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hollad6636

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Everything posted by hollad6636

  1. Ima, Not sure how old your girls are but the key is to keep in fun and moving. We have some easy drills that you can implement in to your practice plan at http://www.y-coach.com/CD/Basketball_Drills.htm.
  2. Hey coach, Sorry for the late response. To busy at work and haven't looked at the forums for awhile. I think we have all run into some variance of your situation and it can be difficult when the kid doesn't really have an interest in playing but that is youth sports and in the bigger picture winning and losing isn't that big of a deal at that age. My only advise would be to keep looking for an area that he can have some small successes at. Spend as much time as you can in practice making it simple for him in regards to what you want him to do. On Defense it's pretty easy. Rush the pass and go get the ball. Offense is a different matter as teams will quickly figure out they don't have to worry about him. My only thought is that you throw it to him once in a while even if it's low or way over his head just to keep teams a little honest and make him think that he at least has to be ready as the ball may be coming to him. I would love to hear how things worked out for you.
  3. Coach, How old our your kids? If it is truly that bad then I would have a talk with the parents. A couple of ideas. Keep him busy at all times. Get help from one of your assistants to keep an eye on him and keep him busy with drills.
  4. Jaymay75, Give us more of an idea of what you need help with.
  5. Coach we have a few drills that could help you get your defense in position to force the action inside. Youth Flag Football Drills - Post and Break Youth Flag Football Drills - Read and React Drill Youth Flag Football Drills - Swarm DrillYouth Flag Football Drills - Flag Pulling Drill
  6. Hey Coach! That is awesome! Thanks for sharing the picture of your team. I am not that familiar with the Wing-T Myself. We always had smaller, quick athletes so we ran the single wing offense. Here are some threads on the Wing-T that you can take a look at: Best Offense for 11 Year Old Tackle Football Let's Talk Youth Football Help with Coaching 3rd and 4th Graders
  7. I know this stinks for you but don't get discouraged. Most youth coaches have been through what you are going through right now. It will get better. You have to figure out your personnel. Who is your fastest runner. Can anyone throw the ball, can anyone catch the ball. Can your bigger players understand the blocking concepts that you are trying to teach them? These are all things you need to figure out. Figure out what you have and then develop a play based on what your team can execute. Go over and over the play until you all can run it perfectly and then develop another play and do it over and over again. There are no shotcuts and it will take time but you all can improve. Forget about the score and the loses. Focus on the little things and trying to improve your team. In regards to defense I would go with a 2-3 or 3-2 but make sure your players line up wide and stay home. Work on flag pulling, team pursuit and swarming to the ball over and over again. Fit and freeze works. Take your fastest runner and have them head for the sidelines over and over and have your defense pursue the flag.
  8. Coach, It is always tough to be a new coach. First things first. Relax. Remember the important thing is to make sure at this age your players are having fun. Take it easy on yourself as these are 2nd Graders. You are not working with elite pro athletes here. Don't get caught up in the losing or the winning for that matter. Focus on getting them better one practice at a time. Your goal should be to make them a better team at the end of the season than they were at the beginning. FInd help. Are there any other parents willing to step up and help? The rules of your league are interesting with blocking being allowed and a rush. Passing is going to be difficult at this age so you need a running back. I would bring your players in for blocking add a running back and work on the quarterback/running back pitch over and over. Go to the flag football plays section and go over some of the playbooks for 5 on 5 and taking your personnel into account, take of few plays that you think will be a good fit and run them over and over and over and over again in practice. Start the process and go over how you want the play to develop one step at a time. Walk through it as many times as it takes and then go half speed and then finally fully speed. One effect way to control the learn is for you to have your players freeze on your whistle This will allow you to correct things as they happen and really help their understanding of how you want the play executed. There is no reason to work on a bunch of different formations and plays if you can't even execute one play. Don't sweat it if your plays aren't successful in game situations at first. Focus on if they are executing how they are supposed to run the play. I think it is a little easier to get better on defense quickly and this will at least help you stay competitive in games. Go to our flag football drills for some ideas on drills to work on. I would focus on flag pulling and swarming to the ball. I would put your fastest player at safety and keep him a little deeper until your players get a better. Go to the next practice prepared with a game plan. 10 Min - Conditioning Drills, 20 Minutes Offensive Plays, 20 Minutes Defense, 10 Minutes Scrimmage, etc. However you want to manage it but have a plan. You need to have a parent meeting. This should have been done before the season but obviously nothing you can do about that. If you have to do it at a game then do it before the next game. I would call all the parents before you next practice and tell them that you will be having a parent meeting and that you expect them at the next practice. Player participation is always tough at this age as the players can't drive themselves to practice. I would tell parents what you expect. You are not about winning and losing you are about teaching your players life skills. COMMITMENT, Teamwork, time management, attitude, sportsmanship, etc. I would tell them that they can't learn anything if they don't show up to practice and that it is unacceptable. Tell them that not only is it unfair to the rest of the team it is unfair to their child. I always relate it to school. Would they let their child miss school everyday and then have them show up on test day and expect them to pass the test? You of course are going to have some parent(s) that don't care and you will have to deal with it. You have to decide playing time as it's your team but I don't think it is fair to your players who show up to be penalized by those who can't commit.
