyone, but I especially don't understand awarding people things they can't achieve themselves just to make myself feel or look better because in the end, that's what 90% of this stuff is about anyway. Just out of curiosity, what are the 10% that are not about that?
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 7, 2015 12:54:32 GMT -6
While I admit it is small minded and knee jerk to be nice about it, we have been going down the everybody gets a trophy road for so long that, at least imo, that we are due for some push back. This smells like a parent who has seen enough of everybody gets a trophy. I am not justifying or condemning it, but I get it. I agree with this. This trend of going out of the way to have these "moments" and awards for special needs kids is getting a little ridiculous IMO. Yet you feel the need to award non special needs kids?
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 7, 2015 10:01:06 GMT -6
I completely understand those of you who may be sickened by this. My wife teaches special education, and she specifically loves working with students with autism. I have coached players with autism, those are two guys who taught me alot. My wife falls in the category someone else mentioned earlier; just because a student has a disability like this doesn't mean they should be treated differently. I have been fortunate to have only coached at schools with small roster sizes (35 or less) so we give every kid who finishes the season in good standing a letter. I played in a program that took their letter rules very seriously. It was half the varsity quarters in a season, so if we played 11 games, you had to have 22 quarters (getting on the field for any play counted as a quarter) to get the letter. There were times where, in the above example, kids would only have 20 or 21 quarters, no letter. Generally, coaches were good about keeping track when they broke film down, so if they knew guy was close, they would make sure he got in on a special team or in mop up duty toward the end of the year, but still, they were strict. If this school is that strict on their letters, which the fact that they have a separate special education basketball team tells me that they probably do, then I'm sorry, don't treat this young man any differently. If you want a true compromise, they should add this special education basketball team as a varsity sport. I understand that there are title 9 implications there, but that would make the most sense to me. This is not strict. This would be an exact type of situation. Those kids did not earn their letters. This is playing favorites and skirting "rules." In today's world this coach would be fired at some point because a parent would literally go through film themselves and count and find out their son didn't letter and another did even though neither played the required amount of quarters. I am reminded of a quote I heard about coaching once, "The more rules you have, the more rules you have to enforce."
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 7, 2015 9:55:06 GMT -6
I agree. If I were head coach of a sport, I'd probably let him come play for a day or something to "earn" it. You are 100% correct. At the very least the school should have talked to the student and parents in private after the game or at school the next day to come up with a plan of action.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 5, 2015 21:47:26 GMT -6
I also believe that if you're going to bring them up, they'd should be major contributors if not starters. At my last job, we had a fairly talented sophomore group so the HC pulled several of them up to varsity. The problem was he didn't let them play JV because they were "varsity" players, but then they'd only play 10 or snaps in the varsity game. This soured several of them on football, a couple of them ended up not going out after that year, and even the ones who did stick it out I felt that year hindered their progress a bit. A somewhat related thought: I don't know if this is "entitlement" or just a different makeup with kids, but being selected to play "varsity" as an underclassmen doesn't seem to carry the prestige it used to. I think there was a time when kids would rather play limited varsity as a sophomore because he could still say he was a varsity player. Now, if the kid isn't going to get major PT, they'd rather not do it. I am a smaller school, but I will play freshmen (If physically able) and sophomores on Varsity, if they are the second or maybe even third string. I will start by telling them I will give them 1 maybe 2 plays during the first half when the game counts. If they do well, I might give them more in the second half, but usually I have to wait until I watch film to see how well they truly did. Due to depth, I may need that kid down the road. I would rather him not freeze when he realizes he has to replace a starter who is injured. It's a growth process for me. I started doing this because I heard from a guy who played for Rex that guys work their arses off in practice because if you do well he will give you a play, do well on that play, he will give you a series, do well on that, and then you get to play. I like my guys practicing hard. On a side note, we have to make sure we call out players we see going hard in practice and reward them.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 5, 2015 21:42:37 GMT -6
When we have done it we have often held our best guys out. Either already banged up or didn't need them banged up in Okie. This makes no sense to me. If your best players can't do it because they will get hurt... Why in the heck would you have anyone do it? This would have lawsuit written all over it.
