Practice Planning For All Levels of Play

by: John J.T. Torres
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"Winning is never an accident, it is the result of high intentions, determination and skilled executions"

When was the last time you or any coach you know complained of having too much practice time? As a coach with nearly 25 years of experience at the youth leagues, I have never heard a coach complain of this. I doubt sincerely that high school or colleges complain of this as well. One thing I have found out though, in the research I have done of successful coaches at all levels, is that they all use their time wisely and pay attention to details. My real job is in law enforcement and with a schedule that can change at a moments notice, I have been forced to practice efficiently and with a firm purpose. The remainder of this article will be based on the lessons learned over the last two decades of coaching young men this great game of football. This is not a cookie-cutter approach to practices in general, but it can give you a good baseline of what you need to accomplish to be successful.

Communication

Like in all good relationships, communication is key in having an effective practice. Not just with your assistants, but with the players as well. The head coach must discuss with the players his expectations of them like in their timeliness. How early do you want them there? Our motto is If you are on time, you are late. If you are early, you are on time. All of our players know that they need to be to practice at least 30 minutes before hand. Most players use this time to conduct their skill work with other players on short and long snaps, punting, kicking, etc. This is not part of our practice nor do we tell anyone that this is mandatory. This is done simply through leadership and encouragement by other players. Peers and team leaders can play an enormous role for all successful coaches, but I will leave my topic of leadership for another day. Though this time before practice is not mandatory, it is imperative that you as the head coach are there to observe and to eliminate anything that could cause injury or described as horse play.

Discipline

Players also need to know the repercussions if they do not make practice or any team function on time. Again, with communication in mind, this should be covered before practice even starts. If you are a youth or high school coach, parents play a major role in your success by getting their players to practice on time so covering this in a parent pre-season meeting is vital for any successful organization. We have a special session at the end of practice called G-14 Classified." If a player is late or commits a rules infraction, he is relegated to G-14 at the end of regular practice. My oldest son Zack (who is also my defensive coordinator) runs this and it is simply a time whereas players are held accountable to the team by doing extra laps, push-ups or green bays." G-14 can also consist of just talking to a player and again reaffirming the commitment he has made to play this great game of football. The player must realize that when he is late this affects not only him but the entire team. Using guilt to get them there on time is sometimes necessary. G-14 sessions are plentiful in the first few days and weeks of practice. By mid-season however, G-14 sessions are limited and that is due mainly to using the carrot and stick method of discipline.

Like Lou Holtz says, discipline is something you do FOR someone, not to them.

Coaching Point: Head coaches must consistently stress the importance of how the team is to reach its goals and that is to have everyone at practice everyday. Once your players know what you want, you will get it. Remember, deep down inside they want to please you, the head coach.

Time is our Enemy!

Players here me saying this all the time and they know exactly what I mean; that is, we have a limited time to practice before games and we better make the most of it. I am going to review a few techniques our coaching staff uses to accomplish our practice goals:

Practice Plan

Every coach needs a good solid practice plan before he hits the field. I do one for our staff everyday before practice and email it to them.

Assistants are required to print it out and to bring it to practice. I allow assistants time to call me before practice to insure they know what to cover. For example, I may have a coach responsible for working our man-to-man coverage during our individual defensive period. If he is not ready and prepared to do this by knowing what drills are expected, I let him know so. I may even take over his portion of the practice session. This does not happen often, and it should be noted that my cadre of assistants are the best in the business! However, everyone needs to be held accountable and this includes the coaches and myself.

Eliminate Distractions

This includes parents and problem players. I allow parents time to talk to me before practice if they make and appointment. I allow for 15 minutes only after practice and stress to them that I need to get home and see my family and get ready for tomorrow's practice. Regarding problem players, this goes to your discipline and rules that you should have in place already. Remember, the team is only as strong as its weakest link. I tell all players that they are one play away from being a starter." Explain this to your problem player. Explain to this player that he is needed and has a role to play. Be positive! But as a last resort, you may have to remove him from the team if this situation can not be rectified. I only had to do this once in my coaching career and I reflect on this young man often but I had to do it in the team's best interest.