  9. Coach, I always lean towards zone but of course I don't know your players as well as you do. Man always seems to be a good way to get burned and give up a quick touchdown. Check out these threads for more insight on running man vs zone.
  10. Coach Can the quarterback run? What age group are you coaching? Here are some links to take a look at to get you thinking about how you want to set up your defense and some things to focus on. Flag Football Defense Teaching Defense to Stay Home How to handle a defense that lines up 7 yards deep How often do you send a rusher?
  11. Here are a few links to playbooks to get you started. Remember more plays is not better. It's better to have fewer plays that you run well than a bunch of plays that your players can't run. Tiger 6 on 6 Flag Playbook Scott's 6 on 6 Flag Football Playbook Chris 6 on 6 Flag Football Playbook Cane 7 on 7 Flag Football Playbook (modify to fit your needs) I hope you will share your completed playbook with us once you have it put together.
  12. Rawbar, Andy Y is spot on. It sounds like your offense can get the job done and score some points. Figure out what kind of changes you can make on defense, focus on the fundamentals and spend most of your time working on making your defense better. Don't panic and don't get discouraged. You have to remember that you are a new team and your going to take your lumps just most of us have at one time or another. I disagree with you in that you could be the greatest coach in the world and if you run into a team with better athletes, who is well coached and who have been playing together for awhile you are going to have a tough time of it. Try to forget about the outcome of the game. Your focus should be on improving every week. If you see that then you are succeeding. Take a look at your youth flag football drills to get some ideas of what you might want to work on in practice Good luck coach. Keep us posted on how it's going.
  13. John, These threads are a good starting point for putting together your defense. Youth Flag Football Defense 5 on 5 Flag Football Zone Defense Diagrams and Strategy Flag Football Zone Defense 5 on 5 Flag Football Zone Defense Playbook 5 on 5 Flag Football Advise - Coaching D
  14. John, I don't see your playbook attached. I think you are on the right track in regards to keep things simple with not to many plays. You may if use less than the 8 you are thinking about running. For a new team you might go to 4 or 6 plays and running them well. In practice run your plays over and over until your kids have their assignments down pat. I am not sure I would run a 4-1 on defense as you may be setting yourself up for some long breakaway runs if they get around your front 4. You may be much better served with a 1-3-1 especially with an entirely new team.
  15. Bob, This is a simple pursuit drill that will help you teach your defenders how to take a proper pursuit angle to the ball. Line your 4 defenders up facing the line of scrimmage and space like you would in a normal game. It would progress somewhat as follows: Start Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
  16. Exactly how old are you players and how much passing do you expect?
  17. JimmyHudson23, Check out the thread below for a Texas_D_Coach's zone defense diagrams. 5 V 5 Flag Football Zone Defense Diagrams
  18. Rep, reps and more reps. Set up your defense and try and run through as many senarios in practice as time permits. Go over and over responsibilities. They will get it. One thing that has helped me in teaching new concepts is to instruct my players to freeze when I say freeze. We set up our defense and offense. We have our offense run through their routes and the defense run through their coverage assignments. When I see someone out of place I yell freeze and then I take my time showing and explaining to them how they should have played it. Here are some threads that may help. Teaching Defense to Stay Home 5 on 5 Defensive Playbook Flag Football Defensive Help
  19. 5-3Man, It doesn't matter what you know now. Just like we expect our athletes to put the time and effort in to getting better. You just need to put the time and effort in to becoming a knowledgeable volleyball coach. You will need a game plan for the drills and alignments that you want to teach. In addition to purchasing instructional volleyball dvd's, there is a lot of free stuff out there to help you put together a game plan. Here are some links to get you started. Youth Volleyball Drills John Dunning's Setting DVD Coaching Youth Volleyball - Practice Planning DVD Coaching Youth Volleyball - Simplified Playing System DVD You Tube Volleyball Drills Guide to Coaching Youth Volleyball
  20. When it comes to coverage schemes many youth football coaches have very strong opinions. They are and always have been man coverage guys while others think it should be a capital offense if you don't run zone. Or maybe you like to run man free, man underneath a deep zone safety. What's the right answer? Maybe it falls a little into the middle. No matter which approach I take in teaching coverage, I always team man first. Because once the ball is in the air, the defender is going to in essence be in man coverage. Another reason I like man coverage in youth football is many youth coaches will try and overload a team by formation or with shifts and motion. When in man, you are not going to be the victim of formation overloads, shifts or motion. I've never had a problem teaching even my youngest age players the 7-9s to man up correctly on trips, twins, double slot, motion etc. Rapid rep team defensive recognition drills with 11 players in and 11 out every 15 seconds solve for that pretty easily. Man also allows you to match up. Many spread teams think the spread helps them create mismatches. The problem with that is if they have a "dude" I can match my "dude" on his "dude." They can't just have their "dude" run to my weakest zone player and whamp us all day long. Now if the other team has many more "dudes" than you