A Few Quick Tips For Developing Speed
Speed Development
For the second consecutive year my youth football program is doing an abbreviated "football speed" development program in the Spring. The program is designed to develop enthusiasm for playing in our program while working on form and "football speed" development.
The program is called FASTT for Fun, Agility, Speed and Technique Training. The program is divided into three segments, the first segment is the "football speed" development portion, We work on form, speed and quickness development here using modern plyometric movements integrated into football movements. We use a combination of body weight, ladder, cone, medicine ball, box jumps and harness work in this portion of the program. Fundamental Skills DevelopmentThe second segment focuses on basic fundamental football technique development. We do not use pads for this. We concentrate on breaking down each fundamental football movement into teachable steps and then perfect those steps. We don't work our schemes or football plays, this is all fundamental skills development and the drills and skills change daily.
Game TimeThe final segment is the pure fun team competitive games portion. Many of these team building games have little if anything to do with football. What they do for the kids is help them develop a bond with each other and help them develop a keen sense of competition while having a whole bunch of fun.
This is not conditioning, this is a process that helps build momentum and enthusiasm in our youth football program. It also shows the players and parents how we work with the kids and gives the kids an understanding of our expectations and communication methods. This certainly helps us in August when many teams are struggling through their first few practices, we are able to move quickly into evaluations, teaching fundamentals and putting in schemes.
Next Seasons TeamsAs I may have mentioned in the past, we are expanding our program to 4 teams, an age 6-7 flag team, an age 7-9 tackle team, age 10-11 tackle and age 12-13 tackle. I will be head coaching all 3 tackle teams next season after head coaching 2 of the teams last year. The reason I have all 3 teams is the parents want it that way and I'm grooming 3 head coaches that I want working side by side with me for a season before I turn a team over to them. While several of these future head coaches have excellent credentials, youth football is much more than X's and O's. In
Omaha when I expanded from 1 team to 16 teams in 5 short years, we didn't take the time to do the hands on apprenticeship program and we outgrew our infrastructure, Now we have a Head Coach Development Program in place that will prepare each to be an effective youth football coach.
FASST Over the Summer
The FASST program lasts for 7 weeks and started on April 1, we meet once a week for just 90 minutes. We want to keep the kids very hungry for contact with us and many are playing baseball as well. We leave each player with a written summer development program that they can use if they so choose. We show the parents what we are looking for on the movements in a group presentation in May and leave them with a written workout plan. I let the parents know that I don't care if junior does any of the movements over the summer, but to let the kids be kids and make sure they are spending a lot of time out in the heat. On the other hand we do have a few kids that are real hard core and if they want to do something on their own over the summer, we give them the tools to do it.
Doing a "Speed Camp" or activity like FASST has helped us set ourselves apart from other Youth Football programs in the area and gives us a nice segue into the fall. Our league rules do not restrict this type of activity in any way, make sure and check your league rules before getting started.
Dave Cisar- Dave has a passion for developing youth coaches so they can in turn develop teams that are competitive and well organized. He is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. With over 15 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach, Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams. His personal teams to using this system to date have won 94% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.
To Sign up for his free tips newsletter or to see his 325 free tips go to: Football Plays A Taste of Dave's teams: Youth Football Defense Offensive Line
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
10 Core Tips for Coaching Youth Flag Football
The main difference between adult sports and kids' games is that you should always remember that the kids sports are not as serious and results-oriented as adult games. You, the coach, and the kids should do it more for the fun of it. Aiming for the gold or winning should be a goal as long as you do not cheat or indulge in unfair practices just for the sake of it.
American culture is competitive, but there's no call to instill in children the mindset that winning is everything. There are also other things to think about, such as sportsmanship and respect for the other players.
Too often, our children are fed the wrong messages by the media. They see players in fisticuffs, yelling and screaming at the referee, and other such actions; they read articles and listen to and watch commentaries that tell them that violence and cheating for the sake of winning are normal and acceptable.
Often the coach must undo, in practice and on the field, what hours of exposure to these messages do to children. Look around you: adults have disorganized the world enough with their selfish attitudes and disingenuous explanations. Do you honestly want to help pass this down to the next generation?
Teach the kids to accept victory with magnanimity and defeat graciously. The old saying "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you played the game" should be emphasized. You probably already shake hands with the opposing coaching staff after a game, so try having your members thank the opposing team after the game, no matter who won.
Dissuade them from showboating, but don't go so far as to totally stop acknowledging the good things individuals do - a little attaboy after a fourth touchdown, or an excellent block, is never out of line. Just don't promote individuals so much that they start acting like they're better than their team mates. This is demoralizing and disruptive.
