AFM RSS Feed Follow Us on Twitter       
AMERICAN FOOTBALL MONTHLY THE #1 RESOURCE FOR FOOTBALL COACHES
ABOUT |  CONTACT |  ADVERTISE |  HELP  



   User Name    Password 
      Password Help





Article Categories


AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


Design Practice With a Purpose; Just Make Sure You Have the Right Purpose

by: Mike Kuchar
Senior Writer, American Football Monthly
© More from this issue

Click for Printer Friendly Version          

“Take a lap.” They’re probably the most dreaded three words in football practice history. We’ve heard them at the start of every practice from Pop Warner through high school. As players, when we labored around that quarter mile track or sandbagged around the perimeter of the football field, we knew what we were doing was pointless. Our coaches thought we were being conditioned, but we had a feeling we were being fooled. We may have been right. Sadly, similar commands are still being uttered today by a different generations of coaches. Truth is, we teach how we were taught and maybe just now we’re learning it wasn’t always the right way. Conditioning with a purpose is just one of the topics that we addressed in this month’s AFM cover feature on how to plan the perfect practice.
We spoke with and surveyed hundreds of coaches across the country to ask them what they felt constituted the perfect practice. Everything from the dynamic stretch warm-up through the last situational 3rd and long period was documented and detailed. Though there were plenty of differing tactics and methodologies tossed around, the philosophy behind them remained constant - get kids to compete at a high level for a short period of time. Sounds simple, but how? That’s what lies in the pages of this issue. Coaches from all over the country contributed their ideas about what you need to build into your practices to make them more productive and more meaningful.
It is, without question, the topic I had the most fun researching as a coach, mainly because you won’t find it at the top of the speaker list at any major clinic. We usually know what to practice, but often don’t know how. I’m sure we’ve all had those should’ve worked this or should’ve worked that occasions during the course of a game where we failed to prepare. Many of these same coaches have made that mistake, but were strong enough in their resolve not to let it happen again. How did they do it? By including it next time in their practice plan and with the simple click of a mouse or turn of a page, their mistakes can be valuable learning tools for you. The best part is you don’t have to travel across the country to access it.

 

Yours in football,

 

 


Mike Kuchar
Senior Writer
American Football Monthly
MikeKuchar@AmericanFootballMonthly.com






NEW BOOK!

AFM Videos Streaming Memberships Now Available Digital Download - 304 Pages of Football Forms for the Winning Coach



















HOME
MAGAZINE
SUBSCRIBE ONLINE COLUMNISTS COACHING VIDEOS


Copyright 2024, AmericanFootballMonthly.com
All Rights Reserved