THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR to focus on your objectives and prepare for off-season football practices and summer programs.

FOCUS ON THE BASICS
One important area is the actual amount of material that you are presenting to your players during this brief period of time. It is best to focus on a limited amount of material that is basic and vital to your offensive and defensive systems. Knowing that this basic information has been thoroughly understood by all your players at the end of the off-season gives you an excellent foundation for the regular season.

Without actual game-day pressure, you can use this time to correct and repeat the basic elements of your program and give your team a feeling of confidence. By the end of the off-season and summer programs, your players should be clear about what you want them to accomplish and how you want it done.

Part-To-Whole Teaching Technique
The off-season and summer should be a time for teaching the basic techniques needed to play every position within your system. This is when it is possible to commit a great deal of practice time to the development of individual techniques.
When teaching individual techniques, design a number of drills with each teaching only one phase of an overall technique. Drills of this type allow both the coach and the player to concentrate on one very specific element.

An example of this teaching method would be to break a basic movement or technique down into its parts and design a drill to only focus on that part.

The following is an example of teaching a wide receiver how to run a route:
Part 1. The stance.
Part 2. A drill for the start.
Part 3. A drill for the drive up the field.
Part 4. A drill for the break on each route.
Part 5. A drill to teach positioning for making the reception.
Part 6. A drill for making the catch.

Catching the ball, which often serves as a deterrent to properly learning the actual techniques of running a route, becomes just a part of the teaching during the final drill segment.

Positive Results
Running a number of drills, lets them be kept short, quick and a good tool for keeping a player’s attention. For the players, boredom and endless time waiting for their turn to perform is eliminated or greatly reduced. As these drills are repeated, players become more comfortable with each technique and quickly learn to do the drill correctly.

When techniques are combined in one drill, it’s more difficult to identify and correct errors for each player. A combination drill often makes it harder to have each player understand all the parts that go into a specific basic technique and to practice each part correctly.

Using more drills that teach only one part of a technique allows a coach to quickly see where a player is having problems, make corrections when needed and provide the opportunity to repeat aspects that need extra work.

Keep It Fun
It is important to keep spring and summer practice fun for your players with the least amount of pressure or failure as possible. You want your players to have a good feeling about what they have been taught. This will provide a commitment to your program, build team pride and instill eagerness for the football season to begin.