As a coach you should inspire your members to give their best and work well with other team members to achieve the team's goals. You are a role model for the children under your wing, like it or not. What you do impresses them more powerfully than what you say. So always carry yourself accordingly. Strive to emphasize sportsmanship, character, and trust.
Have a Plan
Always plan and think of your goals for the team. Discuss this with your team members. Take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. The ages and sex of the members may vary and this should be carefully analyzed by the coach to maximize advantages and minimize the disadvantages. At their times of growth, not all boys and girls are going to develop at the same way or at the same rate.
Warm Up
Warm-up exercises before playing are very important. Some stretching and muscle exercises must be standard procedure before a game. This will ensure less injuries and more agility on the part of the players. They will become better prepared and stay focused as they move on into the game. It also gives them time to adjust from whatever it was that they were doing before - time to settle into the grove of playing team sports.
Keep It Simple
Remember to make your demonstrations of the skills or techniques simple for the kids to follow. Don't try to cram too much information in one session. Demonstrations should not look complicated or time-consuming. Nor should they be boring; if you notice your team members' attentions wandering while you're talking, it's time to either take a different tack on the subject or go do something else.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
Practice ensures mastery of techniques and skills. It also helps boost the kid's confidence as they become more familiar with certain moves.
Be Flexible
Always be ready with alternatives should your main plans falter. Maybe doing something differently at that time is the order of the day.
Get Yourself an Assistant
Generals have lots of staff. The President has a whole Cabinet full of them. You're a general of sorts too, aren't you? Why don't you have even one?
You're not superhuman.
It helps if you have someone help you do your job as coach. This would leave you free to concentrate on your players since you wouldn't have to think about setting the equipment up at the same time. It can also be a lifesaver in emergencies to have another adult around.
Show Respect for Your PlayersDon't be too dictatorial. Be sensitive to the children's limitations and emotions. Even if they look up to you for guidance and support, you must value their opinions and understand your players' different personalities. Never humiliate a player publicly. Never corner a player until he or she has no option but to go through you.
If you're explaining a play, ask them questions like, "What's the reason for this?" or "Is there anything we should watch out for when trying this out?" The fact that you're asking them reinforces their self-esteem and makes them feel like they're an important part of your football team.
Maintain Discipline
Agree on the rules for discipline. Setting this early can lead to a more organized practice not just for one meeting but for the rest of the season. Earn and engage the kid's respect so they will stay focused on the game and not engage in disruptive activities. If one team is practicing plays, the other players can be doing drills while waiting for their turn. This keeps everyone busy and prevents boredom. Have the assistant supervise one group while you coach the other.
Learn to Differentiate between Normal Roughhousing and Malicious Behavior
There's no hard and fast rule to this, but call the member aside and talk to them if you feel it's necessary. Don't use exercise as a punitive measure. Benching them is more effective, as this deprives them of the chance to participate in the activity that they're supposed to be engaging in.
Following these tips will assist you in creating a positive coaching environment for your team.
John Perry is the author of the best-selling youth flag football plays on the web. Visit YouthFlagFootballPlays.com to get your play book
American culture is competitive, but there's no call to instill in children the mindset that winning is everything. There are also other things to think about, such as sportsmanship and respect for the other players.
Too often, our children are fed the wrong messages by the media. They see players in fisticuffs, yelling and screaming at the referee, and other such actions; they read articles and listen to and watch commentaries that tell them that violence and cheating for the sake of winning are normal and acceptable.
Often the coach must undo, in practice and on the field, what hours of exposure to these messages do to children. Look around you: adults have disorganized the world enough with their selfish attitudes and disingenuous explanations. Do you honestly want to help pass this down to the next generation?
Teach the kids to accept victory with magnanimity and defeat graciously. The old saying "It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you played the game" should be emphasized. You probably already shake hands with the opposing coaching staff after a game, so try having your members thank the opposing team after the game, no matter who won.
Dissuade them from showboating, but don't go so far as to totally stop acknowledging the good things individuals do - a little attaboy after a fourth touchdown, or an excellent block, is never out of line. Just don't promote individuals so much that they start acting like they're better than their team mates. This is demoralizing and disruptive.
As a coach you should inspire your members to give their best and work well with other team members to achieve the team's goals. You are a role model for the children under your wing, like it or not. What you do impresses them more powerfully than what you say. So always carry yourself accordingly. Strive to emphasize sportsmanship, character, and trust.
Have a Plan
Always plan and think of your goals for the team. Discuss this with your team members. Take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. The ages and sex of the members may vary and this should be carefully analyzed by the coach to maximize advantages and minimize the disadvantages. At their times of growth, not all boys and girls are going to develop at the same way or at the same rate.
