Jump to content
Y-coach.com - Forum
Sign in to follow this  
Charlie

Tracking Individual Playing Time

Recommended Posts

I feel strongly about making sure that everyone gets as much playing time as possible. Most of the time last year it went by pretty well by me keeping the series substitutions to a minimum. However, with my team makeup I can already see that there will be alot more situations this year where I will want to substitute.

What methods does everyone use to track playing time?

Thanks,

Charlie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am going thru the same issues. Past leagues I have coached in put a few extra kids on every roster (e.g., a 7-on-7 league had 10 kids on a team), so with the occasional missing kid I only had to worry about shuffling in a couple of boys. This year I have 15 kids in an 8-on-8 league (and very few seem like the type to miss a game - I have only had 1 kid miss a practice).

I am planning on going with a purple team and a yellow team (we are the Vikings) and have one group start on O and one on D. Everybody gets to be a starter and I will only have one boy play both ways as a starter. I can then alternate which team starts on O each game and prepare them for their first 5 or 6 plays (our script). I can also rotate who is the 2-way starter each game - maybe a reward for a great week of practice.

My challenge is doing subs for the skill positions on the fly. I am looking at subbing in the entire backfield after a few plays (quarterback and both RB's, there are no WR's in our league - don't ask there are a lot of constraints on the offensive sets). They can come in with their assignments from the sideline thereby cutting down on some of the substitution confusion. I am hoping to coerce a parent in the stands to help with the tracking of playing time and touches. With only a couple dozen plays in the game, it will be a challenge to get each boy more than one carry or catch unless we are really successful at grinding out nice long drives :)

Any examples of tracking sheets that other coaches use would be a big help as I try to navigate this issue too.

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We don't track playtime with each kid; we track ball touches. We've found the ball touch thing to be a bigger deal than how long a kid has been on the field. I do think we track the # of times a kid plays offense or defense though.

Orange assigns 5 kids who play offense the first half and switch to defense the second half. This seems like the easiest way to try and get equal playtime for everyone. Only reason I don't do that is I want the flexibility to sub in/out based on something I'm seeing on the field.

CRob

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are a lot of ways to do this. I track playing time by quarters. I (typically) have 13-15 kids. Eight kids on the field at once, four quarters----simple math dictates not each kid will play equally each game. However, I ensure that they play equally for the season as a whole. Most kids play 3 quarters per game---and some play 2 quarters.

I also send out the line up to the parents before the game, so they know when their child will play. The only caveat is that if their child is scheduled to play in the first quarter, and he is late (without letting me--I have my cell phone on the field), then I won't modify the lineup.

One resolution to subbing in for "skilled positions" is to play the players in the same position all season. I give my players a primary position, and a backup position. The playbook is engineered so that all positions have equal plays to get them the ball (this takes care of ball touches).

With that---last season I started something new. We had a few games that went down to the wire. In those situations, I subbed the kids on the bench in the 4th quarter in and out---simply because I wanted them to get a taste of "crunch-time" football. I think I almost gave my DC heart-attack a few times doing this---but it was great experience as each player had that experience. ;-)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We sub a lot both on offense and defense; during a series of 4-6 plays on offense I'll sub at least 2 - 3 times. Same on defense depending on the dynamics of the game. It makes play calling a bit more challenging, but the kids all know to be ready on the sidelines. I believe it gives us an edge so a team doesn't get used to seeing the same kids play after play allowing them to pick on our weaknesses.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the input. Some great thoughts on what to start thinking about in regards to playing time/ball touches.

Coach Rob, I know I have seen the coaches for my older sons high school team sub on almost every down. My question to you, at the age groups of 8-10 and 10-12. do you think the kids are able to get a feel for what they are doing before they are sub out?

Johnp I love your ideas. That was really the whole idea behind my original post. I want to give the kids the best chance that I can to love the game of football. A bit of a personal question but do your stonger 3-4 kids play more than the rest or how do you approach that?

Lastly, I would love it if you all could post what ever forms you use to help you track this.

Charlie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Johnp.....do your stonger 3-4 kids play more than the rest or how do you approach that?

Charlie, I keep it as even as possible. I do have what I consider an "A" lineup, and a "B" lineup. The "A" lineup consists of my best players. I typically start them in the first quarter. However, I track how many quarters each player has played throughout the season, and ensure they play the equal amount. I'd say most of the coaches in our league also sub out at each quarter. I've seen a few coaches who have teams where the kids play ONLY defense or ONLY offense. I'm not saying this is wrong, but if I would probably be a little irked if my son only played defense the entire season.

With that--I'd also say that 90% of the teams in our league give the ball to their top 2-3 players on every play. This can be frustrating, but I stay with my philosphy and spread it around. I think the key is knowing when to give it to certain players. I usually script out first 10 plays, which will go to eight different players (we play 8 vs. 8). After that it is a matter decision-making based on the situation (i.e. I'll give it the lesser skilled players on first down, then work my way up). It actually pays dividens. We keep stats on my team, including TOP. Our games are 48 minutes and our season average TOP was 31 minutes--which made me very proud. ;-)

Lastly, I would love it if you all could post what ever forms you use to help you track this.

I actually just create a table in MS Word. I've attached it. It's very basic, but it works for me. I also put the players who are on the bench as I've found it easier to inform who is out as opposed with who is in. Regarding tracking touches, because my players mostly play the same position, I typically track plays instead of player touches (which equates to the same thing). I just put a check next to the play after I've run it. I hope this helps.

Lineup.doc

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My question to you, at the age groups of 8-10 and 10-12. do you think the kids are able to get a feel for what they are doing before they are sub out?
Yes, the kids know the plays on offense and positions on defense, so it isn't a problem. On offense, we don't necessarily sub for the express purpose of using the subs on the very next play though.

After thinking about it, our style is a bit unorthodox. We'll start with 5 kids on offense, then bring in the kids from the sidelines for defense. If the defense gets an interception after one play, we might keep them in for the next offensive possession. Same might go for the offense if they score in one play; we might keep them in on defense for the next series. I like the freedom to mix things up a bit either based on how a group of kids plays together, time on the field or something I'm seeing out there.

We use i9's stat sheet to track each player's stats and another simple form that lists player's names with 3 columns: #of catches, # of runs, played QB. I think the person keeping that also tracks # of times played on offense/defense. I use that second sheet to see who needs ball touches during a game. It's easier than looking through a stat sheet that tracks more than ball touches.

I think you can get i9's sheet here: http://www.i9sports.com/upload/33/323EE975...56BBD07CA36.pdf

only thing missing is flag pulls. We mainly use that sheet to see if someone needs extra help with flag pulls and to see who hasn't scored a TD so we know who needs to score next game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...