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AFM Magazine


HOW TO REAP THE REWARDS OF PLAY DIAGRAMING SOFTWARE

by: Rod Smith
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No one needs to remind you that coaching is a time-consuming profession. Game planning. Practice planning. Scouting. Play diagraming. All of these things take valuable time.

Perhaps you know a resourceful coach who always seems to find new ways to make more efficient use of his time. These coaches are usually the successful ones. Managing your time and your team are both necessities. So is preparing your team. One tool that can help you become more efficient and also help you prepare your team is play diagraming software.

WHY DIAGRAM? WHY NOW?

Automating your playbook will not only save you countless hours of preparation, but lend you much needed assistance when creating handouts, weekly game preparation books, practice drill cards, animation or presentations. Not to mention, make each of these tasks easier.

With the elimination of all hand drawings, your diagrams will always look crisp and clean. No more white out or wasted lines. Automating your playbook will also make recalling your plays more efficient. You will be able to add or subtract plays and then print new handouts at the touch of a button. All of which makes teaching your players a little bit easier.

In fact, including visual cues such as numbers and instructions may help your players to learn opponent's plays and tendencies. Or it simply may give them more study time. According to Chuck Knox, Jr., outside linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings, being able to quickly print and distribute hard copies of your own or your opponent's most important plays or formations might give your players the preparation advantage for an upcoming game.

"It's just like a teacher telling you 'Heah, you've got to go home and read chapter 10. There's going to be information in there that I'm not going to be able to teach to you in the 50 minutes that we have in class.' And it's the same thing with us," Knox says. "Even though we have (the players) all day, we don't always have an exorbitant amount of meeting time. And if they can glean one or two key points out of (the diagrams) that's a plus."

HOW-TO AUTOMATE YOUR PLAYBOOK

A quality diagraming program will allow you to create plays at the click of a button. Once you have 22 players (11 offense, 11 defense), then use your mouse to reposition both the offense and defense. For example move the quarterback into a shotgun formation or set your running backs into a Power-I formation. Using your mouse, you should be able to highlight one or more players at a time. Are you diagraming offensive plays or formations? By highlighting the entire defense and then clicking the appropriate button you can make it invisible. Now draw your offensive plays unencumbered.

The next step is to set the players' symbols. Choose from a preset list of shapes such as circles, triangles, and X's or give each player a number or a two-letter abbreviation such as QB, HB, or TB. This ability to label players with your own terminology adds a degree of flexibility and reduces the chance that your players will become confused. You should also be able to change the size of the player symbols, thus making your diagrams larger or smaller and perhaps easier to read.

After you familiarize yourself with the repositioning and labeling of players, the next skill you will want to master is drawing lines. Lines are important because they illustrate everything from motion to blocking assignments to pass routes. While software packages will vary, most diagraming programs will have at least three line tools - a plain line tool, an arrow head line, and what is called a block head line tool. While the first simply draws straight lines, the arrowhead lines point direction and the block head line tool can be used to indicate blocking assignments. Combining these drawing tools with special line tools that curve, angle or indicate motion, you should be able to draw any play or formation necessary for your playbook. Changing the thickness of a line can indicate importance. Most programs will not only allow you to make thin, medium or thick lines, but allow you to change colors or implement a dashed line to indicate a pass.

Whether its before you draw or after the play has been finished, a football field can be added to any diagram. Hash marks can be set for the professional, collegiate or high school levels. And yard lines and numbers can be included to give your play a specific setting such as inside the Red Zone or on the goal line. All of these add authenticity and help improve the accuracy of your drawings.

Once a play diagram has been created, it can be duplicated and pasted with ease. A special command allows for plays to be reversed around the center, thus eliminating the need to re-draw the same play with the reversed formation.

Another command that allows you to save time and eliminates the need to re-draw certain formations is the Library. Save formation templates such as an I-backfield or Split backs set to the Library and then apply these formations when drawing new plays.

Important recall information can be added with text. The formation or play name, coaching points and visual cues are three things that will aide your players when it comes time to recall information. By adding coaching points such as defensive gap assignments, rotation calls, and coverages or offensive blocking schemes and calls, players will be more likely to remember important details of each play or formation. Visual cues such as numbers or notes next to a route or block will give players additional tools that may make the difference when it comes time to take the field. Underlining key words or putting important instructions in bold can also help your players when they are studying your drawings.

KEYS TO PLAY DIAGRAMING SUCCESS

Like any football fundamental, good play diagraming requires practice. No matter what level of computer expertise a coach possesses, he shouldn't expect to be an instant expert at play diagraming. And you shouldn't get too frustrated when your initial diagrams take longer to draw than those you used to sketch with a marker on the dry-erase board.

The Vikings' Knox, who has been using diagraming software since 1993, not only stresses practice but the importance of not being "intimidated by the software." He also recommends that coaches have an idea of what they want their playbook to look like when they are picking out diagraming software. "If you're (going to be) drawing up a playbook, have an idea what you want your playbook to look like," Knox says. "Go from there and don't get frustrated. A lot of guys get frustrated when things don't go well."

Don't be fooled. Automating your playbook is a time-consuming task, one that may take weeks or months of dedicated work. But like any fundamental, the ground work has to be laid before any rewards can be reaped. Another veteran NFL coach, the New York Giants' Tom Olivadotti suggests creating a project that forces a coach to "get repetitions" with play diagraming. "The most important thing," says Olivadotti, "is 'Does it save time?' Yes. 'Does it give you the flexibility to do the things you want?' Yes. And does it allow you to give a good presentation?"

If play diagraming software can do all this for you and your team, then maybe the real question should be 'How come you don't have this tool in your office?'

Automating your playbook will not only save you countless hours of preparation, but lend you much needed assistance when creating handouts, weekly game preparation books, practice drill cards, animation or presentations.

DIAGRAMING TIPS

1. Add Animation - An easy add-on with the right software, animation helps you to further illustrate how a play might unfold, or why you are running a certain play against a particular formation. For some players, an animated drawing creates the visual link they need to shorten their learning curve.

2. Draw with Accuracy - The more accurate your diagram sketches the more understandable, effective teaching tools they will be. If you're drawing a pass play and the routes are supposed to be seven yards deep, draw them that way.

3. Consistency Pomotes Clarity - Perhaps the best way to ensure consistency and clarity is to have one person draw all your diagrams. If this is not possible, then have one person create all the diagrams for each particular segment of the game (i.e. offense, defense or special teams). Doing so will make your diagrams more consistent and therefore easier for your players to dissect.

4. Develop a Style - It may sound rather insignificant, but developing a consistent style will also make your diagrams easier to read and more effective teaching tools. Adjusting fonts, colors, and the size of your text are just three ways you can make diagrams easier to read. For example, the Giants' Olivadotti color codes receivers with different colors, thus making them more identifiable to his players. An agreeable, consistent style will give your players more room for their own notes and make learning formations and plays easier.

5. Get Inside the Program - In other words, learn the program's shortcuts or quick commands so that you can cut down on drawing time. Once you have developed a library of all your basic diagram templates then you can cut and paste to save additional time and workload.






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