Warm Up
Warm-up exercises before playing are very important. Some stretching and muscle exercises must be standard procedure before a game. This will ensure less injuries and more agility on the part of the players. They will become better prepared and stay focused as they move on into the game. It also gives them time to adjust from whatever it was that they were doing before - time to settle into the grove of playing team sports.
Keep It Simple
Remember to make your demonstrations of the skills or techniques simple for the kids to follow. Don't try to cram too much information in one session. Demonstrations should not look complicated or time-consuming. Nor should they be boring; if you notice your team members' attentions wandering while you're talking, it's time to either take a different tack on the subject or go do something else.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
Practice ensures mastery of techniques and skills. It also helps boost the kid's confidence as they become more familiar with certain moves.
Be Flexible
Always be ready with alternatives should your main plans falter. Maybe doing something differently at that time is the order of the day.
Get Yourself an Assistant
Generals have lots of staff. The President has a whole Cabinet full of them. You're a general of sorts too, aren't you? Why don't you have even one?
You're not superhuman.
It helps if you have someone help you do your job as coach. This would leave you free to concentrate on your players since you wouldn't have to think about setting the equipment up at the same time. It can also be a lifesaver in emergencies to have another adult around.
Show Respect for Your PlayersDon't be too dictatorial. Be sensitive to the children's limitations and emotions. Even if they look up to you for guidance and support, you must value their opinions and understand your players' different personalities. Never humiliate a player publicly. Never corner a player until he or she has no option but to go through you.
If you're explaining a play, ask them questions like, "What's the reason for this?" or "Is there anything we should watch out for when trying this out?" The fact that you're asking them reinforces their self-esteem and makes them feel like they're an important part of your football team.
Maintain Discipline
Agree on the rules for discipline. Setting this early can lead to a more organized practice not just for one meeting but for the rest of the season. Earn and engage the kid's respect so they will stay focused on the game and not engage in disruptive activities. If one team is practicing plays, the other players can be doing drills while waiting for their turn. This keeps everyone busy and prevents boredom. Have the assistant supervise one group while you coach the other.
Learn to Differentiate between Normal Roughhousing and Malicious Behavior
There's no hard and fast rule to this, but call the member aside and talk to them if you feel it's necessary. Don't use exercise as a punitive measure. Benching them is more effective, as this deprives them of the chance to participate in the activity that they're supposed to be engaging in.
Following these tips will assist you in creating a positive coaching environment for your team.
John Perry is the author of the best-selling youth flag football plays on the web. Visit YouthFlagFootballPlays.com to get your play book
Youth Football, Who Goes in What Position in Youth Football?
How to Put Players in the Right Spots By Dave Cisar
Evaluating youth football players either for a draft or to determine positions is one of the most important but most poorly performed tasks done by many youth football coaches. Too often a player is assigned a position because he "looks" like the position without regards to the skills required of that specific position. Often times kids that look like football players or are the sons of coaches are given preferential treatment and are selected for the "skill" or glory positions. Another mistake many youth football coaches make is they evaluate kids for skills in a way that has little or no correlation to what actually are critical success factors to performing well on the football field. Quite often a player is assigned a position based on just one required attribute of that position without regard to the entirety of skills needed to play the position.
I Made the Same Mistake
The end result is you often have youth football teams that don't perform anywhere near the potential of the aggregate group. So often when I'm asked to come in and trouble shoot poorly playing teams, they have kids in the wrong positions and the disparities in players is blatantly apparent if you know what to look for. Early on in my coaching "career" I too was bamboozled by the physical appearances of players. One of my first years coaching a tough talking 10 year old kid showed up to our first practice, he had "the look" a Mohawk haircut, shirtsleeves torn off, scowl/I want to tear your head off look on his face and he was a stocky but solid 120 lbs. Heck I would have guessed he had a pack a day cigarette habit from the attitude he put off, we were drooling at the thought of having him playing football for us. On the other hand there was this skinny quiet kid with a crew cut, and only 8 years old, probably weighed less than 65 pounds. He looked like one of the kids most coaches probably pray the DON'T get at first glance.
Looks like Tarzan, Plays like Jane
The Mohawk kid turned out wasn't in very good physical shape, which isn't a real big deal, but he was an excuse maker as well. He was one that questioned every drill and when he didn't win a drill (we do almost everything in competition format) he had an excuse, he slipped, he started late, the other kid cheated, he had overeaten that day. In addition to all that, he didn't have very good body control. He could move fairly well straight ahead but when he went to make a turn of cut it was like he was trying to turn the Titanic, he couldn't do it. His core strength was terrible and his quickness was awful. While there are some technique and core strengthening movements we can do to improve this, even dramatic improvements would still have this player in the bottom 20% in this critical area.