do and the matchups are overwhelming, you have a problem no defensive scheme is going to do very well with. But man allows you to match up where you want. At the youth level MANY youth coaches will split out a weaker player to draw a defender out with him. They have no intention of throwing the ball to that Receiver. Many youth coaches use this approach to get players their required snaps in minimum play rule leagues. Better coached teams simply won't cover these kids and play 11 against your 10. We do this using our "Igor" call. It helped us win a semifinal game in 2013 when the other team lined up in double slot and had a minimum play player to both sides. We played 11 on 9 football most of that day.When you are in man you can do this, zone, you can't, So you are thinking I'm a man guy now right? No, I'm a fan of winning, I bear no allegiance to any ethical approach that is suboptimal to my team winning games. I've played man, zone and both. As most of us know, when we are in man, sometimes it is difficult to play the run well. With eyes on the receivers to give cues to the Defensive Backs and Linebackers, run support is often times not as good as it could be as in zone. In zone the cues are usually first from the Quarterback, run support can be immediate. All eyes are usually downfield or into the backfield at the start. It's simply easier to play run support from zone. In man, well coached teams will often times just run off a Linebacker or Defensive Back. They will take your defenders out of a play without even having to lay a finger on them. We've all seen teams go 5 wide, send everyone deep and then run the QB on a designed delayed run. I do this in my offense with our "Paul" calls, it's a very successful approach against man teams. There are other ways to gain advantages on man teams. We saw that a lot in the Oregon, Ohio State National Championship Game. OSU on the Jet Sweep Powers and Counters with the faked "smoke" screen to the edges which were holding 2 defenders. Man definitely has it's pluses and minuses. Against man, well coached teams will run rubs (slant/arrows), slant/wheels, smoke screen/wheels and shallow crosses to rub off your man defenders. Are those play legal? They rarely get called, so they become an issue. Sure the better coached teams are going to find soft spots in your zone or just flood the zone. But in youth football, those throwing windows and areas are a bit more compressed due to the fact most youth players can't throw the 20 yard out. Spacing isn't as wide, which makes zone a bit more palatable, especially at the younger age groups. In the end it comes down to what you believe in, what you can teach, what you have for players and what you are up against as far as competition. Read up on my "Worst to First" coaching experience in Reno, Nevada this year and see why I went to zone. I lived in Reno 5 days a week and commuted from Nebraska. This team had won something like 6 games in 6 years. Our equation required we play zone. Winning Youth Football
  21. by Coach Dave Stricklin As a former player and a current coach I can easily tell you that there are few things as frustrating as being in a slump. Most players know when they are not playing as well as they can or should and it bothers most of them whether they readily admit it or not. In fact some players are so distraught at being in even a minor slump that they never fully recover and it adversely affects the rest of the season for everybody. Just like kids need their parents the most when things are rough, players need their coaches when they're not playing well. Unfortunately, too many coaches have a tendency to push the struggling players aside and concentrate their attention on those players who are already playing great. Coaching is synonymous with problem solving and "fixing things." Here are 7 ways you can help a player who is in a slump: 1. Set Goals. Not big lofty goals but goals that can be reached fairly easily. Once those are reached then slightly increase their level of difficulty. I recently advised a player who was in a shooting/scoring slump that she needed to quit worrying about points and take a closer look at the shots she was getting. We initially set a goal that she would try to get a driving layup, a fast break layup, a put back, a mid range jump shot, a three point attempt, and also get to the free throw line. Getting various types of shots made her more active and helped her realize that if one type of shot wasn't dropping there were other options available. 2. Teach & Reinforce Mental Skills. I realize this is much easier said than done but it can be a huge help. Players both in and out of slumps need to learn how to stay positive, focus on the process not so much on the results, keep their emotions under control, visualize, and move on to the "next play." Use one or more of these mental skills as the basis for at least one of the goals you help your athlete set. 3. Put the Player in Contact with a Mentor/Role Model. Take advantage of the fact that nearly every player has gone through some type of slump at one time or another. Contact a former player or a current college player, someone who been through it before, and ask if he would be willing to reach out to your player. He might be able to share some more ideas and tips that worked for him and will be able to reinforce the fact that everyone goes through it - and eventually snaps out of it. 4. Be Available. A player in a slump needs you now more than ever and so you need to be there for him both on and off the court. Under no circumstances can he ever feel that "I'm not playing well so coach hates me." Your unquestionable support of him during the rough spots may do more to get him back on track than any of these other steps. His teammates, friends, and even parents may be down on him and he may be feeling like he's trying to get through this all alone. Be there! 