Big Dilemma about Double Sessions (Two-a-days)

I have found , for the most part, that "on field" sessions that extend for over 2 hours or so really become counter productive when working with HS athletes. Seemed like I always had the best luck with
hours like 8am-10am and 4pm-6pm for 2 a days. Was the QB coach and OC at a school one time in the rural setting you have, groundchuck, and we opened the Fall practice in what I thought was a rather unique way. Even though it was a small 2A school in Florida, we had 50 athletes on roster every year and the student body and the town were solidly behind the program. Our HC came up with the idea of having a "MIDNIGHT MADNESS" and it really went well. Fall practice began at 12:01 am on the first day
and we turned the stadium lights on at 11:00pm. We had promoted the event and the towns people came out in force! At precisely 12:01am we took the field and our kids were really pumped! We worked until 2:00am and had a great opening practice! We let them sleep in the next day until 9:00 and they were back at the locker room at 10:30, not one single player missing! I threw this out, as I know the small schools sometimes don't get the needed support, and it really worked well for getting the town's attention. Your both right in getting them in "hitting shape" ASAP, imo. Being in shape and being in hitting shape, is two entirely different things in my book. Good Luck!

Coach Easton

I totally agree with what Blackfly says regarding hitting. We get into it early on to see who wants to hit and then back off. We really limit full contact in season and rarely do it outside of position drill work. As for Gags and the Johnnies they can get away with it, he can recruit kids who already know how to play football and his staff gets them better. I think you can do some live hitting but do it in such a way to reduce the chance of injury. For example we tackle live 2 days a week all season in station work. We use a high jump pit and set the drill up so we tackle onto the mat. Soft landing in a 1on1 situation to reduce the chance of injury. I agree that if you start scrimmaging live regularly you'll wear the guys out by Friday. It is definitely a fine line between too much and not enough. I think you have to know your team.

Coach Lou,

You've got a guarenteed 6 assistants for 22 kids. You should not have a problem with covering your squad. Go with the hours you have. We have 4 coaches for a squad of 50 during doubles.

Be careful with the amount of hiiting you're doing. I played at a small rural school (about 28 players my senior year) in NY with a coach that liked to hit a lot during doubles and also every Wednesday and Thursday during the practice week (we played all games on Saturday afternoons). We lost five seniors by the end of the first two weeks of the season and a program that had one loss in each of the preceding three years went 3-6 that year.

Another small program here in MA had to cancel varsity football last year after the second week of the season after injuries reduced his squad to 15 from 22.

Tigerone;

No worries I don't think you're being rude in any way, shape or form. The sports physician I mentioned is however a top person, he's done surgeries on a number of pro athletes, and done a good number of studies between programs that hit full out frequently versus those that go to 'thud' - he did find that there were less repetitive stress injuries with a lighter program (has alot to do with muscle and tendon stress) and it shaped the college program that I played at... and they're a top national program. However, we're not saying this is the ONLY way... its just our way and we're not looking to convince or convert people. Its just our way, not "THE" way.

We've just got different opinions, and thats GREAT! Indeed the way our program works is totally opposite to the other programs in our area... we think its contributed to our success, but that's just our opinion and every school and group of players is different.

We only hit full bore once a year. We do however practice good form tackling at 3/4 speed all year round. We're probably the hardest hitting team and best tackling in our area (and we've played some top schools over the years), and our guys aren't sore. Alot of it has to do with the kids that come into our program; these are "hard young men" as you put it. They're out there to hit, and they love to hit. Our program used to hit alot and we found that we were constantly nicked up, and banged up by the time we got to the 2nd half of the season. Again, in college we did some full bore hitting, and lost several all-stars in a practice, more than in 5 previous years, and it cost us a national title appearance.

We've got that bunch of tough kids... we just don't believe that we need to prove it during the week on ourselves... we'd rather go out and smack on Friday nights, having saved up our aggression and bodies during the week. We spend the extra time and energy on execution, teaching sound technique, and reps.

We've also year after year been free of injuries going into the playoffs... while other teams are banged and bruised.

We practice game type situations with our tackling. Our tackling is NEVER done using bags or dummies. I agree with you they can't simulate the human body, and the mechanics needed for different types of tackles... so we go full speed to the point of the tackle... and then we simply wrap up and NEVER take a guy to ground.

Again its just our way, not 'THE' way. Its worked for us. Like some of the other posters we've had some great teams in our league so banged up at the end of the regular season that they've had to drop out. My concern is with the original poster's program of 22 guys over such an age range (14-18) that a heavy hitting regimen would do more harm than good.

Again... its just our way and I wanted to rationalize WHY we do it and how it's worked for us. We're not looking to revolutionize people's thinking... just let others know what's worked for us.