Monthly Archives: August 2016

Rocket Science

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It is not… getting recruited, that is. It is not Rocket Science.

launch1bHere’s the deal… the concepts are simple, the actual “doing”, tends to be much harder.  There really is no “magic bullet”, sure-fire single thing that will get you a college scholarship.  There really is no “miracle pill” that will get the college recruiters lining up at your door.  Well, there really is a “miracle pill” that you can take, but it just takes four (or more) years and a lot of hard work to swallow!

fork in roadWhat it boils down to is that over the next four years (if you are a freshman) you will be given literally thousands of choices that you will need to make. The result of these choices will either get you closer to your goal of being a college athlete and being rewarded for your hard work, or put you further away from your dream.

The sneaky thing, the really insidious thing, is that most of these choices by themselves aren’t “deal breakers”… making the right choice will not automatically earn you a college scholarship, and making the wrong choice will not prevent it.  So it is easy to think at the time you have to make the choice, “oh, this is no big thing”.  And you are right, this one single choice probably is NOT a big thing, but making these choices, good or bad, is incremental and cumulative.

I have seen student-athletes make these same types of choices over the last 30 years of my career.  The athletes that make the majority of choices that positively impact their goal are FAR more likely to achieve that goal.

Here are some choices that bombard a typical high school athlete…

  • You decide to skip the Friday after school off-season program because you want some extra time to get ready for your date tonight…. It Matters!
  • You decide to take a Team Sports class next semester instead of Advanced Strength Training for Athletes because it is easier… It Matters!
  • You work out with a group of 4 at a rack instead of 3, knowing that there will be more rest time… It Matters!
  • You chat with your friends in the evening instead of reading your literature assignment, which you will be tested over in the morning… It Matters!
  • You miss a summer-school strength and conditioning class session because you were “just too tired”… It Matters!
  • You stand at the side and talk to a teammate while others are practicing and coaches are coaching instead of getting a “mental rep”… It Matters!
  • You take your scouting report home, but don’t study it like the coach asked you to because your favorite TV show was on… It Matters!
  • Your mom schedules a dentist appointment on the day of practice, but you say “It’s OK, we just have practice that day”…. It Matters!
  • You decide to go to a party where you know there will be alcohol and underage drinking because all of your friends will be there…. It Matters!
  • You are late to practice because you have a detention for too many tardies…It Matters!
  • You jog through the finish of a drill instead of going full speed because you know the coach is helping someone else and isn’t looking at you… It Matters!

You get the idea, and could probably add more examples of choices you have had to make.  These types of choices come up all the time… daily… and I am here to tell you that It Matters!  It is not easy – as I said this “Miracle Pill” takes four years and a lot of hard work to swallow.  But you can do it… You Can Do More!

In addition to these written posts, I have recently launched my YouTube Channel that deals specifically with the recruiting process.  The channel can be found here : The YouCanDoMore YouTube Channel, and the complete playlist can be viewed here.

 

Related Posts:

Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

The Process is the Key

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By the time this post goes live, Missouri High School football squads will already have one game under their belt with most other states following suit this week. For the next 10-15 weeks coaches across the country will be knee deep in the demanding but exciting grind of the high school football season.

As coaches, we have a lot on our plate each week…both on and off the field. One of the biggest time consuming jobs in this process, is of course, game planning…. making sure that we have done everything in our power to insure that we put our athletes in position to be successful offensively and defensively against the upcoming opponent.

My most popular series of posts, by far, are the eleven pieces that detail the game planning process our staff honed while at the University of Central Missouri. Posts in this series have been viewed over 20,000 times. The series was featured on the Washington Post’s Insiders Blog that had this to say:

For anyone who’s ever wondered how a defensive coach assembles a game plan, youcandomore.net has a whole series on the thought process behind it. This particular link is to the call sheet, how a coach picks what works against the opponent’s best plays in certain situations each week, and has them handy so he can call his defense in a matter of seconds.

A tool we developed (the Call Sheet) that is included in these posts, has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times. But really, more important than any single tool, spreadsheet, chart… more important than any “magic bullet” you are trying to find… is the PROCESS that we developed and that is outlined in these series of posts.   A data driven… thoughtful… efficient …time tested… PROCESS. A process that you may be able to use “in toto”, or incorporate pieces into what you are currently doing.

LUCall

Here are brief descriptions and links to each post that will take you through this process.

