ads

Slider[Style1]

Style2

Style3[OneLeft]

Style3[OneRight]

Style4

Style5

Europeans Can Coach Too

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 7:11 AM / comment : 0 , , ,




First of all I want to say that I am sincerely honored to have been asked to contribute to this great blog. I hope this article will provide relevant and interesting facts for other curious coaches on this page.


I have been asked to give you some kind of European perspective about football.

The game is now played in almost every western European country (www.ifaf.info), and you can find football fans everywhere in the world.


We have the same rules, for sure, but the environment is waaaaaay different here. And when I say here, I mean France, as I am a French football coach (www.les-falcons.com).


For most of the people outside of the USA, football is like coconut: It looks good, but no one knows how to deal with it.


In other words, football is not part of our culture. Basically that means no fans in the stands, no boosters, and parents very reluctant to let their kids play "american rugby".


In France, a country of 65 million people, we have 25 000 players on about 150 teams, separated in 3 National Levels -- Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 (where I coach at the moment) and also some Regional Championships.


You also have to know that we don't operate in a scholastic environment.

Here it's an amateur team club sport. You can play from 12 years old to whenever your body let you play and there are 4 age groups (U14, U16, U19, +19 years old). Kids usually come to practice from 6pm to 8pm, after school and homework. Nothing is mandatory. Being non-scholastic also means poor facilities. In France there are some fields that have Field Turf with Y goal posts, but most of the teams share fields and locker rooms with soccer or rugby teams. As an example, our game field does not measure the U.S. standard 120 yards long, but is approximately 110 yards... with rugby posts. That means midfield is at the 45-yard-line. We don't even have goal posts on our practice field!


Another main difference is that we cannot practice more than twice per week. Keep in mind that it's an amateur game here. Players on my senior team (+19years old) could be in charge of a family or could be just students. On my 63-man roster I have a running back/baker, wide receiver/salesman, linebacker/law school student, QB/manager, DB/unemployed, DL/bouncer, OL/computer scientist... As a result of that, presence at practice and games is a constant concern.

On the other hand guys who choose to play football and show up at practice twice a week are really passionate.


First, they have to pay to play - each year more than 230USD... They also have to pay for (or rent in some cases) their equipment, about 400USD for a complete package. Want to get better? faster? stronger? It's another 400USD for a year-round gym pass...


Poor facilities, expensive sport, amateur level of play. If you are reading these lines, I bet you are pretty sorry for us right now... There is more: Coaches. We are not getting paid. My Defensive Co-ordinator is a plumber in "real life"; I am a radio journalist.

How in the world do we (European Coaches) manage to do anything good in those conditions?


Jeff Reinebold from SMU was speaking at a Coaching Clinic in Bavaria (Germany) a few weeks ago. He pumped up the gathered coaches by saying -- and I paraphrase:


"You are the best coaches; we are spoiled for choice. You don't have anything and are forced to make do."

Obviously, I don't think we are the best coaches. But the truth is you have to be quite inventive to coach a team or even a position without a lot at your disposal. You probably have not noticed but all the coaching materials (DVDs, books, articles, blogs, forums, clinics, software) are written in English. So if you don't read English, you're done.



I coach a 63-man roster this season and we are only 2 coaches... Fortunately we have players with double-digit years of experience that can run drills and/or take care of a position.


So everything we do, we have to do it with PASSION and LOVE for the game.

One of my former coaches, a Canadian guy with a 25 years experience of coaching high school kids, recently told me that his best coaching experience was when he won the '95 national championship with my team... "Best memories on and off the field" - that's what he told us.


Also, the game seems to get better each year. Players work during the off season (which was not a habit previously), and get bigger, and stronger. This season in France, one of the top teams recruited a former UCLA back-up QB (US or Canadian players/coaches are professional even if they do not make a lot of money. For more info go to www.europlayers.com). That kind of player helps to raise the general level of play across the league.

The numbers are rising too. Football is becoming more and more popular.

We are on our way.... Still a long way to go, though ;)

I told people who make fun of us because we play "American Rugby" that their sons will probably play for me soon.


2 French players have already reached NFL practice squads in recent years and I know there are a lot of Germans on NCAA teams. Not too bad when you consider that the first French league wasn't created until 1986.





Julien

4D-FTP Review

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 6:23 AM / comment : 0 ,

I'm struggling through the discs and admittedly I haven't had a whole lot of time to immerse myself in it, but I've watched the 2nd disc twice already. I've looked at this technique before here.....