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Post by coachmonkey on Apr 1, 2015 12:57:46 GMT -6
I don't disagree with anything any of you say. I just don't know that that is me. I'm a pretty guarded person who likes to keep as much as humanly possible private and not said. I am fiercely loyal to those that are loyal to me, but not in a public everyone can see kind of way. That's not me or my style. Perhaps that needs to change, but I also struggle with whether or not it's worth it. Frankly, I didn't take this job to parent other people's kids. Be a good role model, teach them life skills, teach them work ethic, etc? Yes. Parent them? No. I frequently struggle with whether or not I want to continue coaching because of this expected added layer to the job. I don't think it's my job to fulfill the lower rungs of Maslow's Hierarchy. So I guess, in that regard, I don't care about them. I think part of the issue, and this was told to me by one of my assistants, is that our coop kids never see me outside football situations. In football season I'm pretty cold, motivated, frequently what many perceive as angry and pretty tunnel visioned on what needs to happen next either at practice or in games. Many of my former players have said that in season and out of season I'm two entirely different people. I think the people at my school see that side of me and the realize that football me isn't me the other portion of my life. I have never had a complaint like this from a kid that goes to the school I teach at. They see me as the overall pretty happy, joke making dad who works his butt off every day and does the best I can. Apparently to a lot of the coop schools I come off as some football cyborg. I guess really, I struggle with what the perception of the word caring is. Do I want to be a surrogate father? No, if that's what "caring" is. I am certainly not going to screw my own children out of a father so I can clean up other people's messes. Do I care in that my program is a good one that teaches things they can use later in life? Yes, and I hope that they value it and find lessons from it for ever. I'm really confused and blindsided by this entire situation. I'm not going to go through the "this is what I think you need to do" or anything like that and I assume Coach Vint's post was good, IDK, I teach math and it was too long for me to read after about 2 paragraphs and there weren't any numbers in it. In your post I quoted above, something that stands out to me that is an issue based on where you are is: "never see me outside football situations" - from personal observations, I know some guys who have been fired for this reason even though their record was good and in a few cases, very good. As we have taken this new job 3.5 hours away and I've been going up on the weekends, a recurring comment around the watering hole is everyone like the previous HC but he didn't live in the community, no one ever saw him "out and about", etc. Even though in 7 years they made the playoffs 6 times, including last season and a few times made deep runs...he was fired. Now I don't know him and I'm not here to talk positive or negative about him. All I'm saying is you have to be careful because different communities have different expectations of their HFC. At my first coaching job, no one cared if the HFC lived in the community let alone take part in anything going on in it. At my 2nd job, same thing. At my HC job, it was obvious that I needed to be involved in the community. It was obvious because they said it in those words. At my 4th job, again, obvious that we needed to be involved. Heading into my 5th job, they said it up front. I think you are over dramatizing the situation. Right now they are upset that you don't care, all that...so ANYTHING you do that shows you do care will be appreciated. Just throw a crumb out there. IDK chit, go to a baseball game or something. I'm assuming you have Greeting cards as a HC, write some stuff down, get a student assistant to find addresses and to fill out the envelops and mail them out. Something simple like "Hope your first year at Michigan State is going well. Don't forget our locker room is always open to you if you need anything, Family doesn't graduate." They are parents and community - think big kindergarten crayons and stick to the 8 basic colors. Agree. Try to make it a point to attend their other athletic contests, tell them good job after the game etc. That will go a long way. You can probably even sit by yourself and not have to talk to people. Just being there shows you care about how they do in something other than football. You could bring your kids and support area athletics and spend family time together. It's a win-win.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 30, 2015 9:12:00 GMT -6
