|
|
Post by brutus8367 on Mar 12, 2007 8:20:55 GMT -6
How do you guys in small schools structure the amount of contact you do during the week? We play in a very competitive league and we have the smallest #s. I never know what the right mix of contact is, when you are at the same time trying to instill toughness etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by CoachMikeJudy on Mar 12, 2007 8:34:29 GMT -6
Select certain drills that cannot be run at half speed and make those your contact drills.
Maybe...
Inside drill- Live
Goalline- Live
etc...
Maybe Special teams run throughs and 1 rep live?
You could also do alot of half-line run periods if you are short on linemen or the majority play both ways.
|
|
|
|
Post by wingtol on Mar 12, 2007 8:59:23 GMT -6
We are a small school and deal with the issue of number constantly that being said we really dont hold back on the hitting. We go live in our team periods and alot of live contact in our drills. We don't let it get out of hand but we do hit pretty good, of course we go thud on the backs esp during Team O and try to during team D. I know some people get worried about injuries and stuff but I think if you want to be physical and ready for games you need to practice hard and get after it. We do pull back at times depending on the situation and prob should have laid off a bit for the playoffs this year. I may be old school in thought, but if you want to be tough and physical you gotta do it in practice you can't just flip a switch come game time.
You also have to be smart and make sure you are teaching fundamentals and getting the kids ready for the contact in practice. We don't just throw kids to the wolves out there on the practice field you have to watch match ups and all.
|
|
|
|
Post by coachmtd on Mar 12, 2007 10:15:15 GMT -6
We do not hit below the waist at all in practice. Our practice attire is uppers, shorts, and volleyball knee pads. We usually have about 25 on the varsity roster and this has helped us stay healthy. The line does block live in drill and scrimmage, but we never hit a running back. When we work in group, the RBs get hit high and sometimes wrapped up, but never taken to the ground. This has not effected our performance on the field. We are consistently in the top 10 regional schools(including all size classifications) on defense. We have played in the regional semi-finals in the last 4 seasons and played in the finals in 2006. Good technique can be taught without a lot of hard contact.
|
|
|
|
Post by midlineqb on Mar 12, 2007 15:13:23 GMT -6
In Kansas you're not supposed to even talk to athletes in the offseason. I'm sure there are many that do, I did. In season, we had an activity period (class meetings, etc) where I met with the QB/Rec every day for 20 minutes. Athletics was after school. Basketball coach had them working on their shots and free throws.
|
|
|
|
Post by dubber on Mar 12, 2007 20:30:00 GMT -6
I strongly agree........lift hard to avoid injury, and then toughness is mostly mental
|
|
|
|
Post by coachjd on Mar 13, 2007 4:16:19 GMT -6
You may want to contact Ed Mierkort (sp) the head football coach at the University of South Dakota. He spoke at the Minneapolis Glazier clinic on practice organization. He talked about keep the full contact drills at the front end of practice. He stated that 70% of injuries at the NCAA level were happening at the end of practice during full contact drills when the athletes were starting to get fatigued. They also try to alternate high tempo/high contact drills with lower tempo/low contact drills through out practice.
When you look at his typical practice schedule it does not look like a traditional practice, but he doesn't want the practice to look normal. He wants the practice to cause some confusion and make the kids adapt on the run. A game is this way.
|
|
|
|
Post by fbdoc on Mar 13, 2007 20:54:28 GMT -6
We are a small school (250 in 9-12 and 30 kids on varsity team). We go full speed/tempo in almost everything we do incliuding drills and scrimmage, although we stay high and have a quick whistle for live tackling. The kids adapt to the speed of our practice and we have been relatively injury free (in practices) for the past 6 years.
|
|
