Post by Oneback on May 9, 2013 13:10:22 GMT
From the book Turnaround: Bear Bryant's 1st Year at Alabama by Tom Stoddard (Amazon.com):
"BEAR" BRYANT MAT DRILLS (ON HIS RETURN TO BAMA IN 1958):
The means by which the coaches began player assessments was a "voluntary" conditioning program that began in January. The sessions were voluntary, but everyone knew that players who did not volunteer would find themselves looking for food and lodging elsewhere and lose their scholarships.
Bama players underwent 3 phases of the program - agilities, mat drills, & weights (in shifts of 25 in each).
Pat James was the coach in charge of the mat drills conducted on a regulation Wrestling Mat. The clear intent was to use the wrestling to test football players' strength, endurance, and will to win. Wrestling under James was not like wrestling anywhere else. Players were put through the mat drills in shifts of 25. "You wrestled for your life" said one of the players. Some found themselves unable to do anything but crawl away from the mat. At the end of the session as the players stumbled out of the mat room, they were covered with sweat, many of them bleeding and smelling of vomit.
It was fairly easy to find out who had ability, that was easy enough. But it took a lot more to find out who was going to stick in, who was tough enough to win when it was hard. "We challenged them - we checked them and checked them again" said Pat James.
We weren't going to have a team that couldn't take it! The players found the drills a forum in which they could display the kind of aggressiveness that impressed the coaches and earned them the right to play. The players realized that what it "took" was 200 percent. Those who stayed built themselves into the best condition of their lives, and thrived on the intensity.
It was survival, that's all it was. It was the mental thing — reaching down so hard and so deep into what you had — that you either had to get on the wagon or get out! Those who stuck with it were shedding their losing attitudes and beginning to believe in themselves. After enduring this — a player mentally changed, he felt like you could handle anything that showed up, you had gone through so much hell.
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PS: While not recommended for Youth players, we had a modified version of this in High School, and the players LOVED IT! Produced GREAT results!
"BEAR" BRYANT MAT DRILLS (ON HIS RETURN TO BAMA IN 1958):
The means by which the coaches began player assessments was a "voluntary" conditioning program that began in January. The sessions were voluntary, but everyone knew that players who did not volunteer would find themselves looking for food and lodging elsewhere and lose their scholarships.
Bama players underwent 3 phases of the program - agilities, mat drills, & weights (in shifts of 25 in each).
Pat James was the coach in charge of the mat drills conducted on a regulation Wrestling Mat. The clear intent was to use the wrestling to test football players' strength, endurance, and will to win. Wrestling under James was not like wrestling anywhere else. Players were put through the mat drills in shifts of 25. "You wrestled for your life" said one of the players. Some found themselves unable to do anything but crawl away from the mat. At the end of the session as the players stumbled out of the mat room, they were covered with sweat, many of them bleeding and smelling of vomit.
It was fairly easy to find out who had ability, that was easy enough. But it took a lot more to find out who was going to stick in, who was tough enough to win when it was hard. "We challenged them - we checked them and checked them again" said Pat James.
We weren't going to have a team that couldn't take it! The players found the drills a forum in which they could display the kind of aggressiveness that impressed the coaches and earned them the right to play. The players realized that what it "took" was 200 percent. Those who stayed built themselves into the best condition of their lives, and thrived on the intensity.
It was survival, that's all it was. It was the mental thing — reaching down so hard and so deep into what you had — that you either had to get on the wagon or get out! Those who stuck with it were shedding their losing attitudes and beginning to believe in themselves. After enduring this — a player mentally changed, he felt like you could handle anything that showed up, you had gone through so much hell.
***************************************************************************
PS: While not recommended for Youth players, we had a modified version of this in High School, and the players LOVED IT! Produced GREAT results!