First of all, her kids are in middle school. They will be freshmen next year. Putting my stalker skills to use: Jen Cohen - @soulpursuitblog & @jencohen3 Cougar - eh...for me she is not a qualifier. I mean if we were both at a basketball game and I was already going to the concession stand and I walked past her I might stop and talk to her, but she's not "I was just going to the concession stand" as an excuse to go talk to her and I am certainly not going to walk across to the other side to talk to her. Per her son Caide (the QB) - www.hudl.com/athlete/4345323/highlights/191680352/v2I'm not going to make an assessment on his abilities because that's not my place, but per the discussion here - it seems like she is a helicopter parent^2, who is perhaps a little too proud of her kids. As is shown by the google search results. www.google.com/search?q=Caide+Cohen+quarterback&oq=caide+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j0l4.3616j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8&gws_rd=sslWe all know there is a lot of change that happens between youth and middle school and high school. As far as the few clips I see on hudl my first question is - why isn't there more clips? I mean, if a dude is a dude even in middle school (I won't even get into my opinion on the Middle school high light films) he should have a bunch of clips from a lot of games not just 3-4 clips from 2-3 games. Just sayin... Now with all that being said - if the coach said he wouldn't amount to anything, I think that is wrong so I'm not going to shred this mother for her son's middle school success..which I take as going from not playing much in youth, to playing in MS and I'm happy she is proud of her son's and is obviously a football mom...but hey Jen...chill out and enjoy watching them play, the odds of Caide going to Oregon and Cole playing WR at Florida are not probable...first of all Cole playing WR at Florida is about as likely as me winning a bronze medal in women's gymnastics at the next olympics...you live in California, Florida is not going to go outside of Florida to find wide receivers and if they do, he will be the #1 or #2 receiver in the country. I know Coachhuey's has been slow the last few weeks but how bored are you to find that? Read more: coachhuey.com/thread/68480/letter-coach?page=1#ixzz3VskowpwC
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PE
Mar 29, 2015 22:10:05 GMT -6
Post by coachmonkey on Mar 29, 2015 22:10:05 GMT -6
I don't want this to get sideways, but having girls in PE classes kills this...unless they want everyone to kick ass in the class. What are other reasons it couldn't work? Do you think parents would go ape s@#t because Johnny had to do a million burpies and hold a push up for longer than 1 second? First of all I'm not sure how representative of the average HS PE class this is. At mine, a small school with no gym, our PE classes were only first and 4th quarters of the school year (We had Health during Winter). PE classes consisted of jogging a couple of laps, doing some cals, then playing basketball, touch football, or dodgeball of something like that. In the video, they tell you, it was one high school. It was like an experimental high school.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 29, 2015 21:07:11 GMT -6
Well said coach. To clarify...THAT was the intention of my original post. Not only do many (most? all?) of us in small schools have limited facilities, resources, staffs, squad size, budgets, etc. many of us do not have the luxury of an athletic period...or two! I just can't relate. I want to hear from guys in the same situation I'm in. I think that if you're skipping clinic sessions because you can't relate to the speaker's situation you're missing a lot. t the Glazier that I attended this year the three speakers that I heard were NFL guys (If you count Blaise Winter as a NFLer). I didn't hear anything that any of them said that I considered to be beyond what we could do at our HS. There have been times that I've been in sessions where the speaker said things that didn't relate to our situation. I just made a mental note that we can't do that and kept listening. I've rarely been at a session where I couldn't use anything. It's even more rare that I've been able to use everything. Agree. A lot of times I sit in on these sessions and it spurs ideas that I may have to modify, but at least it spurred ideas. To say you can't relate or learn anything is like the kids who sit through class day after day and say they haven't learned anything. You get out what you put in. I also think it comes down to having a plan at clinics. I usually have 2-3 things I want to know or get answers to. The rest is "bonus."
