Post by Coach Campbell on Apr 11, 2013 12:47:18 GMT
I've always believed that you win games through practice. In order to do that you need to challenge your players both individually and as a team as much as possible throughout the week in order to prepare them to be successful on game day. I think it's important that you maintain a fast tempo at practice. This is the main reason I believe that a coach would want to break practice into five minute segments. It keeps everyone constantly on the move, which helps to maintain a good tempo, as well as promote enthusiasm and energy during practice.
I believe that you should start practice in your individual position groups teaching position specific fundamentals and develop your player's technique. Indy drills give the most one on one time between the player and coach. This is important because from a coaching perspective you are able to give your players the necessary tools that they can use in a live situation versus a defense. I think too many teams nowadays forget the importance of individual periods and would rather spend more time scrimmaging. To me individual periods are the foundation that you lay so that each member of the team can be successful when they come together and work as a group.
After 5 periods of individual work we will move to "Team Take Off" or T.T.O. The focus during this period is to get the energy of practice going as well as run 6 plays that we may be installing (pre season camp) or game planning (in season) that we want to rep in live action. During pre season camp we rotate every 2 plays between the 1's, 2's and 3's. However, in season we give the first 4 reps to the 1's and the last 2 reps to the 2's.
Period 7 is the Pride Drill. The pride drill is a high intensity contact drill that is only performed in full pads. Four stations are set-up, 10 yards in length and 3 yards in width. All four stations are setup between the hash and the sideline. Each station pairs up an offensive and defensive position against one another. The four stations are two OL/DL stations, one TE,FB/LB station, and one WR/DB station. The drill goes as follows, one station goes at a time. A QB stands 5 yards behind the L.O.S. and on his cadence hands the ball to a RB who tries to run through the 10 yard zone to score while avoiding the defender trying to shed the block and make the tackle. This is a great drill because it is a short yardage drill and it limits injuries that often occur during tackling drills and it also teaches the fundamentals of sustaining a block and shedding a block.
From Pride Drill we move break off and move to 1-on-1's and Full Line. 1-on-1's are your typical WR versus DB drill. Depending on the number of WR's/DB's you have, you can create several groups across the field so that you can as many reps as possible in 10 minutes. Full Line is usually done on the opposite end of the field from 1-on1's and the offense works into the end zone against the defense who is trying to keep them out. This is your typical 9-on-7 or inside run drill that excludes WR's and DB's.
Period 10 and 11 are Normal Down Skelly. We consider normal down's 1 and 2nd down. What we try do during this period is rep plays that we would call on first and second down during a series. During Skelly we like to hit home runs and throw the deep ball for touchdown's however our main objective is to complete a high percentage of passes and gain 4+ yards per completion. During this time the OL works individual drills on the opposite end of the field.
Period 12 and 13 are our Review periods. During Review we service ourselves so our 2's get out and play scout defense. Similar to TTO depending on the time of the year, pre-season or in-season we either work on a play(s) we're installing or ones that we've game planned. We slow this period down and slow teach things, the focus during this period isn't necessarily on the number of reps we get but rather that we are executing our assignments correctly.
Our second Skelly period is just like period 10 and 11, the only difference is that our focus is on converting 3rd downs. We have chains out and each play is a different distance, it may be 3rd and 10 the first play and 3rd and 7 the second play. This gets our guys into the habit of recognizing the down and distance and be aware of how many yards we need to pick up the first down.
Next is V-Drill, which like the Pride Drill is a full contact drill that's only done in full pads. A "V" is painted on the grass that 20 yards long and widens every 5. Similar to the Pride Drill you have OL/DL facing off against each other at the first 5 yards, TE,FB/LB at the second 5 and WR/DB's at the last 5. A QB and RB stand at the point of the V which is 5 yards back from the first group. We keep score and the loser does up down's, the objective is for the offensive team to score and the defense is trying to stop them by either pushing the runner out of bounds or tackling him.
The next 12 periods of practice are all live drills that incorporate game situations. The two team periods gives us great flexibility to work whatever we as a staff feel needs the most work. We can designate a specific focus for any of these team periods such as red zone, blitz pick up, game management (Beginning of the game,-10 coming out, 2-minute, 4-minute situations) etc. We also incorporate the two special teams periods that we're working with whatever our focus is during the team periods. We feel that this creates the best game like situation and prepares our gives for sudden change, as well as many unexpected scenarios that happen during the game. Once again all of this is done with high intensity and tempo, we like to get as many reps/plays in as possible and prefer to teach off the film than on the field.
Our final review is often used to correct a repeated mistake we made during team, whether it be pass pro, blocking schemes on run game or route/read concepts in the pass game. This is a slow teach period where the focus again is on assignment. This is an important period for us because we can teach on the field, so that once we get inside to review the film the guys have an understanding of their mistakes and it gives them a jump start to improve next practice.
