Spring Practice

[3high]

Coach J,

 

If you had between 15 and 25 players for spring, would you still have spring ball?

 

How is your situation at Pikeville going to be this spring? (Numbers, practice procedure, etc...)

 

What were your practices like at a bigger school like Oldham Co.? How does it compare to spring ball at a Class A school?

 

Just curious.

[CoachJ]

IMVHO spring practice is vastly over rated.

 

10 days of practice in March or April will not have much effect on practices in July.

 

Depends on your situation.

 

Here are a few of the things that spring practice COULD be...

 

...a time to get a better look at your younger kids coming up that didn't get many reps in practice last year because most went to your older ones that play on Fridays. This is why it shouldn't matter to coaches about their spring sport guys NOT participating. That just gives you MORE time to spend with the YOUNGER, maybe less talented or experienced kids that might not get as much attention were those spring sport guys there.

 

...a time for you to go SLOWER as a coach and really explain the "why's" of what you do -- you try to do this during the season (and especially if you take them to a week-long camp), but with the volume of stuff to work on and the pressure of HAVING to get it all in by the end of the week, you just don't have time to do the real DETAIL stuff you'd like.

 

(the following are ways it really COULD affect -- and HELP -- your practices in July...)

...a time to EXPERIMENT with maybe a different play or set of plays you're wanting to work on. If you try to implement something your not 100% sure will work for the team you have in JULY and end up realizing you have to scrap it, you've essentially wasted precious practice time right before the first game you COULD have used to work on things you're SURE you're going to do

 

...a time to try some different TECHNIQUE you heard at one of the winter coaches clinics you attended that you thought SOUNDED good at the time compared to the way you've always taught it but aren't 100% sure it will work for the type of kids you have that year. Again, if it DOESN'T work the way you'd hoped, you haven't wasted time in SUMMER practice.

 

...a time to take something you identified as a major WEAKNESS area for your team (like maybe overall defensive pursuit angles), certain position groups (like receivers failing to sustain their blocks long enough), or certain individuals (like a kid that fumbled a lot) and spend an inordinant amount of time on just THOSE things...during a season, you can't do that; there's too many varied things that have to get done in a week to prepare for the GAME coming up (in spring, no GAME at the end...so no pressure to cover "everything").

 

...a time to let individuals COMPETE and FIGHT for that "1st spot on the depth chart." This is personally what I LOVE about the spring...a kid works his BUTT off in the weight room December through March to get better. He gets STRONGER, QUICKER, and works on SKILLS on his own. We all can chart the improvement a kid makes with maxes and times. With Spring Practice, we get to see IF and HOW MUCH those physical improvements have "carry-over" to the actual GAME OF FOOTBALL. Some that HAVEN'T worked as hard as they should've to that point OR haven't spent enough of their own time improving WEAKNESSES they've been told to work on, can get PASSED UP by another, harder working kid. That kid can end up HIGHER on the depth chart than last year's starter, thus MOTIVATING that kid now to work the rest of the off-season like he should've to begin with (and, it'll make him fight like crazy in summer practices to "get his spot back"). There's no "OPPOSING TEAM" to prepare for at the end of the practices, so the "COMPETITION" gets to be EACH OTHER!

 

...and it could be a time to work on one specific whole part of the game that you wish you had more time for in-season but just don't. For many coaches, they work 90% of their time in-season on offense and defense and ONLY work special teams on Thursdays...or even, if they're like me and do it EVERY day, there's a fear of letting them go FULL-SPEED due to the greater risks of injury (guys sprinting downfield, going at a higher rate of speed, more violent collisions, increased chances for blocks in the back). The spring allows you to spend a MUCH greater percentage of your time on special teams than you usually can in-season AND it could allow you to do it in a "full-pads, full-go" situation that is maybe too risky to do in-season.

 

These are just the ones that have guided OUR spring practices throughout the years. One year of spring practice will very rarely be the same as the next for me. Team-wise, I look at it as an OPPORTUNITY to FIX something that was weak last year or EXPERIMENT with something new -- and each year those things probably change depending on the strengths/weaknesses of the kids we lost last year and the kids coming up to fill their spots, different opponents, etc. Individual-wise, I look at it as a time to answer questions about WHO we're going to START OUT counting on at the beginning of July practice -- doesn't mean they have officially "earned the spot" for the first game, but they're the pace-setter for it.

[LoneRanger]

Coach J :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

You should have this stuff Published.

[shs2005]

Spring Practice is pretty important to the success of the Somerset program. It gives people that havent played an opportunity to test the waters as well as learn the plays for the upcoming year. At the end of the 2 weeks of practice, there is always an intersquad Purple and Gold Scrimmage that has been alot of fun too.