The first DVD outlines vocabulary and terms that Coach Mark uses to orientate the players with this concept. I wasn't entirely sure this truly was necessary and some of it was reinventing the wheel when it came to terminology and segmenting the field. I watched the entire first DVD intently and never saw the payout.....meaning, I could have skipped it entirely and not have lost any value. Okay, so with that....it essentially becomes a question of "is ONE DVD worth $55?" Well, I probably would say yes, simply because this is a good and valid technique to teach. It would be an investment because I am not convinced (nor does Coach Mark suggest) that this is just something you could install in a spring and have down. This is something I would feel comfortable with introducing at the 9th grade level and progressing a player through the program.

I was much more impressed with the second (drills) DVD. This DVD does a nice job breaking down the basics of the 4-D and provides drills for working on 4-D skills. From basic drills on change of direction to playing the 3-step game and fade routes, the DVD goes through the 4-D progression in good detail.

One thing that we may take from this presentation is utilizing the drift step for changing direction. I'll be watching over and over again until I get this down. I can certainly see the technique actually being superior to shuffle in terms of biomechanic efficiency and certainly more fluid than T-stepping. The only concern would be the expense it would take to get good at it (compared with shuffle). You could be good at the shuffle in 5 minutes (then spend significant time concentrating on not being sloppy) - it would take significantly longer to make 4D (or just the crossover steps) a natural act for average athletes.

http://4d-ftp.com/

The 2nd disc was really nicely done and is high quality (except for some unexpected video breaks? in the bp portion). I would have preferred more specifics on foot placement and body positioning (coaching points to make sure kids avoid common errors). Also, it may help to show how this technique would apply to various coverages. This would be perfect for guys who run their defense like "you cover that guy" and mash various concepts together. This would be something to get started on in spring ball and really just hammer every day, giving something for the kids to use heading into summer passing leagues. Because the transitions taught are directly related to what coverage (leverage) you are playing, it would be nice to articulate in subsequent offerings / clinics how this would adjust and adapt.

I applaud coach rodriguez for presenting these materials and helping the game with an improved technique. The video quality IS top notch, I just wish there was more that we could apply towards coaching the specifics of the technique.

.

Order at

http://myonlinecamp.com/camp.cfm?CampName=&sport=24&city=&state=IA&pricerange=&start=1&id=10015

IDENTIFYING AND IMPLEMENTING ESSENTIAL SKILLS

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 8:13 AM / comment : 0 , ,

Selection taken from the coaching canon , "Finding The Winning Edge".


A critical part of the game planning process is to identify the skills each player needs to perform the steps (tasks) involved in a particular play or play sequence. After identifying the skills needed by the player, a team must have a process in place for ensuring that their players develop these skills so that each play or play sequence is productive. Taking steps to develop these skills in every player occurs in two stages: isolating the skills and teaching the skills.

  • Isolate the skills. The first step in the game planning process should be to analyze the tasks involved in the assignment of every player. Next, a decision must be made regarding whether the players have the ability to master the necessary skills. If it is determined that the ability of the players does not mesh with the skills required for a specific task. If they do not, the head coach must either discard this part of his offensive plan or alter the play or play sequence to fit the level of talent.

    Whatever the head coach’s decision, his decision can be made easier if he strictly adheres to one of the cardinal principles of training – specificity/ Specificity refers to the fact that “an individual gets what he trains for. “ All factors considered, the more specific his players’ preparation for a particular game, the better their performance.
  • Teach the skills. Collectively, teaching players the skills they need involves an evolutional process of promoting, enhancing, practicing and refining each facet of the capacity being developed. In this regard, the rudimentary teaching progression of “hear it – see it – do it” is as applicable as it ever was.
Employing the proper teaching sequence is possibly the most viable way a coach can impact the game, certainly at the position level. Accordingly, as the head coach, you must make a decision as to what level of the teaching hierarchy you wish to utilize.

For example, with regard to teaching skills to your players, you must decide whether to rely on having the players learn by rote memorization or to require them to utilize critical thinking skills and acquire a more comprehensive knowledge of the offensive system. You should keep in mind that the more players are taught to critically analyze their responsibilities and to understand the relationship of these responsibilities to the total structure of the offense, the more productive the system will be.


Walsh, Bill - "Finding The Winning Edge", 1997, pg 210 - 211

Window of Opportunity (Off Season)

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 6:55 PM / comment : 0

Just a reminder/admonishment as spring is blooming to stop and smell the roses.... the window of opportunity for ideas and refreshment will soon be closing for many high school staffs in the coming weeks.

What am I talking about? Spring football at your local college or university.