5. Double the Praise & Reduce the Criticism. Most slumps become more mental than physical and too much criticism only reinforces what he already knows - that he's not playing well. I'm not saying you should heap tons of unwarranted praise on him or make things up in order to help him feel good about himself - just don't let an opportunity slip by where you can praise him for actually doing something right. 6. Don't Add Anymore Pressure. I know coaches who have made things much worse by telling their slumping star "If you don't snap out of this our season is heading right down the drain," or "If you don't start playing better you'll never make All League," or something similar. Instead, try to take the pressure off of him. Tell the newspaper that it's not his fault; that you need to put him in a better position to succeed. 7. Individual Workouts. Get the two of you in the gym and work out together. The individualized attention will help fix any minor flaws in technique and I have found that repetition cures a lot of problems. Plus putting in extra time with him will show him that you care, that you have his back, and that you are available. (See Tip #4) John Wooden once taught that success is never final and failure is never fatal. Use that same philosophy when dealing with players in a slump and he will be back playing well in no time. HoopSkills.com is home of the 'Train Your Game' weekly ezine with 29,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to get on board and receive FREE basketball training & coaching tips on a regular basis visit www.hoopskills.com.
  22. by Coach Dave Stricklin Coaches, players, and especially fans all love to see rim rattling dunks and ankle breaking crossovers but sometimes forget that the objective of the game is putting the ball through the basket. There are literally thousands of different offenses and set plays but each and every one of them is practically useless unless it’s built around a great shooter. Great shooters are an opposing team’s nightmare because they stretch the defense, can score points in a hurry, and get the fans all fired up. With a great shooter on the floor every offense and every set play is much more effective and therefore great shooters must be defended every second they are on the court. If you can do this as a team you will win many more games; if you can do this an individual your worth to your team will skyrocket! Here are 4 things to consider the next time you have to lock down a lights out shooter: 1. Don’t let him touch the ball I realize this is much easier said than done but it is the “easiest” way to lock down a shooter since he can’t shoot it if he doesn’t touch it. Fortunately for you, most middle school and even high school shooters are “catch and shoot” types of players and most offenses are played at a pace that actually helps the defense. (Watch how much the average high school shooter moves without the ball and compare him to game clips of Stephen Curry, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton or other big time shooters.) I know a lot of teams are now using a drive and kick type offense to get the ball to their best shooters but here’s something to think about: Would you rather have a great shooter get off a wide open, uncontested 3 point attempt or a penetrator shoot a contested shot while driving to the rim? In many offenses the penetrator’s main objective is to force the shooter’s defender to help so he can kick it out for the 3. What would happen if you refuse to drop off and force the penetrator to shoot it himself? Some coaches and players would say that’s not “good” defense but “good” defense is not always effective defense! 2. Get him out of rhythm The best shooters are all rhythm shooters which is why they can stand there and make dozens of uncontested shots in a row. If you can’t keep him from touching the ball then the next strategy is to get him out of his normal shooting rhythm and routine. This can be done in several ways – 1) run him off the 3 point line and make him shoot it off the dribble 2) rotate defenders so he is constantly getting a different defensive look in terms of length, quickness, and physicality 3) force the ball away from him so he is not getting the ball in the same spot every single time and 4) run a second defender at him every time he touches the ball forcing him to either speed up or be trapped. 3. Hands in then up Most shooters, especially rhythm shooters, bring the ball “up” before shooting it. Therefore, as a defender you should get your hand “in” and placed about waist high which will prevent him from bringing the ball up into his shot pocket. Once the shot sequence has started get a hand up but make sure it’s the correct hand. Too many times I see the right hand go up on a shooter’s left shoulder which does absolutely no good in terms of contesting the shot. 4. Make him defend Many great shooters have a tendency to rest on defense for two reasons. First, they are trying to conserve some energy and secondly, they can’t shoot the ball if they are on the bench in foul trouble. Therefore, if you can make him defend on every possession you have an outstanding chance of lowering his shooting effectiveness. Get him into pick and roll situations, run him around several picks, and post him up. Be creative and don’t let him hide out on the weak side where he is always away from the action. Even if the great shooter is not defending one of your team’s best scorers you can still make him work by running him into three or four good, hard screens before getting into your “real” offense. Not only will this force him to defend and make him fight through contact but in order to do this you have to play at a little faster pace. Unless the shooter is in exceptional shape the faster pace may help tire him out quicker than usual. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense! I don’t want to oversimplify this but if you stop the shooter you usually stop the offense and if you can stop the offense you can usually win the game! If you're ready to get on board and receive FREE basketball training & coaching tips on a regular basis visit www.hoopskills.com.