Genealogy

This post looks at the people and programs that shaped our Defensive Game Planning process at the University of Central Missouri.

Weekly Workflow

The day-to-day sequence of designing and implementing the game plan, including practice plans and scripts is outlined in this post

Film Breakdown and Formation Analysis

How and why particular game film is chosen and the tools we use to analyze an opponents offense

The Ready List

How THE key component of a successful game plan is developed

The Play Grid

How we chart and opposing offense, taking into account down, distance and formation

The Call Sheet

The final product of this process and the tool we use to select our defensive calls on game day

Game Procedures

How we man the press box and sideline, and delegate duties and responsibilities to each coach…. Includes game day chart templates that we use

FAQ

Questions that have been asked and answered over the years regarding this process

Flipped Coaching

Some ideas on how to “flip” meeting, practice, and study to better utilize time

Defensive Installation Progression

Some considerations and ideas when planning your defensive installation… includes a sample form

All-in-all over a couple dozen charts and videos to help explain the game planning process we developed.

For those of you that have been following my blog (over 400 posts) for the past three years (nearly a quarter million views!), a heartfelt thanks and a couple of requests…

  • If you have found the blog helpful, interesting and/or entertaining… please share youcandomore.net with your colleagues…. AND …
  • You will notice a new feature on the blog this week… a way to make a monetary donation… A “donate” button in the right panel… if you feel so moved.

Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Advice From the Other Side

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Take care of yourself.

It is that time of year.

  • School starting …
  • Fall seasons beginning …
  • 110+ hour workweeks ramping up…

And only 24 hours in a day

If you are like most coaches that I know, your priorities will look something like this…

  1. Take care of your family
  2. Take care of your team (which means putting them in the best position possible to be successful)
  3. Take care of your staff

Any extra minute/ hour you can eek out will be allocated back to one of these three things.

I was the same way.

For most of my career I would grind… putting all of my time and effort into Family, Team, and Staff.

I went from consistently training and being in great shape, to each year spending less and less time doing so… until my personal training became non-existent.

About 4 years ago I was forced to begin working out when I had a hip replacement and needed to rehab… progressing from walking…. to walking/ jogging… to jogging… normally for about 45 minutes to an hour, 3 or so times a week.

And when the season/school started… maybe on the weekends if at all.

Low intensity + Inconsistent Routine = Not Great Results

My advice… based on my experience… carve out some time to really take care of yourself.

  • Eat right
  • Exercise

Here is what I learned first hand this summer (yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks)

Instead of a long, slow, plodding jog/ walk… I stared doing interval training.   It is not a new concept, just something that I had not done since I was a competitive track athlete… and in great shape.

Basically 4-5 times a week I do one of the following workouts.

45 Second Interval Workout

  • 5-minute warm up
  • 45-second medium tempo interval
  • 45-second fast tempo interval
  • 2-minute recovery (walk)
  • Repeat intervals 5 times
  • 5-10 minute cool down

30 Second Interval Workout

  • 5-minute warm up
  • 30-second medium tempo interval
  • 30-second fast tempo interval
  • 2-minute recovery (walk)
  • Repeat intervals 7 times
  • 5-10 minute cool down

On days that I am not doing one of these interval workouts, I try to go out for a longer, more leisurely walk.

And that is it.

The interval workouts take maybe 40-45 minutes.

Physically and mentally I feel better than I have in 30 years…. at times I feel I could be back on the crushed gravel track at Blue Springs High school (yes… crushed gravel… no synthetic surface) running repeat 200m runs.

My heart rate data confirms my improved physical condition. You can see on this chart that my heart rate recovers quickly during each 2-minute recovery.

workout data

Now back to you.

It is a long season…and a long school year…

  • Wouldn’t you like a little more in your tank in October when you are heading into playoff time?
  • Wouldn’t you like a little more in your tank in January when you deep into your off-season routine?
  • Wouldn’t you like a little more in your tank at the end of next summer when you are preparing for another Fall campaign?

You get the idea… time spent on YOU will pay off with more quality time with Family, Team, and Staff.

I am not saying you have to do THIS workout, but I can tell you that I feel better, and spend less time doing this routine as opposed to the LSD (long slow distance) type of training I was doing previous.

Good luck this season… I will enjoy following you all during the next several months!

Related Posts:

Remember – You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com