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 18, 2015 20:40:52 GMT -6
This is why, for my tastes, I would like youth football to go away. I would love all organized youth sports to die a quick death. Opinions like this are widespread amongst a lot of HS coaches I have talked to, but the thinig is I don't see many of those same individuals having any other contact with said youth programs, unless it was their experience as a youth player. Instead of complaining about "youth" sports, why not get involved and try to change the direction of the programs in your area. I coached pee-wee football for years, and I will gaurantee that 90% of the kids who played for me will tell you it was some of the most fun they ever had playing a sport. I have also coached youth/rec baseball, 14U girls softball, ain other words a wide variety of "youth" sports. I didn't feel that the coaches who would be coaching my kids were doing things the way I thought they should be done, so I stepped in and took over. Having said that, I have visited some practices and cringe when I see 3rd and 4th graders doing bull in the ring. My point is, instead of being "above" youth sports, get involved and try to facilitate change. If we disregard or shrug off the youth sports, escpecially football, it isn't a far stretch to see something taking the place of football in that kids life and we have lost them as a potential player. Back to my OP. I still think as coaches, we had better come up with some solid answers and counter points to the anti-football talk to hang on to the kids who want to play, but may have parents telling them no. I think it has to do with the fact that playing sports at a young age is not a predictor of future success. Kids would be better off just out engaging in free play.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 18, 2015 10:47:16 GMT -6
Give me the number of NFL players that went on beyond football and lived life "normally". I guess that means...brain wise. Knees, shoulders, etc. were probably shot. My point is...it's like the bird flu. Concussions are a big deal and I'm not making lite of them. My point is...there are probably more people doing fine than people are going around killing people (or themselves) because they got knocked in the head. My oldest son is a freshman QB. He has a chance to start for the varsity as a sophomore...and his O line has ZERO career starts. We also play in one of the toughest conferences in California. I'm looking forward to it actually. If I sit there and think..."his poor little noggin" then we're all playing scared and making us vulnerable. Think about it...how many more times has a kid got hurt going slower? I'll just get his ass in the weight room more and prepare him for these games. I would also like to know how drug use and steroids impact the brain, combined with football collisions. I know Seau was busted, and i am sure a lot of the other ones were as well. They probably also combined that with some pretty powerful pain relievers. Concussions are not the only thing they should be looking at.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 17, 2015 21:31:56 GMT -6
I point out that this is an NFL thing, not a football thing. I'm 61 and played HS, college, and semi-pro football. I'm OK and so are my former teammates. My former coaches, a generation older than me, are OK too. This, of course, is minus the guys who had substance issues or who weren't right before they ever played a football game (and every team I was on had a couple of each). So, point out examples of people that the kids know-coaches, grandfathers, uncles, etc.- who played football and didn't end up drooling idiots. And if I am a parent making an informed decision, I would point out that I can probably provide just as many anecdotal examples as you are. This isn't a very good counter point, in my opinion, to answer a parents concerns. I still contend that at some point the research needs to be done that lays out what position players get the most head injuries, when they happen and during what activity. For instance, if we know that most concussions happen to LBrs, during practice, during inside run, now we have something to address and lessen the chance of injury. I really tried to research this a year or so ago and could find no such information. So take this a step further, a parent comes to me and says what are you doing about my sons safety. I can answer with, well we have found that most brain injuries occur doing _______, and they happen at _____ time. So we have taken steps to alleviate that high risk. Now there will always be a risk/reward decision to be made, but why not have hard numbers at our disposal to use to make our argument FOR football and everyhting great that goes with it, as well as making things safer as we go. This makes me giggle.