  23. Whiskey, I missed it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I have removed all of the spam posts and the spammer from the boards.
  24. Cazador, Great subject. Time to start thinking about the upcoming season. I just posted a new article titled - What Are You Working on Right Now to Make Your Youth Football Team Better? Have you taken the time to look back on last years season to see where you need to make improvements? You know how the saying goes about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you have, it may make sense to get some input from a trusted and knowledgeable assistant coach or yes even a competitor. Over time many good youth football coaches are willing to help others and yes that even means competitors. What needs to change in order for you to meet your mission with the inputs and dynamic you are in? I know some coaches that are changing their entire defensive scheme, the one they’ve used for years simply because it wouldn’t accommodate the lack of talent they had, square peg in round hole with horrendous results. <Read More>
  25. Just for a second think about the following scenarios and quickly decide if any of them apply to you. 1) The ball is entered to you in the post but before you can make your move the passer's defender drops down into your lap and rips the ball out of your hands. 2) You go up for a rebound and get both hands on the ball but someone knocks it away right after you grab it. 3) You establish a strong post position, give a great target, and call confidently for the ball but when the pass does come it goes right through your hands. Have any of these situations ever happened to you, a friend, or a teammate? If so, you know the effect they can have on a team's success (or failure) and you also know they can be personally frustrating and sometimes embarrassing. Fortunately, in most cases it's a simple fix as it just comes down to strengthening your hands and fingers and improving your ability to catch the ball. Here are several things you can do to accomplish this: 1. Constantly squeeze a tennis ball, racquetball, or hand grippers This is good advice for all players as strong hands and fingers will help improve ball handling and shooting as well as rebounding and overall post play. This is especially effective in strengthening your off hand and the best part is that it can be done while riding in a car, sitting in class, or watching a movie. 2. Use a heavy ball Start by doing some stationary pound dribbles to warm up your hands and then play catch with your workout partner using chest passes, overhead passes and baseball passes. After a couple minutes move in closer together and start passing the ball harder. As your hands get stronger you can start using the heavy ball in the other drills listed here too. If you don't have a heavy ball you can get one from the Hoop Skills Store at www.hoopskills.com. 3. Play one handed catch Have you ever watched a water polo game? It's amazing how much ball control the players have while using only one hand! You can develop the same control by getting a work out partner and playing catch with only one hand at a time. First, pass the ball back and forth several times from your right hand to his right hand. Then pass several times from your right hand to your partner's left hand. Follow that by playing catch with your left hand and his right hand and conclude the session with each of you using only your left hands. 4. Play catch with a wiffle ball This drill is more for developing soft hands and hand eye coordination which are crucial for improving your catching skills. The nature of a whiffle ball is to randomly float, drop, and curve and the unexpected movements force the pass receiver to concentrate and watch the ball all the way into his hands 5. Use the Mark Eaton bad pass drill When former NBA All Star Mark Eaton was a rookie Coach Frank Layden implemented a simple drill that paid big dividends. Eaton would slide across the free throw lane while a coach constantly threw bad passes in his direction. Knowing that rarely are perfect passes thrown into the post these passes were thrown too high, too low, too hard, and often behind Eaton, forcing him to constantly adjust. When game time rolled around Eaton was ready for anything! Don't let weaker hands or an inability to consistently catch the ball ruin all the hard work you put in improving your post moves and rebounding. These drills won't have to be done your entire career - I've seen drastic improvements take place in just a few weeks. However, the benefits you gain from doing drills such as these will last for years! HoopSkills.com is home of the 'Train Your Game' weekly ezine with 26,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to get on board and receive FREE basketball training & coaching tips on a regular basis visit www.hoopskills.com.
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