need pregame stretching routine

Leave you're email, and I'll send you a copy of our game day itinerary.

Option Coach,

Right on, my brother. WARMING THE MUSCLES IS WHAT COUNTS AND STATIC STRETCHING DOES NOT DO THAT AS WE WERE TAUGHT THAT IT DOES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS!!! DYNAMIC STRETCHING IS THE WAY TO GO. Check the archives for threads on this topic, as there is a wealth of excellent info on this topic.

Coach Easton

I agree with the previous posts, we do a warm-up prior to practice. We also stretch however, at the end of practice. We us the BFS program and their philosophy is that stretching at the end of practice, when your muscles are very warm increases speed. There are about 10 stretches and the routine takes 15-20 minutes. Although I don't have any specific numbers, I don't think we have had any increase in injuries.

M. Richtman

I don't have it in front of me... but from memory we do (for 10 yards each)


Ankle bounce (isolates ankle and calf)
Butt kickers (isolates quads)
Monster Walk "forward lunges with arms raised and back arched" (isolates quad)
Leg raise toe touches (isolates hamstring)
Side lunges (isolates groin)
Arm Circles
Neck circlesPower Skips with arms swung across chest, then over head, then down low (another leg work that also stretches arms and back)
Carioca (sp?)
Sprints (only 15 yards)

We do these 10 yards down and back. After this we go right into individual work.

If I forgot anything I will repost.

I began using a "dynamic" warmup with my kids two years ago after listening to the Texans S&C Coach Dan Riley at a clinic speaking on this subject. The premise makes a lot of sense in that static stretching is much more beneficial post-workout rather than pre. It is tough to change things that almost seem like part of the fabric of the game itself and pre-game stretching is most definitely one of those rituals that has been around probably as long as the game itself.

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

Coach,

Knowing that speed is a combination of stride length and stride frequency, can't quite ascertain in my own mind how post practice static stretching (just because muscles are warm) would have anything to do with building speed. Squats build the glutes which are the major muscle involved in driving your legs
to produce the necessary stride length and stride frequency that speed is built around, how would post practice static stretches improve those glutes? I'm totally sold on dynamic stretching, after being diametrically opposed!

Coach Easton

Quote

---

The gazelle doesn't stretch before it runs from the cheetah.

---

and a Hound Dog doesn't stretch after sleeping on the porch all day before it chases a car down the road.

Stretching is over rated. We do a 5 minute stretch on the hams and groin and then it's on....to date we have had zippy hamstring pulls and no injuries to the groin from doing the "rocky stretch". I have been doing this for 5 years with no problems. While other teams spend 20 minutes stretching we spend 5 stretching and 15 minutes becoming a better football player.

And I used to be a HUGE believer in stretching....we'd spend 30 minutes a day stretching....Now we work on what we are there for....football!

I'll drop a bomb shell related to this discussion as to why certain exercise physiology concepts catch on and seem to become "law" (like spending 15 minutes or more doing static stretches the way most of us did as either players or coaches) despite the fact that there is either weak or no scientific evidence to back up the claims that some people make. (Stretching reduces injuries, stretching makes you faster, etc.)

The bombshell was this: In doing some research I got in touch with a professor in exercise physiology (I won't give his name) from San Diego State who had published several books on why strength and power training does not improve athlete's performance. Basically, he said (and I am paraphrasing) that it is simply a matter of "keeping up with the Jones", that there is NO scientific data to support the claim that lifting weights improves an athlete's ability to perform in game situations. Lifting has become part of the "culture" of sports and no one is willing (as a coach, or organization) to put themselves on the line and be the one guy who goes his own way on this issue, the obvious reason being that if the teams were ultimately not successful. He sent me an abstract of a study that was done in 1999 as an example of what he was talking about, which I was going to include, but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to put on the board here.

