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Managing Your Program: Building a Team – Objectives for Camp

by: Keith Grabowski
Offensive Coordinator Baldwin-Wallace College
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Unity/Chemistry - Establishing chemistry is a big goal for every team in camp. Hopefully, the ground work was established in the off season. No matter how the off season went, camp and the new season have a new dynamic in how the team will interact and work together. It is a time for leadership of the team to really take root. This is an area that can be coached, managed and developed.

A good head coach and his staff will see some of the issues that must be worked on during camp so that the bond with the team is strong heading into the regular season. Camp presents a time when these things can be worked on a little at a time. It’s good to see a little of the players’ and team’s personalities off the field. Utilizing at least some of the down time between two-a-day practices can help accomplish this goal.

Setting up some fun activities in-between can help develop the unity of the team. At the college level, we did these at night after the day’s activities, but utilizing just 20 minutes between practices will work as well. Our activities ranged from a coach giving a serious motivational talk, to captains and seniors speaking briefly on topics that matter to the team, to fun games, talent shows, skits or impersonations. The skits and impersonations usually poked fun at the coaching staff, but it was all done in good fun. Though each activity on it own may seem insignificant, the bond that the team has will be strengthened if you find ways to bring them together.

Prepare for all contingencies - Camp is a time to plan and practice for all situations that may be faced in a game during the season. We utilize a checklist that goes beyond the basics and even covers some aspects that are rare, like the free kick. Part of our coaching philosophy is that we don’t expect something from our players if we don’t have a plan to teach it and practice it. Simply telling them isn’t enough. We will even work on teaching players how to celebrate after a turnover or touchdown.

No player left behind/mental to physical - Camp certainly is an opportunity to develop the physical aspects of the game. As for most situations, players are putting the pads on for the first time, or at least for the first time in a few months. This does not mean that the mental aspect of the game should take a back seat. This is a time that the mental aspect needs to continue to be emphasized because the game becomes so much more physical.

The speed of the game picks up because players are padded and protected. Though contact and collision become part of it, we recognize that the only way players will play at their fastest is if the mental side of the game continues to be coached. The technology available today allows this to be done better than ever. This is not limited to schools with big budgets. There are many free tools available to teach your players in the most efficient and effective ways.

One way to ensure that all players are learning your systems and can review and study as much as they need, is to use a method called “flipped coaching.” Short videos of techniques, drills, installation of concepts, can be created to teach every aspect of the game. While there is some time added, the few minutes the coach spends to put these materials together can go a long way in helping develop players, especially those second and third team players who might not be afforded as many reps. Using these methods helps prepare everyone.

Compete - The best way to become a relentless competitor is to practice competing. Just about any drill or practice period can add a competitive element. Adding competition helps heighten player awareness of the critical nature of what is being practiced. This can be done in individual, group, and team periods.

You don’t want to overdo this, but deciding on certain elements of each day’s practice which will be competitive will definitely add some enthusiasm to the practice. As the season progresses, we developed a method of keeping score and monitoring the execution of our offense in every practice. Keeping score and finding ways to reward winners, even if it is just recognition for their accomplishments, will go a long way.
   
Don’t sharpen the blade dull - Many of us grew up in an era in which toughness was emphasized to the point of being willing to inflict harm both on yourself and your teammates. As technology and science continue to develop in the study of human performance, there are optimal levels of conditioning and repetition, and there are points when more will actually put players in danger of injury. Physical output and performance will begin to decrease.

Teams like Florida State and the Buffalo Bills utilize cutting edge technology with GPS devices to monitor players top speed and performance. Hundreds of data points are collected to give coaches feedback on when to put the pedal down harder and when to ease up. Unfortunately, that technology is not affordable for most programs. We can however, pay attention to and monitor our teams effort and interpret that as coaches.

Having the awareness as a coaching staff can be as simple as discussing and evaluating this by position each day. A coach should know his players well. At some points during camp, it may be time to ease up. Regardless of whether you have the top end technology or not, knowing what to do with the feedback you are getting is part of the art of coaching. We want our players at their best and peaking on game days, not in practices.
 
Be excellent at the basics - Most coaches do a great job planning and organizing for camp. There should be a keen focus on developing and executing the fundamentals of your offense, defense, and special teams. Never sacrifice this part to move on to something that may be more complex. Players and coaches fall into the trap of thinking that the game is about tricking your opponent. At the heart of it, the game is about execution.

There are times you want to catch your opponent off guard. More often than not, they know what you are going to do and you know what they are going to do. So it really comes down to who can execute the best. This goes back to being fundamentally sound. For that reason, be sure that individual drills, group periods, and team periods are designed to become the best they can be at the basics. 
 
Have fun - Each new season we embark on a tough and grueling three-month (or hopefully longer) journey. Players and coaches learn something new about who they are and what they are capable of. We will face some form of adversity. We will triumph as well as be disappointed.

The important thing is that everyone learns to enjoy the process. Find time to inject fun and break up the monotony of practice. These can be simple things, but when done at the appropriate times, they help take the sting out of the parts of the process that are grueling.

Last year, we pulled a prank on our quarterback that we saw on the internet. That practice was fun even though it was one of the hottest days of the season. We’ve read David Letterman top ten lists at the beginning of practice to lighten the mood. We’ve even had a coach dress up in the mascot costume and run around the field yelling funny comments at the players. Finding ways to inject fun goes a long way in keeping the morale of the team up.








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