[Graybeard]

CoachJ:

 

I appreciate your thoughtful comments. Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

Good luck this year.

 

Graybeard

[CoachJ]

Coach J,

 

If you had between 15 and 25 players for spring, would you still have spring ball?

 

How is your situation at Pikeville going to be this spring? (Numbers, practice procedure, etc...)

 

What were your practices like at a bigger school like Oldham Co.? How does it compare to spring ball at a Class A school?

 

Just curious.

 

I was writing my previous diatribe before seeing your questions...funny, but most of what you asked could be answered in it. But to the specifics:

 

15-25 players would I? Yes, but the design of practice would be much more INDIVIDUAL-oriented. A lot of technique analysis and correction rather than working on whole plays or schemes.

 

Situation at Pikeville? Almost like a dream situation for a football fanatic like me. Being a small school that ENCOURAGES multi-sport participation (the way it SHOULD be), MANY of our players are in spring sports, BUT, the Baseball and Track coaches here are VERY willing to let their kids participate (though it makes us have to go from 7-9pm; which is fine with me). I tell them ANYTHING we get from them is "gravy." Would hope they go through the drills the same as the non-spring sport guys, but no penalty if they don't; I'm happy if they even just come and actively watch.

 

No surprise, MOST of these kids DO come to football after bball or track (they pack a few sandwiches to eat between practices, then eat full dinner at home AND get any homework done then or the next morning before school -- talk about a COMMITMENT!). A few just can't do it, but most do...and with no "pressure" from me.

 

Comparison to Oldham? Again, there was no "set way" we did it at Oldham...it was dependent on what we NEEDED to get done that year. But on the things you can compare like numbers, you'd be surprised. At Oldham, there were 3 straight years we had 90 players Frosh-Senior (compared to here where we'll probably be at 60 next year). BUT, at Oldham, if you were track or baseball you did NOT participate in Spring Football because we HAD to practice right after school....maybe could've done the night practices and let the spring-sporters come watch at least, but I don't think the kids/parents/administration there would've been very receptive to it (greater distances to get home and then come back to school for county school kids than at a city-school like Pikeville).

 

So, since MANY of our spring sport kids ARE able and WILLING to participate in spring football, our numbers here (and especially, our number of potential SKILLED-PLAYER STARTERS) are actually BETTER than most years at Oldham. There, we pretty much used the spring to develop the younger players as our more experienced athletes (mainly in the skilled positions) were running track or playing baseball and thus, not at spring football.

[3high]

I was writing my previous diatribe before seeing your questions...funny, but most of what you asked could be answered in it. But to the specifics:

 

15-25 players would I? Yes, but the design of practice would be much more INDIVIDUAL-oriented. A lot of technique analysis and correction rather than working on whole plays or schemes.

 

Situation at Pikeville? Almost like a dream situation for a football fanatic like me. Being a small school that ENCOURAGES multi-sport participation (the way it SHOULD be), MANY of our players are in spring sports, BUT, the Baseball and Track coaches here are VERY willing to let their kids participate (though it makes us have to go from 7-9pm; which is fine with me). I tell them ANYTHING we get from them is "gravy." Would hope they go through the drills the same as the non-spring sport guys, but no penalty if they don't; I'm happy if they even just come and actively watch.

 

No surprise, MOST of these kids DO come to football after bball or track (they pack a few sandwiches to eat between practices, then eat full dinner at home AND get any homework done then or the next morning before school -- talk about a COMMITMENT!). A few just can't do it, but most do...and with no "pressure" from me.

 

Comparison to Oldham? Again, there was no "set way" we did it at Oldham...it was dependent on what we NEEDED to get done that year. But on the things you can compare like numbers, you'd be surprised. At Oldham, there were 3 straight years we had 90 players Frosh-Senior (compared to here where we'll probably be at 60 next year). BUT, at Oldham, if you were track or baseball you did NOT participate in Spring Football because we HAD to practice right after school....maybe could've done the night practices and let the spring-sporters come watch at least, but I don't think the kids/parents/administration there would've been very receptive to it (greater distances to get home and then come back to school for county school kids than at a city-school like Pikeville).

 

So, since MANY of our spring sport kids ARE able and WILLING to participate in spring football, our numbers here (and especially, our number of potential SKILLED-PLAYER STARTERS) are actually BETTER than most years at Oldham. There, we pretty much used the spring to develop the younger players as our more experienced athletes (mainly in the skilled positions) were running track or playing baseball and thus, not at spring football.

