|
Post by panthersol on Aug 1, 2014 19:18:28 GMT -6
Is there a base practice plan that Pop Warner coaches use?
|
|
|
Post by dshanko67 on Aug 2, 2014 18:50:51 GMT -6
Do you have a league rule where u have to have a certain amount of practice hours before kids can hit?
|
|
|
Post by panthersol on Aug 3, 2014 8:17:08 GMT -6
yes. My boys are in a Pop Warner program. I am witnessing so much disorganization and waste of time. 6,7,8 year old kids running sprint after sprint. (13 years Varsity Coach taking time away to be just "dad")
|
|
|
Post by mahonz on Aug 3, 2014 12:08:13 GMT -6
yes. My boys are in a Pop Warner program. I am witnessing so much disorganization and waste of time. 6,7,8 year old kids running sprint after sprint. (13 years Varsity Coach taking time away to be just "dad") Im not aware of any national practice plan other than x number of hours before they put on the pads. BTW...these guys are USA Football Certified by PW Law. USA Football does have some info on practice organization so that should tell you right there that your kids Staff isn't paying much attention if they are unorganized. Im a looooong time youth coach. Its upsetting that so many youth coaches don't put forth much effort until they are standing on the field. By then....its really too late. Just bite your tongue and be a dad.
|
|
|
Post by dshanko67 on Aug 3, 2014 12:44:07 GMT -6
Like Mahonz said, its a shame that isn't being run this way. Getting in condition through skill/positional work is the way to go, and not just running and running. They should have had some type of plan heading into the season.
|
|
flingt
Junior Member
"We don't care how big or strong our opponents are as long as they're human.?
Posts: 311
|
Post by flingt on Aug 3, 2014 16:43:29 GMT -6
And this is why I never let my sons play youth football. Tired of some accountant , lawyer, sales manager thinking he can coach because they played in high school. Worse yet, some dad who never played but is in charge at work and thinks that qualifies him for coaching. Then has the nerve to think that what I do for a living is some sort of hobby.
|
|
|
Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 6, 2014 6:31:35 GMT -6
And this is why I never let my sons play youth football. Tired of some accountant , lawyer, sales manager thinking he can coach because they played in high school. Worse yet, some dad who never played but is in charge at work and thinks that qualifies him for coaching. Then has the nerve to think that what I do for a living is some sort of hobby. One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. Why your profession has anything to do with it is also beyond me. You can make the same arguments for hs coaches as well. A guy played hs and becomes a teacher and know he is qualified to coach hs? What does that have to do with anything. I have seen some horrible high school coaches but nobody wants to admit that. There are some really bad youth coaches out there but there are also some great ones. Many youth coaches don't consider themselves a hobbyist and would find your remarks insulting. Many youth coaches go to clinics regularly, read books, watch video clinics, are online researching all year round, attend local high school practices, etc. As a parent if you are not doing your due diligence to find out about the guy coaching your kid that's your problem. You might just find out that the guy coaching youth is just as qualified(or not nearly as far off as you imply) as some of the guys coaching hs. You might also find some of those youth coaches to have hs experience. I have talked to a handful of college coaches and they are always very gracious about helping and they respect all coaches regardless of level. It bothers me how a large amount of high school coaches are the exact opposite. Instead of attacking youth coaches why not be a coach and point those bad youth coaches in the right direction. A huge part of coaching, imho, is helping others become better coaches.
|
|
|
Post by bobgoodman on Aug 6, 2014 10:40:27 GMT -6
And this is why I never let my sons play youth football. Tired of some accountant , lawyer, sales manager thinking he can coach because they played in high school. Worse yet, some dad who never played but is in charge at work and thinks that qualifies him for coaching. Then has the nerve to think that what I do for a living is some sort of hobby. One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. I think "anything" is a serious exaggeration. In fact if you're short of coaches, having some players coach their teammates can stretch the staff. In most endeavors, having actually done the thing in question is a plus in teaching it to someone else.