As discussed earlier ( Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics. ) visiting practice of a program, any program, outside of your own can do worlds of good for improving your process. Regardless of scheme or philosophy, taking a step back to see HOW others do what they do, may make more of dramatic impact than hearing about WHAT others are doing. Don't watch plays, watch players and how their coaches interact with them. Watch how practice is structured, observe how communication is handled, how coaches handle good and bad situations.... the devil is in the details. Don't just show up on the field, talk with the coaches and student assistants away from the game, sit in on their meetings, and take the time to build a relationship with the staff.

The Most Interesting Men In The World

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 7:47 AM / comment : 0


Props to those across the pond coaching American football and the wonderfully natural (non scholastic) environment in which they operate in.

Heads up on a few blogs worth following;
http://coachingforpizza.blogspot.com/
(wonderful use of John Grisham's book, 'playing for pizza')
http://coachingoutofbounds.blogspot.com/

http://www.scribd.com/TheMadCoach (Roldan Leyba)
http://uerdingen-tomahawks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Julien-Urgenti/641779599 http://coachbook.ning.com/profile/TedSeay
http://www.gridironaustralia.org.au/
(one of my older brothers actually played for Alice Springs Red Backs when I was playing in college)


Cheers, mates!

** I was actually going to do a semi-insightful breakdown of Gregg Williams' 3rd down fire-zones in the Dallas-NO game this weekend, but my DVD burner that I recorded the game corrupted the disc it was burned on....oh, well, needless to say, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Also, (Y/X) shallow seemed to be the only thing New Orleans could get to successfully work when everything else fell apart.
shallownodal @ Yahoo! Video


SA @ Yahoo! Video

One thing I did want to illustrate (have to dig up the other film shortly) is how Sean Payton OPENS a game. They obviously want to take the ball at the opener, and when they do....that first series IS ALWAYS at quick tempo (huddle very shortly, if at all) and rarely motion or shift. This establishes their tempo (as Payton has always been big on shifting) and sets up predictable scenarios, as well as creating comfort for the players to establish the rhythm they will eventually settle into during the course of the remainder of the game.

** Also, I'm working on a Bama D vs Texas O write-up, that I can hopefully have done after Christmas.

Parents Just Don't Understand....

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 10:35 AM / comment : 0 ,

HOW TO DEAL WITH PARENTS

After the first game opener.....




two weeks later......






you can't tell this was written by a parent, right?


Another gem (email) from a few years ago.........same scenario;

From: DLM-------@aol.com

[mailto:DLM------@aol.com]

Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 10:06 AM

Subject: football game

David

Could you please forward this email to the football program- -------- etc? ------- is o-2 so far.

Both games could have been won easily.Special team mistakes- a fumbled punt return that (opponent) recovered for a TD.and a missed field goal cost you that win. Also the panicing as time ran out - you don't need to air it out and get it intercepted if you have a couple of minutes left- a 10 yd first down or out of bounds run will stop the clock also.

Now to the game last night.The swing pass did not work- why did you keep trying it?I hate to be critical but you and the coaching staff need to review your play calling -what worked what didn'.t You owe it to the players to call the best play for each situation and right now I give you a C- You wasted two time outs early in the second half why? You needed them later and they were gone! The pitch out to ------ worked well. the one short pass worked well. What about slant passes across the middle? (opponent) dbacks were playing off our wide receivers what about a quick pass to them? Does ------l always have to run sweeps what about him picking holes in the line more- (opponent) got two touchdowns up the middle by breaking tackles. Which means the -------defense needs to review the basics of tackling- hit them low etc.If (QB) doesn't mind running the ball more, you could run the option sometimes. ------'s failed attempt to get the 2point conversion could have worked if he had tried to go in the north direction sooner but he'll learn as the season goes- maybe he was too tired?The gutsy 4th quarter tdown pass to ------was a beauty!

The guy I was sitting with was way more critical of the coaches than I have been here.

I know you guys are doing your best but you gotta step it up You lost two good chances to be 2-0 the rest of the season does't get any easier. Keep working hard and smarter and this could still be a successfull year. AndI know it's not all about winning. It's about having fun about character development and getting a good education These things will always be more important that winning. I hope you will consider some of my ideas. If you want I will send an email afer each game.

Gotta go.

Arm chair Dave

Great Ways To Destroy Your Players

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 11:32 AM / comment : 0 ,

While no one wants to destroy or hinder their own players (counter productive to coaching), often times we do. What are some of the things you've witnessed, done, or have heard about that directly diminish a player's drive to succeed?


