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MIXING IT UP by Coach Jim Massaro

Warm-ups and GPP have always been a problem for our football team. Over the years we found that these are two areas that our players have not taken seriously. I decided to take a whole new approach to this problem, after wracking my brain over and over and still not coming up with a solution, by questioning some of our players on their daily activities. What time did they wake up? What did they do after that? What were their habits regarding breakfast, shower, and catching the school bus? Once at school they started the second part of the day. First class at 7:30, then classes for the duration of the day. Some go for extra help after school ends, then off to football practice. Practice starts at three, and depending on the game plan, or the effort we receive from the team, there isn't any set time for practice to end. From practice it's home for dinner, a shower, then hit the books to complete the next job: homework. In conclusion, I have found that there was too much structure in their daily activities and not enough fun. This had to change!

I started to analyze our warm-up and daily practice procedures knowing I could not adjust the practice because the head coach would fire me in a heartbeat. It was the warm-up I could play with since it is my job to make sure that the team's conditioning level is at its greatest. Our warm-ups consist of meeting on the field at three p.m. and breaking down into five lines. We start with 5 x 20 yard high-knees, then 5 x 20 yard butt-kicks, into 5 x 20 yard carrioc, finishing with 5 x 20 yard 70% sprints. We go right into our flexibility work, and then off to practice.

Well! Look at this. More structure. Up since 6:30 in the morning and still no fun with a whole lot of work ahead. This problem is without a doubt the easiest to solve. Let's make the warm-up fun and productive at the same time. Eliminating the traditional warm-up, I added what I call High Activity Warm-up. Simply put, without coaching supervision they get on the field and throw the ball around. We have linemen acting like wide-receivers going deep-kids out there just having fun running down passes or taking hand-offs for twenty minutes-playing out of position, but the best part about it is we are getting our warm-ups in. They don't even realize it as they're just having a good time. When this is over we go to our flexibility and get ready to go to work.

Now that the season is over, it is time for our post-season conditioning to begin. With our season running for five months, I like to give them three weeks off to heal some of their injuries and spend time with family and girlfriends. Losing the state championship game by five points got them hungry to get right back into the weight room. But we stuck to our policy of three weeks rest. In this part of our training program, in addition to lifting, I really try to work on the team's GPP. We have always classified our team into two groups: Pretty Boys (running backs, receivers, d-backs) and the Grunts (lineman, linebackers). Movements I prefer to use this time of the year are the sled drills, incorporating high knee drags, side drags, carrico drags, pull-throughs, front sprints and backward walks. Drags ranging from 50 to 200 feet in length doing two to five sets depending on the day. Always pitting the Grunts against the Pretty Boys. By making minor adjustments to the amount of weight that we place on the sled in comparison to the individual performing the exercise, we can even out the playing field. This makes for a very competitive workout. There are times when the Grunts will beat the Pretty Boys in the front sprints. What a great feeling for them to win a sprint against someone half their size. And the Pretty Boys might win the pull-throughs, another great feeling to win at a strength event. By doing our drills this way, we can get a lot of work done at a very high intensity level.

Another idea I am toying with is pick-up truck pushes for time. Think about it: what do you do in football? Push the other players around. This still needs a little work but I cannot wait to implement it. Think of the work and fun we will get from this.

By changing the pattern of the warm-ups and allowing them to have some fun between school and practice, we have noticed that the actual practice sessions have become much more productive. As far as raising our GPP by leveling the playing field and adding that competitive aspect to the sled work, we have been able to get so much work done. But most of all, the players look forward to out performing each other. I hope some of these ideas will help with your team. Do not be afraid to try them out.

 

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