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CYA
Mar 16, 2015 22:17:00 GMT -6
Post by coachmonkey on Mar 16, 2015 22:17:00 GMT -6
I'm working on my list of things to cover with my staff to avoid ending up in a courtroom, and I thought I would ask for your input to see if I was leaving anything out. What do you guys emphasize with your assistants? Also, I read about a school near here that requires the parents of players to sign a waiver. Do any of y'all do that at your schools? And if so, would you mind sharing it? Thanks in advance for your responses! Waiver do not prevent lawsuits. You cannot waive your rights in this country. They may help parents think they can't sue you, but they really can, even if they signed a waiver. I learned this in a coaching class.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 11, 2015 7:50:02 GMT -6
I am that guy that wears shorts no matter the temperature. Having coached in Illinois for 7 years I got used to it. You would have thought I was an alien doing that in North Carolina this past season. I think this is every OL coach
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 9, 2015 21:01:00 GMT -6
This past fall we started walking through one play per day with our freshman. I have them for 45 minutes for first two weeks. We started with Trap. I told an LB where to lineup (inside shade of the Guard). He played Center in 8th grade. He asked "Guard, is that the one next to the Center, or over one more." That's when I realized we had to stop and go through it. We walked through every position on offense for a trap. We showed them what they offense was trying to do. How we defend it, and want to defend it. How we could get out of position etc. It took the full 45 minutes and we started by walking through how to defend it, then half speed, then about 5 minutes of full speed. The kids all thought it as helpful, and so did we coaches. The next day we did the same for iso, then counter, and sweep, pass, option etc. It took a lot of time initially, but after than when I said run a trap, all 11 freshman had a good idea of what i meant.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 9, 2015 20:05:02 GMT -6
I was just wondering what you guys do when everyone is patting you on the back. Whether you are 10-0, Ranked number one in the state/conference, or coming off a season where you just won state. Do you want to keep everyone grounded telling them that "the polls/record doesn't mean anything" or Do you want to embrace it and try to use it to fuel the fire; "You are ranked number 1, you need to start practicing like it". Obviously no one wants to be filled with hubris and not respect their opponent, but I was just curious what everyones approach is. Unless I shutout all 14 teams I don't think I will ever be patting myself on the back.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 4, 2015 12:53:36 GMT -6
Yep, I played against them. Once in the playoffs, and once in the regular season. However, I'd like to assume college kids should know how to tackle by the time they hit the college level.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 4, 2015 9:42:50 GMT -6
Going back to the original point. In Lou Tepper's book Complete Linebacking he writes "We practice tackling daily, yet 90% of tackling is desire. We teach the 10%, but the rest comes from the heart and repitition. Usually, he who wants to tackle, tackles... We do much fewer live tackling drills than I did early in my career. Now most of our tackling drills are for form only, without putting the runner to the ground."
He goes on to talk about the Triangle Tackling Concept (or keeping the cup), is crucial to tackling success. We don't do a lot of live tackling, but we have a pretty good defense. Our mentality on defense is probably the reason we are able to not do a lot of live hitting or tackling. I like to keep my dog's chained up until it's time to defend their turf.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 2, 2015 21:56:37 GMT -6
Coaches, We are always looking to provide a quality product for student body, staff and community with football Friday night. The sadness is that it seems at least for us that less and less of all three parties are attending games for a number of reasons. The opportunity to promote your program as well as having a great fan experience is something we are always looking to develop. Has anyone tried or implemented anything that has been successful? Ideas: Half-time Contests (kicking or passing) with the opportunity to win money, gas cards, or technology. Catered tailgating Bounce houses, games and field experience for youth Fan items - thundersticks, shakers, etc. Theme - color, category, etc. Raffle - field seats, press box seats, game experience. Thoughts? Have a future (mascot name) club for youth kids. Setup 2 fields, 4 teams and let them play at half time. Kids get pumped for that. Parents and fans enjoy watching it.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 2, 2015 21:15:06 GMT -6
How did they come to these definitions and rules? No idea, but I think it started with a pending lawsuit in CA, soon to come tall all 50 states. We followed the guidelines and I don't really think we had any drop off. We rarely went live prior to that anyway.
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Post by coachmonkey on Mar 2, 2015 9:41:24 GMT -6
Just looking to see how others set team goals and even individual goals. I'd like to do this exercise as a team where I ask them what their goals are. Make a list of the goals, then have them make a list of how they will achieve those goals. It gets monotonous when it's always the coach telling the kids what they need to do to be successful. I want the kids to say it themselves and hear it from their teammates and from themself. Has anyone done something similiar? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using proboards Yes, but I also have them write down a list of every possible reason they could think of why they may not hit those goals. Then have them come back on another day and write how they would over come all of those excuses. That's been pretty effective for me.
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