Fast Paced

Make a point that everything needs to be done quickly. Getting water? Get there and drink and run back. Drills? All should be done quickly and with purpose! This starts with you, the head coach. The entire coaching staff should also move quickly from drill to drill. If the players see you, the head coach hustling, they feel inspired to do the same.

Be Extremely Organized

Always have your practice plan with no exceptions! And stick to it. After a while the players will start asking you for them so they know what to expect. Remember what your goal is for practices? The more reps your players have, the less hesitant they will be on the field.

During our practice plan we cover everything and I mean everything. For example, we even take time during our Friday night pre-game prep period to practice the COIN TOSS and the pre-game prayer. Why? We are coaching kids, and the less they have to worry about anything other than football, the more they can think about their assignments. This also gives us time for team building and have a high-spirited practice. One of our assistant coaches even acts as a referee and our boys love it!

Coach on the Run

I got this from a coaching friend of mine, John T. Reed. I have followed this one coaching point for the last eight years or so. What I mean is that do not stop or slow down the entire practice for one player. When a play is over get to that player and as he is walking back to the huddle tell him what he needs to work on or fix.

Coaching Point: Stress this to your assistants. Practices need to keep moving forward for maximum utilization of your time.

The Practice Plan I prepare my practice plan in Microsoft Excel ®. Through this software I am able to do everything I need to map out my plan. I have practice plans going back for seven years and refer back to those older ones often. I include in the practice plan the following:

* Tackling and blocking every day ­ These are the mainstays of football and to be successful must be done often.

* Special Teams ­ Work a portion of our teams every day. We are known throughout the league as a team that can beat you on special teams.

* Motivational Messages/Theme for the Week ­ I am a big believer in self-affirmation and I stress to the players different themes each week.

For example, our word of the week one game last year was BELIEVE. It so happened we went into an overtime game that same weekend. The game ended in a 0-0 tie after regulation. We stopped the opposing team when we forced a fumble. As we began our California Overtime." the boys AND the fans started chanting We Believe." This got the team extremely motivated, me included. We won on a 8 yard scamper around the end!

* Keys to our winning this week ­ This would include new plays and changes we need to make.

* Water Breaks ­ Give the boys as much water as they need! Our players should rarely be thirsty at practice.

* Team Building - I try to end each practice with a team building exercise. The University of Southern California offensive linemen play two-hand touch every Friday night during their walk-through. Their only rule is they can not run. They have to walk. I saw them do this and brought it to my team this year. A fun game that can help you end practice on a positive note. I have my teams do a variety of things during the season to liven up practices. This would include:

> * Tug of War

> * Dodge Ball

> * Egg Toss (get video of this for your highlight tape!)

Remember, if you are coaching youth, high school or college level, our players are playing to have fun! A little levity during practice helps!

Philosophy

All good head coaches have a philosophy of what they want to accomplish and strive to be. But most coaches worth their salt also have a practice philosophy that they strive to accomplish and most importantly, share with the team. Ours is not that practice makes perfect but perfect practice makes perfect." The players know this as well the coaches. This needs to be a priority you emphasize in your pre-season meeting with players and coaches.

The worst thing a team or player can do is to simply go through the motions and to not pay attention to detail. We strive to rep a play (or drill) until it is done perfectly. At this point we then go to the next play or drill.

Coaching point: The head coach must emphasize his commitment to excellence and this will, in turn, be absorbed by the team. The head coach needs to insure that everything from the way he dresses to when he arrives to practice is noticed by everyone around him to include players, parents and other coaches. In short order, you need to Œwalk the talk.'

In summary, practice planning is one of my favorite parts of coaching because this is where we win ball games not on the practice field. If you truly want to be successful and are committed to doing everything you can to be successful, put the time in to insure your practices are detail oriented, high spirited and that team building is part of your program.

John Torres will begin his 25th year of coaching of youth football in 2008. In 2007 his team, the Santa Clarita Wildcats, finished the season 12-1. He has coached in Las Vegas, Scottsdale, AZ., Washington DC and in Northern California. In Northern California he earned Coach of the Year honors. He is also recognized by Football Nation as a member of their Wall of Fame for youth football coaches. He can be reached at coachjt@ca.rr.com.

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