I keep reading the same thing in each scrimmage thread - "They won't show too much". Is that true? Is there an advantage to "Not showing too much"? After the first game the proverbial "Cat" is out of the bag because everyone trades film. By "Not showing too much" you really only give your a team a slight advantage in the first game. After that first game you trade that film with other opponents.

 

Is "Not showing too much" only an excuse for not doing well in a scrimmage? Or, do coaches really worry about "Not showing too much"? I tend to believe it's the former and if the latter is true, I believe they are buying in to something that is not worth it. Most people that know about the teams in their area, know what that team is going to do anyway. You still have to stop it.

most squads don't have many options in the first place. An offense like Highlands is a triple threat and that no matter what they show, will not be easily defended. Doesn't much matter if a team has a game tape or not. Last year, they were more a pass offense and Ryle adjusted well in the opener after seeing Towles air it out extensively at home against Manual. Just depends on the individual squad u r talking about IMO.

My thought on a scrimmage is not necessarily worrying about showing too much but more about the coaches seeing what they have. In other words, moving players around and seeing what works.

 

Not really worried about showing too much. I think alot of fun plays take place thru out the season. Build on things and keep them guessing.

I agree with you. If anything, I think a scrimmage would be a time to show more. To try a few new wrinkles or plays to see how they work and to possibly give upcoming opponents something new to think about. But, this isn't the National Football League, it's high school. Teams, certainly the good ones, do scout, prepare and game plan, but they aren't staying up to 3 AM planning for every single play and formation they've ever seen. As you said, the teams are generally familiar with each other and know what to expect. Most of these teams run the same offenses year after year.

I would think they would run their basic offense , saving the trick plays for the real games .

I agree 5W, historically Raceland runs some crazy plays in the scrimmage, just to see what happens. You can draw it up on white board, but running against another team tells a lot more. Some of those plays make it to the playbook, some File 13.

 

I think it's just an excuse to say "Oh, they didn't want to show too much" when a team doesn't do well in a scrimmage.

They are used for fundamentals for most teams.

They are used for fundamentals for most teams.

 

Shouldn't the fundamentals be perfected in practice and scrimmages used to "test" productivity.

I know its a big difference in the NFL, but look at their practice games, a bunch of key players don't even play, now they have 4 games and have to make cuts and high schools don't, but I think the kids want to play hard but the coaches control who play and whay play they run.

 

My son is on the special team and a lot of these games don't use special teams, and some teams can/will score on SPs.

I think having a mixture of both is important. You don't want to show all of your cards, yet you might want to try placing this kid here or that stunt there. I've always been a firm believer that scrimmages are organized practices vs. another team. There is only a handfulwho could treat scrimmages like week 1 if they choose, and we all know who those teams are, as for the rest; worry about getting better. The scrimmages I like the best are the ones where a team comes out in something like 5 wide and the other team hasn't gotten to that yet in practice, so the coaches stop to take 30 seconds to get their kids lined up properly if needed.

IMO it's really not about showing too much. It's more about focusing on the top priorities. For a scrimmage it's more about making sure the fine details work in a game situation. Substitutions, alignments, formations, eliminating penalties, play calling, working out the wrinkles and the kinks, etc. This is the tune up and the test drive before the race.

Shouldn't the fundamentals be perfected in practice and scrimmages used to "test" productivity.

 

They are but a scrimmage is a chance to experience "live fire" unlike practice. Kids will do things different in a scrimmage. You have a different color and different players lined up across from you. IMO the teams that typically struggle take the scrimmages much more serious than the traditional powers, they want to get that winning way going.