The larger the group you're teaching, the more important the skills of teaching become relative to personal experience with the subject. However, if you get down to 1-on-1, the best individual to teach someone else is usually someone whose own skill at whatever it is is best.
|
|
flingt
Junior Member
"We don't care how big or strong our opponents are as long as they're human.?
Posts: 311
|
Post by flingt on Aug 6, 2014 17:18:39 GMT -6
And this is why I never let my sons play youth football. Tired of some accountant , lawyer, sales manager thinking he can coach because they played in high school. Worse yet, some dad who never played but is in charge at work and thinks that qualifies him for coaching. Then has the nerve to think that what I do for a living is some sort of hobby. One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. Why your profession has anything to do with it is also beyond me. You can make the same arguments for hs coaches as well. A guy played hs and becomes a teacher and know he is qualified to coach hs? What does that have to do with anything. I have seen some horrible high school coaches but nobody wants to admit that. There are some really bad youth coaches out there but there are also some great ones. Many youth coaches don't consider themselves a hobbyist and would find your remarks insulting. Many youth coaches go to clinics regularly, read books, watch video clinics, are online researching all year round, attend local high school practices, etc. As a parent if you are not doing your due diligence to find out about the guy coaching your kid that's your problem. You might just find out that the guy coaching youth is just as qualified(or not nearly as far off as you imply) as some of the guys coaching hs. You might also find some of those youth coaches to have hs experience. I have talked to a handful of college coaches and they are always very gracious about helping and they respect all coaches regardless of level. It bothers me how a large amount of high school coaches are the exact opposite. Instead of attacking youth coaches why not be a coach and point those bad youth coaches in the right direction. A huge part of coaching, imho, is helping others become better coaches. I am just speaking from my experience, it's not a generalization. If you noticed I stated this is why I didn't let my sons play. I am a high school coach and my job is just that, a job, I.e., what I do for a living. I attend clinics, refer to football coaching sites and talk to my colleagues on how to do my job better. I have met way, way, too many youth coaches who don't bother to do anything I stated but rely on what they were taught in high school. A whole lot of "hit somebody", "catch the ball", and "you gotta want it, WHO WANTS IT". If you're offended by the expression of my experience, look at 90% of the posts on this site.
|
|
|
Post by carrcaleb on Aug 7, 2014 4:48:49 GMT -6
To answer the initial post....Yes, on the USA football site there are practice plans for months(that use a progressive teaching method)if thats what you want. They have blank practice sheets that one can use as a guideline for how a practice should be structured as well...some really good stuff on there for all ages.
To address the secondary dig at youth ball coaches....
|
|
|
Post by carrcaleb on Aug 7, 2014 5:01:43 GMT -6
I'm with coach rob on this one. FlingT, you are off base bro. Have I met horrible youth coaches? yes. HS coaches? oh, most certainly. Coaching is your "job" so you better be good at it. I am an HVAC technician AND a youth ball coach and luckily for the HS coaches in this area(state champs last season!)I'm good at both. I am also USA football certified and certified through the state of Indiana to coach tackle football.
Does this mean I am a good coach? no sir, it does not. But what I can tell you is that my coaching "job" is harder than yours. You get kids that already have fundamentals mastered, a knowledge of the game, a general understanding of what we are trying to accomplish on O/D and special teams, I could go on...I get a group of snot nosed, ADHD having little rascals that I can't run to death if they piss me off:)
My "job" starts at the foundation, not building the house. I lay it brick by brick to help guys like you when they reach that level. So I guess what I'm getting at is...Show some respect to the folks who feed you because its not our "job". We do it for the kids
|
|
flingt
Junior Member
"We don't care how big or strong our opponents are as long as they're human.?
Posts: 311
|
Post by flingt on Aug 7, 2014 9:30:20 GMT -6
I'm with coach rob on this one. FlingT, you are off base bro. Have I met horrible youth coaches? yes. HS coaches? oh, most certainly. Coaching is your "job" so you better be good at it. I am an HVAC technician AND a youth ball coach and luckily for the HS coaches in this area(state champs last season!)I'm good at both. I am also USA football certified and certified through the state of Indiana to coach tackle football. Does this mean I am a good coach? no sir, it does not. But what I can tell you is that my coaching "job" is harder than yours. You get kids that already have fundamentals mastered, a knowledge of the game, a general understanding of what we are trying to accomplish on O/D and special teams, I could go on...I get a group of snot nosed, ADHD having little rascals that I can't run to death if they piss me off:) My "job" starts at the foundation, not building the house. I lay it brick by brick to help guys like you when they reach that level. So I guess what I'm getting at is...Show some respect to the folks who feed you because its not our "job". We do it for the kids Ok, I will say this again. THIS IS FROM MY EXPERIENCE. I have know idea what it's like other places, you know why, never lived there. But, I do know that the coaches I have dealt with youth "coaches" who get very intimidated by those that know more than them. By the way, I am a teacher so I understand your pain. The difference is I teach kids who don't want to be at school, as opposed to those who choose to play football. So please don't tell me your job is harder. I know that I have forgotten more football than you know. How do I know this? I have a HVAC at my house and it doesn't make me an expert. Also, if you don't win at your coaching gig, you don't get fired. It's only a job for me in that I get paid to do it. I love coaching football and baseball. It's funny you say that we get kids who have their fundamentals mastered. Far from it. Most of the kids I coach come in as freshman and can't tell me what the hash marks are for. But, keep up the good work.
|
|
|
Post by carrcaleb on Aug 7, 2014 9:58:25 GMT -6
I'm with coach rob on this one. FlingT, you are off base bro. Have I met horrible youth coaches? yes. HS coaches? oh, most certainly. Coaching is your "job" so you better be good at it. I am an HVAC technician AND a youth ball coach and luckily for the HS coaches in this area(state champs last season!)I'm good at both. I am also USA football certified and certified through the state of Indiana to coach tackle football. Does this mean I am a good coach? no sir, it does not. But what I can tell you is that my coaching "job" is harder than yours. You get kids that already have fundamentals mastered, a knowledge of the game, a general understanding of what we are trying to accomplish on O/D and special teams, I could go on...I get a group of snot nosed, ADHD having little rascals that I can't run to death if they piss me off:) My "job" starts at the foundation, not building the house. I lay it brick by brick to help guys like you when they reach that level. So I guess what I'm getting at is...Show some respect to the folks who feed you because its not our "job". We do it for the kids Ok, I will say this again. THIS IS FROM MY EXPERIENCE. I have know idea what it's like other places, you know why, never lived there. But, I do know that the coaches I have dealt with youth "coaches" who get very intimidated by those that know more than them. By the way, I am a teacher so I understand your pain. The difference is I teach kids who don't want to be at school, as opposed to those who choose to play football. So please don't tell me your job is harder. I know that I have forgotten more football than you know. How do I know this? I have a HVAC at my house and it doesn't make me an expert. Also, if you don't win at your coaching gig, you don't get fired. It's only a job for me in that I get paid to do it. I love coaching football and baseball. It's funny you say that we get kids who have their fundamentals mastered. Far from it. Most of the kids I coach come in as freshman and can't tell me what the hash marks are for. But, keep up the good work.
|
|
|
Post by carrcaleb on Aug 7, 2014 10:05:15 GMT -6
FlingT...Your incoming freshmen may have a clue if you took the time to get with the youth program in your area and let them know what needs to be taught to appropriate age groups. Just an idea but I am just a "youth" coach. You are dropping the ball on that one sir. You have an HVAC at your house??? hahahahaha you obviously don't know what that acronym stands for. You keep puffing your chest out and "forgetting more football than I know" and you will keep getting unprepared freshmen. I'm really surprised you blessed us with your presence on the youth board, I am eternally grateful.
|
|
flingt
Junior Member
"We don't care how big or strong our opponents are as long as they're human.?
Posts: 311
|
Post by flingt on Aug 7, 2014 18:44:11 GMT -6
FlingT...Your incoming freshmen may have a clue if you took the time to get with the youth program in your area and let them know what needs to be taught to appropriate age groups. Just an idea but I am just a "youth" coach. You are dropping the ball on that one sir. You have an HVAC at your house??? hahahahaha you obviously don't know what that acronym stands for. You keep puffing your chest out and "forgetting more football than I know" and you will keep getting unprepared freshmen. I'm really surprised you blessed us with your presence on the youth board, I am eternally grateful. Heating, ventilation, air conditioning? Yeah, I got it all. And your welcome. Really, lighten up. I am sure you're a great coach and it sounds like you do a great job but from what I have experienced in the football hotbed of georgia, we don't get very good youth coaching. Why you ask, ego. They think they could a better job than us high school coaches. Well, based on that logic nick Saban couldn't coach jhigh school. So how do you like them apples!!
|
|
|
Post by jrk5150 on Aug 8, 2014 10:04:09 GMT -6
Sigh - yeah, this helps.
Sadly, most youth coaches are idiots. Probably to a higher proportion the HS coaches. Pretty sure nobody on here would argue that there aren't clueless morons at both levels, heck include college with that, so why are we arguing about what amounts to ratios?
There are great coaches around at every level too.
I played college basketball on a full ride. I coached college basketball. I played with and coached kids that went to the NBA and/or are now on TV coaching. Whoop de doo. I am not impressed by someone getting a paycheck for coaching, I've been around enough to know that can be as much about who you know as what you know at EVERY level. I AM impressed by someone with a desire to learn and grow and an understanding there might be something they can do better than they currently do it.
I have a profession that takes a TON of time. Yet I will put the time I spend working on youth football up against the time most "professional" HS coaches put in. And I am the first guy to raise my hand and say I'm not qualified to coach HS football. Not what I want to do. I AM more qualified to coach youth football than 99% of the HS coaches out there, though. And I don't give a sh*t if you respect that or not, because you don't have any impact on what I do. I've sat and watched our youth teams win year after year, then those kids go to HS and win as freshmen, then stop winning when they hit varsity and they don't get any better. So again - yawn. Not impressed with paychecks.
So why don't we step back and agree with this - if they're on here, it's likely (but not guaranteed) they AREN'T in the clueless sucking category, because they're on here learning.
And then let's agree nobody has all the answers, since if you did, you wouldn't be on here.
|
|
|
Post by mahonz on Aug 8, 2014 12:40:59 GMT -6
From all of my experiences it really boils down the the Youth Org as a whole.
Some are run VERY well and put a good product on the field...others will hand anyone that can pass a BG check a whistle and call it good.
I have noticed a drastic overall improvement the last 10-12 years. The Internet has really helped. Better info...better communication...better people....better product. Still its pretty much up to the Org and how much effort they put forth.
|
|
|
Post by panthersol on Aug 10, 2014 11:00:48 GMT -6
Sorry the thread took a negative turn. Maybe my fault. I appreciate the time the coaches put in. I just wanted to know if football had any similar youth program developmental materials like USA Soccer.
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Aug 11, 2014 9:03:38 GMT -6
Is there a base practice plan that Pop Warner coaches use? how much time do you have? and check out USA Football.
|
|
|
Post by mahonz on Aug 11, 2014 12:58:48 GMT -6
Sorry the thread took a negative turn. Maybe my fault. I appreciate the time the coaches put in. I just wanted to know if football had any similar youth program developmental materials like USA Soccer. You are a long time HS level Coach....you have come to expect certain things and now that isn't happening. Try and appreciate what your sons Staff is all about...trying hard but getting beat up by the School of Hard Knocks. Most youth coaches never lack effort....just knowledge. It takes a few season to begin to figure out this coaching thing. Also don't let your disappointments carry over to your son. He is probably having a blast and doesn't see...what you see. Plus its hard to be a Coach and then a fan. My Grand-kids will play Basketball so I go watch...and I grumble...and I know NOTHING about how to teach the game of Basketball ! So this experience has to be 100 times worse for you.
|
|
|
Post by coachrobpsl on Aug 18, 2014 11:31:14 GMT -6
One of the best youth coaches I know never played. Why playing has anything to do with coaching escapes me. Why your profession has anything to do with it is also beyond me. You can make the same arguments for hs coaches as well. A guy played hs and becomes a teacher and know he is qualified to coach hs? What does that have to do with anything. I have seen some horrible high school coaches but nobody wants to admit that. There are some really bad youth coaches out there but there are also some great ones. Many youth coaches don't consider themselves a hobbyist and would find your remarks insulting. Many youth coaches go to clinics regularly, read books, watch video clinics, are online researching all year round, attend local high school practices, etc. As a parent if you are not doing your due diligence to find out about the guy coaching your kid that's your problem. You might just find out that the guy coaching youth is just as qualified(or not nearly as far off as you imply) as some of the guys coaching hs. You might also find some of those youth coaches to have hs experience. I have talked to a handful of college coaches and they are always very gracious about helping and they respect all coaches regardless of level. It bothers me how a large amount of high school coaches are the exact opposite. Instead of attacking youth coaches why not be a coach and point those bad youth coaches in the right direction. A huge part of coaching, imho, is helping others become better coaches. I am just speaking from my experience, it's not a generalization. If you noticed I stated this is why I didn't let my sons play. I am a high school coach and my job is just that, a job, I.e., what I do for a living. I attend clinics, refer to football coaching sites and talk to my colleagues on how to do my job better. I have met way, way, too many youth coaches who don't bother to do anything I stated but rely on what they were taught in high school. A whole lot of "hit somebody", "catch the ball", and "you gotta want it, WHO WANTS IT". If you're offended by the expression of my experience, look at 90% of the posts on this site. I understand what you are saying and I'm certainly not offended by your post. I think as a generalization all youth coaches get grouped together by high school coaches. While the quality of youth coaches still needs to improve across the board greatly I do believe that in the last few years it has improved dramatically. With coaching websites, youtube instructional videos, clinics, video clinics like efootball flix etc that many youth coaches have access to I believe as a group we are getting better. Unfortunately, when a show like Friday Night Tykes gets a bunch of attention it gives youth football coaches a black eye that knows us back a decade or 2. Then you have the idiots that think that is they way that it should be done when they see that crap. I encourage you to check out your local youth coaches. You might be surprised. Maybe not but you never know. Then again, if the kids coming into your program from youth ball do not have solid fundies you probably already have a good idea what is being taught.
|
|
|
Post by scotdaking on Nov 20, 2014 16:41:33 GMT -6
For the most part, youth coaches are unpaid volunteers. We commit our time, effort and money trying to help our kids be the best they can be on game day. Some do it better than others. Some reflect daddy ball. Some cheat. If as youth football coaches we all stay focused on who is most important (the kids) and what the ultimate goal is (introducing and teaching football fundamentals to win at the higher levels) we will be doing a great service to our players and community. Or in the words of Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett, "Thank you for doing God's work."
|
|
|
Post by jrk5150 on Nov 21, 2014 16:22:10 GMT -6
what the ultimate goal is (introducing and teaching football fundamentals to win at the higher levels) Uh, you couldn't possibly be more wrong IMO. So answer this - why would it be more important to the kid on your team this year to win at some point in the future (especially a future in which he may not be playing) than now? The parents paid for their kid to play THIS YEAR. The kid is on your team THIS YEAR. Your goal should be to maximize their experience for THIS YEAR. That includes most of your post, but enough of the preparing them for some future that may or may not even exist. That will happen naturally if you're doing it right, no need to focus on it at the risk of sacrificing the current year.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Clement on Nov 28, 2014 1:05:48 GMT -6
By that logic, shouldn't we all be doing things "like the pros?"