In conclusion, I think it's very important to have practice clearly planned out before hand so that you're able to have a fast and efficient practice. I'm a big supporter of 5 minute periods because I feel they break up the monotony of practice and help keep the energy and enthusiasm high. There are many different ways to structure your practice and you can be successful using a number of different systems. Your coaches and players must have a passion for the game and I think it's important that you instill great fundamentals within your players through good practice habits.
Unkown author
I believe that you should start practice in your individual position groups teaching position specific fundamentals and develop your player's technique. Indy drills give the most one on one time between the player and coach. This is important because from a coaching perspective you are able to give your players the necessary tools that they can use in a live situation versus a defense. I think too many teams nowadays forget the importance of individual periods and would rather spend more time scrimmaging. To me individual periods are the foundation that you lay so that each member of the team can be successful when they come together and work as a group.
After 5 periods of individual work we will move to "Team Take Off" or T.T.O. The focus during this period is to get the energy of practice going as well as run 6 plays that we may be installing (pre season camp) or game planning (in season) that we want to rep in live action. During pre season camp we rotate every 2 plays between the 1's, 2's and 3's. However, in season we give the first 4 reps to the 1's and the last 2 reps to the 2's.
Period 7 is the Pride Drill. The pride drill is a high intensity contact drill that is only performed in full pads. Four stations are set-up, 10 yards in length and 3 yards in width. All four stations are setup between the hash and the sideline. Each station pairs up an offensive and defensive position against one another. The four stations are two OL/DL stations, one TE,FB/LB station, and one WR/DB station. The drill goes as follows, one station goes at a time. A QB stands 5 yards behind the L.O.S. and on his cadence hands the ball to a RB who tries to run through the 10 yard zone to score while avoiding the defender trying to shed the block and make the tackle. This is a great drill because it is a short yardage drill and it limits injuries that often occur during tackling drills and it also teaches the fundamentals of sustaining a block and shedding a block.
From Pride Drill we move break off and move to 1-on-1's and Full Line. 1-on-1's are your typical WR versus DB drill. Depending on the number of WR's/DB's you have, you can create several groups across the field so that you can as many reps as possible in 10 minutes. Full Line is usually done on the opposite end of the field from 1-on1's and the offense works into the end zone against the defense who is trying to keep them out. This is your typical 9-on-7 or inside run drill that excludes WR's and DB's.
Period 10 and 11 are Normal Down Skelly. We consider normal down's 1 and 2nd down. What we try do during this period is rep plays that we would call on first and second down during a series. During Skelly we like to hit home runs and throw the deep ball for touchdown's however our main objective is to complete a high percentage of passes and gain 4+ yards per completion. During this time the OL works individual drills on the opposite end of the field.
Period 12 and 13 are our Review periods. During Review we service ourselves so our 2's get out and play scout defense. Similar to TTO depending on the time of the year, pre-season or in-season we either work on a play(s) we're installing or ones that we've game planned. We slow this period down and slow teach things, the focus during this period isn't necessarily on the number of reps we get but rather that we are executing our assignments correctly.
Our second Skelly period is just like period 10 and 11, the only difference is that our focus is on converting 3rd downs. We have chains out and each play is a different distance, it may be 3rd and 10 the first play and 3rd and 7 the second play. This gets our guys into the habit of recognizing the down and distance and be aware of how many yards we need to pick up the first down.
Next is V-Drill, which like the Pride Drill is a full contact drill that's only done in full pads. A "V" is painted on the grass that 20 yards long and widens every 5. Similar to the Pride Drill you have OL/DL facing off against each other at the first 5 yards, TE,FB/LB at the second 5 and WR/DB's at the last 5. A QB and RB stand at the point of the V which is 5 yards back from the first group. We keep score and the loser does up down's, the objective is for the offensive team to score and the defense is trying to stop them by either pushing the runner out of bounds or tackling him.
The next 12 periods of practice are all live drills that incorporate game situations. The two team periods gives us great flexibility to work whatever we as a staff feel needs the most work. We can designate a specific focus for any of these team periods such as red zone, blitz pick up, game management (Beginning of the game,-10 coming out, 2-minute, 4-minute situations) etc. We also incorporate the two special teams periods that we're working with whatever our focus is during the team periods. We feel that this creates the best game like situation and prepares our gives for sudden change, as well as many unexpected scenarios that happen during the game. Once again all of this is done with high intensity and tempo, we like to get as many reps/plays in as possible and prefer to teach off the film than on the field.
Our final review is often used to correct a repeated mistake we made during team, whether it be pass pro, blocking schemes on run game or route/read concepts in the pass game. This is a slow teach period where the focus again is on assignment. This is an important period for us because we can teach on the field, so that once we get inside to review the film the guys have an understanding of their mistakes and it gives them a jump start to improve next practice.
In conclusion, I think it's very important to have practice clearly planned out before hand so that you're able to have a fast and efficient practice. I'm a big supporter of 5 minute periods because I feel they break up the monotony of practice and help keep the energy and enthusiasm high. There are many different ways to structure your practice and you can be successful using a number of different systems. Your coaches and players must have a passion for the game and I think it's important that you instill great fundamentals within your players through good practice habits.
Unkown author