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DEVELOPING YOUR OFF-SEASON STRATEGIESDuring the month of December, we start meeting with our football athletes to cover off-season goals for the upcoming season. It becomes an important time of the year for the coaches, athletes and parents to get an early handle on what is expected from everyone as we prepare for an 8 month off-season training plan.
We always begin our plan with a discussion of our annual training plan. We gather the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors and explain the post, off, and pre-season schedule immediately after the season ends. This gives us an opportunity to set the tone for the coming training months and answer any specific questions anyone might have regarding strength training, speed/agility, flexibility, nutrition and rehabilitation work.
Always remember that it’s a long off-season. Help your athletes set personal goals and focus on being consistent with their work. They must have manageable goals that can be improved on over an off-season. The biggest mistake we see with some programs is the temptation to overload the young men at the early stages of the off-season. For example, today we started meeting with juniors who are going to be seniors next year and wanted to know what they can do to break into the starting rotation next season.
My advice always begins with setting goals. This might seem simple and self-explanatory, but we are dealing with high school kids. What do they want to accomplish, what type of teammate do they want to be, what type of legacy will they leave behind? Once we understand their mindset, we can begin to mold those characteristics that are going to help them achieve those goals.
Next step is understanding what the head coach expects from the athlete. Most of the time, the coach has simple goals that are manageable, such as gaining weight, building muscle, getting faster. Once we have a handle on individual goals and coaching goals, we can begin to develop individual training plans.
First, we ask our athletes to take a proactive approach to nutrition. Breakfast, lunch and dinner must be addressed, as well as, hydration and healthy snacks. Most high school athletes don’t eat enough quality foods, but overtrain their systems through sports or physical training. This is not a good combination.
Second, we cover injuries, rehab protocols or anything that will prevent us from starting 100% when we start our training program. Everyone gets looked at by our trainers if there are issues.
Third, we ask them to stay active during the post season-active rest phase. Most of our athletes don’t know what to do with themselves after a long season. We encourage them to stay active with some light cardio, torso strength, light mobility drills and total body flexibility. We have found that athletes who stay active, find it easier to maintain weight, stay focused, transition to another sport or just take time off. Strategic deconditioning allows the players to progressively lower the volume of work that has been so intense over the last 10-15 weeks.
The fourth and last component we cover, expectations. It’s a long off-season and a lot can be accomplished in our program over 8 months. There is no hurry, because methodical, systematic training helps us attain our goals in progressive steps. We make sure our athletes understand this simple principle. As we progressively improve our training components over the long term, we can build the complete athlete and team. But, the athletes and coaches must be consistent, work brutally hard, and be committed to excellence every day.
These are all ideas that we have structured into our annual training plan. They carry their weight in gold. After our meetings, the athletes walk away with clear goals and expectations. This allows for trust among coaches, parents and athletes and builds the consistency that is necessary to compete at the highest levels.
Have a plan, explain why and how it will be accomplished, put it into practice and watch it develop. These are simple, but effective strategies as you develop your off-season program.
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