Success for Next Year Starts in the
Offseason
by Bob Ladouceur
Contents:
From JV to Varsity
A lot of kids on the varsity, juniors or sophomores, didn't understand fully
what it took to prepare themselves for varsity competition until they actually
got to fall football practice. And then they found out that they were too slow,
or they weren't strong enough, or they didn't have the tools they needed to
perform or to do the tasks and techniques we were asking them to do.
As much as we tried to tell them what they needed to do - how much weight
they needed to gain, how much weight they needed to lift - they still had their
own
preconceived idea of what it was going to take. They felt the jump from junior
varsity level to the varsity level was going to be minimal when, actually,
the jump is much greater. The game is faster. You need more strength to
perform. And it's more complex, with more blocking schemes and plays. It's a
huge jump.
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Assessment
With the season winding down, now is the time I sit down with players who
didn't play very much to assess their season. The rating works so that a 1 is
an awful season and 10 being a great season. They are usually very good at
assessing themselves. If a player wasn't starting, he will usually say, "I was
a four or
a five." My next question is why is that? They usually come up with the
answers themselves. "Well, I didn't think it was going to be this hard." "I
didn't
think I was going to get pushed around like I did." So there is that
self-revelation - they
had to live it to find out.
The next step is what are we going to do differently to make sure this
doesn't happen again next year? And a lot of them come back with new resolve,
new
determination. They are going to do the off-season prep work to get them in
position where success is possible. At this point, in the season, that's all I
want them to
know. That they fell short, and there was a reason for it. Not because it was
fate or it
just happened. Or the other guys were better than they were. It was because of
their
failure to prepare and anticipate what was expected.
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Achieve More
Then for the kids that do contribute, I do the same thing.
They usually rate their season higher. But then I say to them,
What is it going to take for you to become an All-League player,
or an All-Regional player? Or even, if they have the size potential,
what is it going to take to go on to the next level? Then we come up with a
whole new set of goals.
This is the best time to do this because football is still fresh in their
minds, and they can make a fairly accurate assessment of the season. If I wait,
a lot of them will have gone off and done other things, or even their own
evaluations
may get somewhat tainted. They would get a different perspective. "Maybe I did
give a
good effort." They'll rationalize or they'll be in a certain denial, that other
circumstances prevented them from playing.
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Commitment
As for the JV kids that will come up next year, I usually go around and get
to them one-on-one instead of a team because they really don't believe you are
talking to them when you are talking to the team. To each player I say, if you
want to
come up to the varsity and contribute right away as a junior or in a rare
occasion as a sophomore, we have to lay out a goal plan.
A lot of them are kind of overwhelmed, and that's where they start making
up their own scenarios, "Well, I'll lift, but I don't need to lift that much."
They have their own preconceived idea. That's when the cycle begins: The kids
who work hard end up contributing and the kids that aren't working that hard or
aren't that consistent in their off-season weight programs usually end up
realizing they didn't prepare well. Then they find out they have to do it all
over again.
The time commitment issue is a bit part of it because the football season is
so far away. Sometimes they think they can put off the work until summer. In
all
actuality, the most important time in prep time is from January to May. That is
where our
players become much stronger and much bigger. We're not into cardiovascular
training now. We're into strength and size. That's where a lot of players'
seasons are made or broken. As for players who come on just in the summer,
that's when we're
more in a cardiovascular mode of training. It's hard to put on weight because
of the
weather -- it's hotter -- and the amount of running we do. It's harder to get
bigger and
stronger then. That's why the furthest away you are from the football season is
the most
important time to prepare for it.
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Maturity
If you want to be a multi-sport athlete and you want to compete at a high
level, then you have to put in double the amount of time. We lift Monday,
Wednesday and Fridays, but for multi-sport athletes, they still have to lift
but they
have to lift at 6:30 a.m. Then in the afternoon they can do their winter and
spring sports. We
tailor their workouts for these multi-sport kids, but it takes a lot of
dedication and
time. In order to do that consistently you have to have a plan and be mature
about it: Have a
schedule. Know when you're going to work on track or baseball, know when you're
going to
work on football.
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About the Author: Bob
Ladouceur
writes on the secrets to success. He would know. Few teams in the world have
won as often as De La Salle High School's football team. The Spartans,
perennially rated among the best prep teams in the country, are currently
riding a record 100+ game winning streak. Ladouceur, who has been the coach
since 1979, has comprised a 125-1 record in the 1990s and an overall mark of
238-14-1. The school of 900 boys is located in Concord, California, east of San
Francisco.
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