Sometimes the best things to learn are the things NOT to do.....
We mean well, but there may be times when we unknowingly sap production from our team via the words we say, the way we treat people, or how we 'coach'

A few off the top of my head are;

Talking about how much a player sucks: not challenging or pressuring a kid to get better, but just berating his abilities in off-hand comments, that his team mates buy into (the real issue). The player will find himself alienating himself from the staff and his team mates (see the third example) in a vicious-cycle of defeatest attitude.
Best player excuse :here directly avoiding challenging a player to develop past himself or accepting flaws simply because he's just better than everyone else (therefore, even with mistakes, the kid is better than whats behind him). This emotional coddling inhibits self-pressure and growth.
Deliver all emotion, and no substance : hyping up a drill or responsibility through emotional transference (yelling and screaming), but not providing a clear direction in which to do accomplish what you want. "Throw Harder" / "Block somebody" come to mind.....telling the kid to improve his performance but not explaining HOW he can go about doing it, causing him to further doubt himself and begin sharing your frustration with him (only causing more errors for the player).
Demanding immediate production with no investment: prodding a kid into loading up the bar with plates, but does not have the motor skills developed to perform a squat. Sure, its pussified to have anything less than 225lbs on the rack, but if we haven't taught how to breathe, stand, sit, and explode (contract)....we end up cultivating an unsurmountable fear and trepidation to a major building block of success. You have to crawl before you can walk, and many times we will put kids in positions to have to be masters of 4-5 different skill sets, without affording them the time to gain mastery in one.

More feedback here;
http://coachhuey.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=33652&page=1

Player - Coach Relationship

Posted by: ytttr Posted date: 7:11 AM / comment : 0 ,

I was originally going to make an assertion about the styles of coaching from an "american" point of view, as compared with a"european" (originating from the Soviet bloc) view, though I don't think I could really support that argument.

However, most tennis coaches, and illustrated with the authors of this book, share a methodology that may seem out of the ordinary in our culture.
My question has more to do with the differences, and more importantly, the rationale behind that contrasting philosophy with player/coach relationship.

Whereas, we in the West, traditionally see the player/coach relationship as more of an acceptable dictator heirarchy, where the players follow the coach to the "T" or they are replaced or worse. The relationship dynamic that is seen in "european" (we'll include Western Olympic coaches here) contexts (best illustrated with high caliber Olympic athletes), is one of shared mutual respect working toward the athletic performance of the athlete.

My question / curiosity is what can be gleaned from both to better serve our programs? Also, why is one model embraced moreso than the other?
It would stand to reason that with non-select (high school athletics) sports, discipline and control have to be valued over relationship, as you really have little to no control over the quality of athletic talent. Therefore, the domineering, controlling 'administrator' of the team is needed to bring order out of physical chaos. The coach is aided by the players to work as a group.

When specialization occurs, naturally peak performance on every contest is desired as there is a concerted effort on the athlete's part to get the best output. It is the athlete aided by the coach for the result of the individual. The relationship is more intimate and more trust-centered.

That being said and understood, can we find ways to embrace a more impassioned responsed from both coaches and players to gravitate towards the trust-centric "Olympic" model? What could it benefit us?

Additional readings
http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm/volumeID_18-editionID_125-ArticleID_895-getfile_getPDF/thepsychologist%5C0705jowe.pdf


The Coach - Athlete Partnership

http://www.accessathletes.com/blog/blogdisplay.cfm?blogid=212

here is an interesting piece from 'access athletes' blog

http://www.psychwww.com/sports/cohesion.htm

on coaches controlling team cohesion

I was wondering about the dynamic of how WE (the west) perceives what a coach should be and what type of relationship he should have. The broad brush generalizations of "West" and "European" was just a matter of semantics. The "european" approach was taken mostly from Olympic training, which is primarily individual performance training.

This is essentially a two-part question.

1) Do we in the "west" perceive that a coach must be Gen. Patton / Bear Bryant and dictate everything just because that is what our cultural stimuli tells us? We do it because he did it, because the guy before him did it (that way).....How much of WHY we do it (methodology) is based on necessity, and how much is based on indoctrination?

This also begs the question of the teaching profession. As in 90% of America, to coach you need to be a teacher. I'm not quite sure that is the same litmus for European coaches (moreso the Olympic model).
Does being an educator, namely a member of the American Education System (and its mentality) persuade / influence our model of "coaching"? (you can control a population / force in the classroom that you could not do in any other real-world environment)

2) The acknowledgement upfront of the contrast between coaching team and individuals is noted. However, can coaches in team sports glean anything from what is so effective with individual coaching dynamics and apply it to the team/group milieu?

A large part of this component requires less micro-managing of the unit and more encouragment/persuasion/motivation of the body of athletes (letting them take ownership, with the coach simply providing direction)?
http://bryanrothamel.com/academic/athletic-administration/playercoach-relationships/
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Copyright © 2014 BLACK
⬆
Top