|
|
|
Post by vince148 on Feb 8, 2015 7:55:00 GMT -6
All coaches have to start somewhere. I started 5 years ago in youth ball. Didn't know much. I was asked to be DC of that youth team. Loved the 85 Bear defense, so found what I could and installed it to the best of my ability at that time. Following year I became HC of the jv youth team. Kept studying. Had lots more to learn, but I jumped in with a little more knowledge than I had the year before. Kept asking questions on forums like this. Mahonz has answered hundreds of my questions. This past season, I coached JV at the HS level. I'm still learning. I still have a long way to go. One day, I do want to be HC at a HS. I do something to study football EVERY day. Whether it's xs and os, looking at drills that I can use, making practice plans, borrowing books from the library. I do it because I love the game and I love working with the kids. I love that I can do something that can help a kid become a better person.
|
|
|
Post by mahonz on Feb 21, 2015 15:54:22 GMT -6
All coaches have to start somewhere. I started 5 years ago in youth ball. Didn't know much. I was asked to be DC of that youth team. Loved the 85 Bear defense, so found what I could and installed it to the best of my ability at that time. Following year I became HC of the jv youth team. Kept studying. Had lots more to learn, but I jumped in with a little more knowledge than I had the year before. Kept asking questions on forums like this. Mahonz has answered hundreds of my questions. This past season, I coached JV at the HS level. I'm still learning. I still have a long way to go. One day, I do want to be HC at a HS. I do something to study football EVERY day. Whether it's xs and os, looking at drills that I can use, making practice plans, borrowing books from the library. I do it because I love the game and I love working with the kids. I love that I can do something that can help a kid become a better person. Vince I think you will find what you are looking for in the near future. You work really hard at this coaching thing IMHO.
|
|
|
Post by bigsandwich on Mar 13, 2015 8:05:42 GMT -6
I am the OP. Lost old password. Guess who is the new Junior Pee Wee coach??? Put up or shut up time!
|
|
|
Post by coachrobpsl on Mar 22, 2015 12:34:36 GMT -6
Congrats on the header job coach. The problem with coaching youth(even for the good youth coaches) is lack of time. Since you probably don't have an off season program you will need to develop everything within those 6 hours a week. Remember that the first couple of weeks you are allowed 10 hours a week. I believe that what most youth coaches do wrong in developing a practice schedule is that they don't have a long term plan for the entire season. Anybody can put together a schedule that has 10 minutes of warmups(too much in my mind for youth), 30 minutes indies, 30 minutes group,30 minutes team, 20 minutes specials or whatever. The issue is that these kids usually have little if any football skills and some don't even know the basic rules. So having a long term schedule is important to implement what will developed and in what order so that come game one you can put a team on the field and be competitive. We design our practice schedules based on our long term schedule. We need to meet certain goals each week as position coaches. If not the team fails. As each week progresses reinforcement must occur with the EDDs but you also need to move on to new skills. This all seems pretty obvious but believe me it is not. Never loose site of the fact that your kids and most likely your staff is clueless with little experience or knowledge. EDDs and all other drills have to be followed exactly as designed and the coaches have to know what that design is. If not, you schedule will be meaningless. Again, obvious, but in the youth world even more important imho.
The most important thing to consider in youth practice scheduling is the time allotted to the oline. Come up with a good amount of time that they are together with group and indies and then double it. I prefer my oline to not play defense so on defensive days that group can be doing oline stuff. Very few youth teams have good olines. The ones that do, win championships and allow overall team success. When the oline is working, the qb, backs and recievers will be able to develop. Without a good line, the ball handlers can do their thing. Anybody can run behind a good oline.
|
|
|
Post by tiger46 on Mar 24, 2015 9:56:07 GMT -6
Coachrobpsl pretty much just posted some youth gospel. So, if you can't find a good youth practice plan you can always create your own just by following his tips. There are no off-season programs, boosters, weight training, etc... In youth football you are sprinting. You have very little time to accomplish quite a lot.
If you are the HC, coach the O-line! I can't stress that enough. Make sure that they have EDD throughout the season.