 

60 players for a mountain class a team is pretty good!! How do you get so many kids out for football? Do you actively recruit the hallways? I would be interested to know how you get so many kids out for football and retain them.

[CoachJ]

60 players for a mountain class a team is pretty good!! How do you get so many kids out for football? Do you actively recruit the hallways? I would be interested to know how you get so many kids out for football and retain them.

 

That's 60 NOW (in March!). That number will probably dwindle somewhat...there are a lot of kids we have now that SAY they're playing that might not later. Getting them is one thing, RETAINING them is another; we'll have to see how we do that. (At Oldham, for many years we were good at doing BOTH. The last few, the "kind of kid" coming to us from middle school didn't respond well to our off-season philosophy, so our retention AND recruitment suffered. So I'm by no means an expert...I hope the kids coming UP here will respond as positively to the hard work required in our program as the CURRENT kids have.)

 

First though, the kids here are from a TRADITION of playing football. Many of their dad's played here, so they're ENCOURAGED to play at home.

 

Football is BIG here on Friday nights. Kids are attracted to do what the community makes a big deal.

 

This community LOVES its football players and doesn't feel like it's a "bad thing" to make them feel special (they DO play the most demanding sport there is after all...AND they generate a LOT of excitement for the community on Friday nights). So there are gatherings at Jerry's after games, there are still parades through town to celebrate homecoming, they get interviewed on local tv sports shows, etc.

 

The administration at PHS also is supportive here in ways that benefit us. Rather than just SAYING a kid shouldn't be discouraged from playing another sport, they ACTIVELY enforce it...if a coach here even IMPLIES that a kid should "concentrate" on their sport, there's a conversation about it and a direct warning to stop it.

 

And similar to what I'd put in another thread about why privates do a better job in football than in bball, the school administration here doesn't consciously try NOT to recognize football players (or athletes in general for that matter) to keep from hurting the other kids' feelings. I've heard this is a major problem at some schools.

 

So, the head coaches here are VERY accomodating and flexible with their multi-sport athletes (I encourage bball players to work on their shooting, dribbling, etc. while in football, basketball and baseball allow their football players to do our lifting schedule -- with a few modifications -- while in-season, and track DEMANDS that their kids that play football lift with the football team before track practice each day we lift). There's an atmosphere of coaches working together for the good of each others' sports here that I've never experienced elsewhere.

 

That's why a lot of them play.

 

Other than that, heck yes, I VERY actively recruit the hallways (we have about 15-20 trying football next year that weren't on last year's team). But more important, I encourage our PLAYERS to recruit (I think kids listen and are motivated to do things a LOT more to their peers than they are by adults).

 

I know of some coaches that believe you don't take a kid for football unless he comes to YOU. That if you have to ask them, then they won't love it enough to do the hard stuff. I'm the opposite. I think some kids that could help you won't come out UNLESS you make them feel they're wanted...then, they either prove they ARE tough enough or they don't when you make it DEMANDING on them.

[Covercorner]

So, the head coaches here are VERY accomodating and flexible with their multi-sport athletes (I encourage bball players to work on their shooting, dribbling, etc. while in football, basketball and baseball allow their football players to do our lifting schedule -- with a few modifications -- while in-season, and track DEMANDS that their kids that play football lift with the football team before track practice each day we lift). There's an atmosphere of coaches working together for the good of each others' sports here that I've never experienced elsewhere.

 

That's why a lot of them play.

 

Seems like teamwork within the school is a reason for sucess. This is something that everyone involved with high school sports needs to not only teach, but also to follow.

[CoachJ]

Seems like teamwork within the school is a reason for sucess. This is something that everyone involved with high school sports needs to not only teach, but also to follow.

 

That's one of the biggest reasons I was willing to move almost an entire state away for this job. Situations like we have here are, I believe unfortunately, RARE in Kentucky (and probably ONLY happen where the administration is willing to take a STRONG STAND against coaches that view kids that play for them as "their players").

 

Unless you're at X, T, North Hardin, Henderson Co., etc. and have GARGANTUAN numbers to allow it, I believe if your sports SHARE the best athletes in the school, a school can be "STATE-LEVEL GOOD" at many sports EVEN IF they have an average enrollment.

 

Highlands, Belfry, and Boyle come to mind. Maybe Ashland too. There are a few more that are year-in, year-out good in all the major sports and I think it's SHARING athletes and having an Administration that creates an atmosphere supportive of that that allows it.

[Booge]

Coach J :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

You should have this stuff Published.

 

:thumb:

[birdboy]

IMVHO spring practice is vastly over rated.

 

10 days of practice in March or April will not have much effect on practices in July.

agreed :thumb: