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Post by kylem56 on Sept 8, 2009 19:11:46 GMT -6
Hello everyone
I hope you all are off to a sucessful start of the season and aren't going too crazy yet.
Anyway, I would like your advice on a subject thats been irritating the hell out of me the last 2 games
Monday thru Thursday, my players (O-Line and D-Line) are prepared throughly. They get scouting reports, DVDs, walk throughs, and I put everything I have into trying to be a great teacher. They have all told me they are confident in their assignments and I quiz them every Thursday and they do well. However on Friday night, they get the deer in the headlights look and forget everything. 2 of the kids are sophmores so that doesn't help but they have some senior leadership around them that helps as well. I keep trying to tell myself "its only week 2, its only week 3 etc.) but at some point, the light bulb has to go off right? Do you have any advice on what I could do to help fix that?
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Post by coachbdud on Sept 8, 2009 23:17:07 GMT -6
KISS
when my guys are in doubt, go back to basics. and rep the heck out of your base stuff. In crunch time this is the stuff you gotta be able to execute.
Rep your top 5 to death!!!
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Post by dubber on Sept 9, 2009 8:30:35 GMT -6
They don't understand the game. They know WHO to block, but they don't grasp the concept of the ball being ran in B-gap and who they should block when the defense isn't lined up exactly like it was in practice. It also seems that the game has not slowed down for them yet. I would also ask - how smart are they? - maybe it's just where I've coached but it seems to me the smarter the kid, the more exact they want the information, when really football is a "kind of" type game. They have to be able to make some logical leaps when things aren't exactly as you've told them. That's why I like 2.5 GPA kids, they don't take things too literally, being exact is too much...just tell them kind of what to do, let them strap it up and figure it out from there. ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. The ONLY time I will stop a practice is when our OL group period is just not clicking. I will then let them know what is going on in the backfield, and WHY we are doing what we are doing up front. I end this session with: "So do you understand why I need you step playside and cut on Jet sweep?" "Yeah coach, that makes sense." Never underestimate what they don't know. |
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Post by jpdaley25 on Sept 9, 2009 8:56:56 GMT -6
uncertainty, doubt, fear, lack of confidence.
Cut it down to a few things on O and D, or at least focus on a few things on O and D that suit them the best and build their confidence in doing those things.
Reps, Reps, Reps.
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Post by brophy on Sept 9, 2009 9:07:36 GMT -6
Reverse engineer it.
They may rock inteam or drills, but is there a game application to what they're doing?
The purpose of game prep is conditioning the Deja Vu for Friday night (recognition)
How much formation recognition do you do?
How much film study?
How much position group opponent personnel matchups do you go over with players?
How much situational practice do you do?
How much scripting do you do in practice?
How much rationale explanation do y'all provide into WHY your opponent does what they do?
All of those contribute to orienting players to have "played Friday nights game" before kickoff
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Post by Coach JR on Sept 9, 2009 9:37:26 GMT -6
Hello everyone I hope you all are off to a sucessful start of the season and aren't going too crazy yet. Anyway, I would like your advice on a subject thats been irritating the hell out of me the last 2 games Monday thru Thursday, my players (O-Line and D-Line) are prepared throughly. They get scouting reports, DVDs, walk throughs, and I put everything I have into trying to be a great teacher. They have all told me they are confident in their assignments and I quiz them every Thursday and they do well. However on Friday night, they get the deer in the headlights look and forget everything. 2 of the kids are sophmores so that doesn't help but they have some senior leadership around them that helps as well. I keep trying to tell myself "its only week 2, its only week 3 etc.) but at some point, the light bulb has to go off right? Do you have any advice on what I could do to help fix that? Wish I had read this first before I posted my exact same question in the Gen. Offense forum! My guys can quote their rules in practice, they will execute good blocks in "Indy Time" and then on game day (last night was first game) they stand straight up, look around, and maybe hand fight with whoever shows up near them. They didn't fire off the ball one time last night, nor did they block one singe running play. |
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Post by blb on Sept 9, 2009 10:32:29 GMT -6
This is part of the dilemma of coaching young (Little League, Middle-High School) kids: They need to be taught how to play the game extensively (fundamentals, techniques, assignments) but they also need a lot of experience in playing the game (team, scrimmages, actual games).
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mce86
Junior Member
Posts: 281
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Post by mce86 on Sept 9, 2009 12:33:55 GMT -6
The speed of things in a game, may be quite different than the speed of a real game.
What Ive done instead of on a chalk board, is line up Cans or bags in the defenses we will face and rapid fire go through plays.
Its line up, call the play, on go...then go!
Its faster than game speed, and they have to think on the go!
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 9, 2009 14:40:04 GMT -6
Along the same lines of MCE, I would say try to incorporate some stress into your practice times to help them get used to the feeling of stress in at least some minor way before the game.
I do a rapid-fire 2 huddle pursuit drill that forces my defensive guys to think and execute while in a rush and while tired so that, come Friday, they're prepared for the 2nd/4th quarters and the brain fog that happens.
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Post by 42falcon on Sept 9, 2009 15:01:58 GMT -6
A couple of reasons they may be going blank:
1) overwhelmed with info that they loose sight of the little thing like understanding why they are doing something not just doing it because coach says so but because it makes sense. The litte thing we harp on them for not doing is really more important than the interception we just got it is why we got that pick.
-I went back to the small things ie: run/pass read did you make it?
2) To jacked up on Fri Night. Seriously especialy with younger inexperienced kids they loose the plot if they get to geared up and they are unsure of themselvs and their ability
-Our fist game this year was like that I thought our guys were good but they made mistakes they did not make in practice. It looked like we had not practiced at all that week
-Last week when we played there was no rah rah speach instead I kept them calm, relaxed and level headed, when they took the field I would give them the play we were going to run before the Offence punted or scored. With certain individuals I would remind them: read steps, read the G.
They were much better. We will see how this week turns out I might just be out to lunch!
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Post by jpdaley25 on Sept 9, 2009 16:47:43 GMT -6
BlB makes a good point. They aren't used to the rise in intensity and pressure from practice to the game. A lot more game situations in practice might help. We do a lot of down and distance vs. the scout team. "You've got three downs to make a first - if you make it the defense has 10 up-downs. If you don't make it, you have 10 up-downs." That gets them competing and playing with intensity.
Brophy makes a lot of good points too. There are many ways to prepare them for what they will face and the more prepared they are, the better they will do.
Good luck!
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Post by coachcathey on Sept 9, 2009 20:53:00 GMT -6
This may sound odd, but sometimes you have gamers and sometimes you don't. Kind of like the Tarzan/Jane comparison.
Some people just get FNL amnesia and others turn out to be your "gamers" and just know how to play. Basically what dc and brophy said. Sometimes the lights are either on or off and possibly sometimes the flicker...
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Post by spartancoach on Sept 10, 2009 8:09:04 GMT -6
Not sure if this will help, but one thing we do on Mondays (after film and lifting), and Fridays (at the "walk-through", we usually play Saturday) is "fit and freeze." We set up the base D that we are likely to see in the next game, and walk through each of our base plays, both ways. Then we move around the DL techs and LB alignments and walk through them again. Lastly, we walk through all of the base plays using what I call the "opposite" of what we expect to see, that is, if we are playing an odd front team, walk through vs. an even front. Kids have to figure out the schemes on thier own, then we will correct. Found that it gets the linemen talking and understanding how to get defenders blocked when they see something they didn't expect and, more importantly, talking to one another to figure it out.
In terms of popping up and not firing off, it is probably one of two things: (1) confusion paralysis, or (2) falling back on bad habits. Hundreds of reps under a trap chute should cure the latter.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Sept 10, 2009 12:28:21 GMT -6
I actually had a kid who started every game last year in MS and has started three scrim/games here ask me if it was "legal" to hit a player lined up in the B gap??
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Post by coachcb on Sept 10, 2009 13:17:51 GMT -6
Coached in a program during a turnover in HCs.
1st HC; simplest scheme you've ever seen, probably as simple as you can get in HS football. His teams were ahead of everyone else by 2 weeks, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Successful program.
2nd HC; the opposite, complicated offense. Kids never picked it up; not even at week 10. Not a successful program.
The kids may understand their assignments, cognitively, but they may only be half way there when it comes to the physical aspect of the game.
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Post by raiderpirates on Sept 10, 2009 14:23:15 GMT -6
Go to your third and three plays, they carry overon most items(short yardage, some goal line, run downs, four minute mark, etc.) and really hone those so you can convert and keep drives going.
Those plays have a specific goal in mind and with more narrow a focus you can regain control. Norm Chow does the same thing when he has trouble reading a defense or finding their keys, etc. He says to cut the field down into portions and work an area and indivudual defender down until you gain confidence.
Do the same thing for your line, protections are critical.
Let them know that Chow admits there are times he "doesn't know what the defense is doing" and he's a pro's pro when it comes to coaching. That just means you know what it is you do, so you can do that better, and that element of control keeps you in the game(others said as much here, in another thread).
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