Looks like Jane, Plays like Tarzan
On the other hand the shy scrawny 8 year old seemed to be a natural when we did our games/drill that revealed core strength. During the Dummy Relay Races, he was able to not only lift and maintain the balance of the dummy but he was running with it, where others were doing a wobbly jog. During the Towel Game, he always drug his opponents to the cone, showing excellent leg strength, natural leverage and heart. Even in the Sumo Game he showed excellent trunk and leg strength, tenacity and great natural leverage. The Deer Hunter game in my opinion is the best and most fun way to determine a player�s "football speed". Football speed means the ability to start, stop and accelerate in small spaces, being able to change direction and control your body to escape the "hunters". Our scrawny little 8 year old excelled at this drill, while our Mohawk was the first one out.
Doing Accurate Evaluations
The net is you can�t judge a book by its cover and you HAVE TO measure kids to reveal their football playing skills, not how fast they can run 40 yards or how many pushups they can do. How many times in a football game do kids actually run 40 yards? And how often are 40 times actually accurate? The answer to both is rarely to never. What does a pushup prove? Upper body strength does very little to aid your linemen in his blocks, a proper block places much more emphasis on foot speed, trunk and leg strength as well as attitude and aggressiveness. Some say you can't test for toughness, resiliency, tenacity or aggressiveness until the kids put the pads on, that is simply not true. So according to those that believe you can't put kids into positions until you put the pads on for at least a week put themselves WAY behind. For them it is a crap shoot until the 2nd or 3rd week of practice. The Towel Game, Sumo Game, Dummy Relay Races and to an extent the Deer Hunter reveal all these traits without wearing pads.If you are drafting players you have a huge advantage if you know what to look for and how to look for it. If you don't have a draft, being able to evaluate kids properly is STILL a huge advantage because you can assign positions earlier, put your schemes in quicker and you don't waste a ton of time shuffling players from position to position to position like a church social cake walk until you find the right spot for the poor confused player.
Making It Fun
If you can make the evaluation process fun for the kids it is an added bonus. The first week of practice the kids and the parents are paying close attention to the fun factor and you. You can make some huge deposits in the emotional bank accounts of the parents that week if you can make the evaluations fun. We use all the above mentioned fun evaluation games during the evaluations of my teams and they are all found in my book. I've found the drills/games are so effective we are able to put kids into the correct positions after the first practice with a 95% success rate.
The first game we are almost always significantly ahead of our competition, even though we always practice less. A big factor has to be being able to do accurate and effective evaluation and early placement of players.The evaluation should be preceded by making sure you have very detailed descriptions of the requirements of each position on your team so you know which skills you are looking for to make the best fits.
The Ultra in Unusual but Effective Evaluation Drills/Games
Here is a very interesting method one High School uses to evaluate its players, the Rabbit Catch. Bobby Bowden even thinks there may be merit in this unique assessment practice. Think about how closely this activity mirrors what successful football players do on the field on game days. Notice the 4 State Championship Rings on the Head High School Coaches hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_0FryVRNk
For those of you that are using my system, doesn't this look very similar to our Deer Hunter drill/game? Evaluate your players well and you will not only be well ahead of your competition, but you will have much happier players and parents.Dave Cisar-Dave is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. His personal teams using this system to date have won 94% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.
Evaluating youth football players either for a draft or to determine positions is one of the most important but most poorly performed tasks done by many youth football coaches. Too often a player is assigned a position because he "looks" like the position without regards to the skills required of that specific position. Often times kids that look like football players or are the sons of coaches are given preferential treatment and are selected for the "skill" or glory positions. Another mistake many youth football coaches make is they evaluate kids for skills in a way that has little or no correlation to what actually are critical success factors to performing well on the football field. Quite often a player is assigned a position based on just one required attribute of that position without regard to the entirety of skills needed to play the position.
I Made the Same Mistake
The end result is you often have youth football teams that don't perform anywhere near the potential of the aggregate group. So often when I'm asked to come in and trouble shoot poorly playing teams, they have kids in the wrong positions and the disparities in players is blatantly apparent if you know what to look for. Early on in my coaching "career" I too was bamboozled by the physical appearances of players. One of my first years coaching a tough talking 10 year old kid showed up to our first practice, he had "the look" a Mohawk haircut, shirtsleeves torn off, scowl/I want to tear your head off look on his face and he was a stocky but solid 120 lbs. Heck I would have guessed he had a pack a day cigarette habit from the attitude he put off, we were drooling at the thought of having him playing football for us. On the other hand there was this skinny quiet kid with a crew cut, and only 8 years old, probably weighed less than 65 pounds. He looked like one of the kids most coaches probably pray the DON'T get at first glance.
Looks like Tarzan, Plays like Jane
The Mohawk kid turned out wasn't in very good physical shape, which isn't a real big deal, but he was an excuse maker as well. He was one that questioned every drill and when he didn't win a drill (we do almost everything in competition format) he had an excuse, he slipped, he started late, the other kid cheated, he had overeaten that day. In addition to all that, he didn't have very good body control. He could move fairly well straight ahead but when he went to make a turn of cut it was like he was trying to turn the Titanic, he couldn't do it. His core strength was terrible and his quickness was awful. While there are some technique and core strengthening movements we can do to improve this, even dramatic improvements would still have this player in the bottom 20% in this critical area.
Looks like Jane, Plays like Tarzan
On the other hand the shy scrawny 8 year old seemed to be a natural when we did our games/drill that revealed core strength. During the Dummy Relay Races, he was able to not only lift and maintain the balance of the dummy but he was running with it, where others were doing a wobbly jog. During the Towel Game, he always drug his opponents to the cone, showing excellent leg strength, natural leverage and heart. Even in the Sumo Game he showed excellent trunk and leg strength, tenacity and great natural leverage. The Deer Hunter game in my opinion is the best and most fun way to determine a player�s "football speed". Football speed means the ability to start, stop and accelerate in small spaces, being able to change direction and control your body to escape the "hunters". Our scrawny little 8 year old excelled at this drill, while our Mohawk was the first one out.
Doing Accurate Evaluations
The net is you can�t judge a book by its cover and you HAVE TO measure kids to reveal their football playing skills, not how fast they can run 40 yards or how many pushups they can do. How many times in a football game do kids actually run 40 yards? And how often are 40 times actually accurate? The answer to both is rarely to never. What does a pushup prove? Upper body strength does very little to aid your linemen in his blocks, a proper block places much more emphasis on foot speed, trunk and leg strength as well as attitude and aggressiveness. Some say you can't test for toughness, resiliency, tenacity or aggressiveness until the kids put the pads on, that is simply not true. So according to those that believe you can't put kids into positions until you put the pads on for at least a week put themselves WAY behind. For them it is a crap shoot until the 2nd or 3rd week of practice. The Towel Game, Sumo Game, Dummy Relay Races and to an extent the Deer Hunter reveal all these traits without wearing pads.If you are drafting players you have a huge advantage if you know what to look for and how to look for it. If you don't have a draft, being able to evaluate kids properly is STILL a huge advantage because you can assign positions earlier, put your schemes in quicker and you don't waste a ton of time shuffling players from position to position to position like a church social cake walk until you find the right spot for the poor confused player.
Making It Fun
If you can make the evaluation process fun for the kids it is an added bonus. The first week of practice the kids and the parents are paying close attention to the fun factor and you. You can make some huge deposits in the emotional bank accounts of the parents that week if you can make the evaluations fun. We use all the above mentioned fun evaluation games during the evaluations of my teams and they are all found in my book. I've found the drills/games are so effective we are able to put kids into the correct positions after the first practice with a 95% success rate.
The first game we are almost always significantly ahead of our competition, even though we always practice less. A big factor has to be being able to do accurate and effective evaluation and early placement of players.The evaluation should be preceded by making sure you have very detailed descriptions of the requirements of each position on your team so you know which skills you are looking for to make the best fits.
The Ultra in Unusual but Effective Evaluation Drills/Games
Here is a very interesting method one High School uses to evaluate its players, the Rabbit Catch. Bobby Bowden even thinks there may be merit in this unique assessment practice. Think about how closely this activity mirrors what successful football players do on the field on game days. Notice the 4 State Championship Rings on the Head High School Coaches hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R_0FryVRNk
For those of you that are using my system, doesn't this look very similar to our Deer Hunter drill/game? Evaluate your players well and you will not only be well ahead of your competition, but you will have much happier players and parents.Dave Cisar-Dave is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book "Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan" was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington. His personal teams using this system to date have won 94% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Football Coaching
Checkout a new football coaching site xoCoach at http://www.xocoach.com/
It has coaching resources such as forms and templates, articles about practice drills, techniques and coaching tools.
Read about great football coaches past and present in the hall of fame.
Email your comments to mailto:coach@xocoach.com
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