Break the backyard football mentality of your players. Grabbing a kid's shirt is great for backyard football. He'll stop running. That kid knows if he comes home with a ripped school shirt, he's going to get ripped. Doesn't work so much in pads with jerseys.
Break the X-Box mentality, also. Tackling, throwing and running a football is very easy under the A/C with a game controller. It's not so easy under the hot Texas sun with an opposing player determined to keep you from accomplishing any one of those goals.
Be prepared for MPP rules. Do not ever let your MPP's believe that they are MPP's. Be realistic with them. Don't coddle them. But, don't belittle them or ignore them, either. Find something productive that they can do and get them do it.
Make everyone hustle. It takes absolutely no talent to hustle. Your players will be surprised at how many plays that they make just through hustling through to the whistle. Our players got to participate in a practice clinic put on by the U of Tx. coaching staff this past summer. It lasted 4hrs. It cost $400.00 per player. One thing that I noticed; those UT coaches were almost as no-nonsense with youth players as they were with their own players. They let them know that attitude mattered. More than one spoiled kid got his butt sent to the stands with his mother or coach. I think those kids thought it was going to be a lark and a photo-op with the UT coaches and players. Lol....nope! They got put to work or they got put in the stands.
Organize your coaches. Don't let them just stand around being spectators. You may just have to deal with having a 'get back' coach on your staff. That's a guy who is mostly useless. Be prepared. We turned our 'get back' coach into an expert at keeping up with the water. Our HC refers to him as Coach H20. We led the league in hydration.
You have to be aware of youth players' attention spans. Generally speaking, keep your drills to about 10mins, or less. If you have a position coach that keeps telling you that he needs more time, you have to tell him that there is no more time. He has to learn to keep up. You will need to help out with that or replace him.
I don't want to see this thread locked as the last one was. I have to take some of the responsibility about getting that thread locked. It was not my intent to attack HS coaches. Honestly, I think it's great when HS coaches want to become involved with youth sports. However, I think bad blood can be created when HS coaches think that they are always bringing the light to the unwashed masses that are all youth coaches. Another reason is that many youth coaches are stubborn, stupid and just refuse to listen when they are in serious need of help. They find out that this sh1t ain't as easy as it looks from the bleachers.
Experienced HS coaches are a wealth of information. I have no doubts that the good ones have forgotten more football than I'll ever know. But, youth football and HS football aren't the same animal. Many youth coaches would have absolutely no fear of a typical experienced HS coach fielding a youth team for the first time anymore than a HS coach would feel concern about a typically experienced YC fielding a HS team for the first time.
|
|
|
Post by miltier on Mar 24, 2015 13:15:15 GMT -6
For my practices I generate my own plan based on what my beliefs are to being successful, simple blocking and tackling. Many kids have bad form tackling, wrong head placement, drops to knees for some unknown reason when trying to tackle, and bad posture when tackling. We work a lot of time on form and work as slow as needed to get to perfect tackle form or as close as we can be. As far as offense, everybody must block, backs included. The line does many reps of our blocking scheme again emphasizing footwork, hand placement, head placement, stop A GAP penetration(my preference) and knowing who to block. I hate hearing from the sidelines a coach yell "BLOCK SOMEBODY". Who is that somebody? Kids need to know who and you want them blocking the correct person anyways. Take the time so they know who to block and how. You can install as many formations and plays as you want, if you don't execute blocking you won't be successful on offense. Time is a factor, specials are the last for us except punt and kick off. I spend more time on punt because you've got to be able to punt the ball. As far as kickoffs in youth, seems most are onside kicks anyways and not hard to install. The return game is pretty simple for installing. Not a lot of time there. Besides if you're sending your kickoff return team to the field more than 2-3 times, it's probably not going your way anyhow witht the score. Rotate your drills and vary them so kids don't get bored with them and split into as many groups as you have coaches that allow. I also don't like 2 kids doing one on one tackling or something and 23 kids watching. Split them up into two or three groups and as a head coach walk the groups. Just some of the practice ideas/plans we carry out.
|
|