Despite what he said, I do have our kids lift weights, and I still beleive that being bigger and stronger is a good thing! But I did see a common thread with our discussion on stretching and or warming up. 10 or 15 years ago, wouldn't the idea of not doing some kind of static stretching be looked upon as just as crazy? Just thinking aloud.

Coach, I would certainly agree with the professor's assertion that progressive resistance training will not make anyone a better football player or athlete in general. I think just about any strength coach at the collegiate or professional level would say that their strongest player is often not their best player at a particular position. And although I agree with you that football, probably moreso than many other sports, has many traditions that are not based on scientific fact or research, I don't think lifting, plyometric and other forms of resistance training are simply for "keeping up with the Jones'". Football coaches (as I'm sure any of the older coaches on the board can attest) vehemently resisted modern strength training methods for many years after other sports had begun to adopt their use. Lifting definitely won't make you a better athlete, but when done properly, it sure can make you a faster, stronger, more explosive athlete which when combined with solid coaching of skills should lead to improved performance as a player. Just my opinion on the subject - looking forward to hearing what you guys think...

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

Quote

---

Originally posted by: billatlas
I don't have it in front of me... but from memory we do (for 10 yards each)


Ankle bounce (isolates ankle and calf)
Butt kickers (isolates quads)
Monster Walk "forward lunges with arms raised and back arched" (isolates quad)
Leg raise toe touches (isolates hamstring)
Side lunges (isolates groin)
Arm Circles
Neck circlesPower Skips with arms swung across chest, then over head, then down low (another leg work that also stretches arms and back)
Carioca (sp?)
Sprints (only 15 yards)

We do these 10 yards down and back. After this we go right into individual work.

If I forgot anything I will repost.

---

Bill -

I just picked up the Parisi Dynamic Warm-up DVD from elitefts.com. It has many of these movements and would be a worthwhile investment for any coach looking to implement this kind of training.

Coach
Would it be possible if you could e-mail a copy of your pre-game also, I have not been satisfied with ours the last several years.
Thank You
Brett McPherson
HFC
William Monroe H.S.
bmcpherson@greenecountyschools.com

Just to clarify, I was simply sharing with everyone what one "expert" had to say about lifting weights. It is NOT what I personally beleive. Personally, I think that the physical benefits are important, but for HS kids, I think a strong commitment to the weight room has an even stronger effect on a team's attitude.

I brought it up because our discussion about pre-practice stretching reminded me of the email I had received from this professor in which he disclosed his theory that lifting weights is not beneficial to athletic performance. Many of the coaches who responded earlier about pre-practice, static stretching have gone in a different direction despite the fact that when most of us were playing or first coaching, lining everyone up and stretching was simply part of what you did, mostly without questioning why. I know when I first became a head coach, our practice plan was almost identical to that of the head coach I most respected and admired, which contained a stretching period, so we stretched. I found it rather shocking (which is why I called it bombshell) that there are those out there that would put weight lifting in the same category.

I agree! I also hit on the team aspect of lifting. Our school will not allow me to mandate lifting weights; I come as close as I can to doing so, though, and the way I sell it to the kids and parents is by telling them football is a team sport unlike any other. In most sports, an individual's safety is not basically in the hands of other team mates. If our left tackle is not strong enough, or quick enough, to keep the DE from blind-siding our QB, not only will we struggle to win, but another player's safety is in jeopardy because of him. Football is one of a few sports where my physical condition can help keep myself from being injured, as well as protect those around me. I don't like comparing football to war, but I do use this analogy with our kids: Those men that joined the Airborne during WWII (and had to endure a much more rigorous training program) almost to a man have said that one of the main reasons they did was because if they were going to fight, they wanted to know they were surrounded by the best, and therefore stood a better chance of staying alive if everyone knew their job and physically had what to took to do their job. I guess to put it bluntly, they wanted to know the guy next to them in the foxhole, wasn't going to get them killed.

I would appreciate a copy of the game day sch. also! Thanks, ssnodgrass@knox.k12.in.us