I think that the position you choose should be done by yourself. I feel like you should try a few positions early in your football career to find out exactly what fits your skill level the best. I think with the help of your coaches you will also get an idea of which way you should go. I would assume that you are a good athlete if you play QB. With being a good athlete, there are a lot of possibilities open for you. You could be a defensive back, wide receiver, outside linebacker, or even a running back. Never forget the thing that you probably possess and need to nurture as much as possible is speed. I've told a lot of kids this - regardless of how big you are, if you are explosive for a 20 yard burst in football then you will be just fine. Always try to participate in track - run the sprints and do the jumping events such as the long jump and triple jump. At your age, these activities will only enhance your capabilities and athleticism which will translate into being a better football player. Good luck! I am sure you will make the right decision - go with your heart.

You are going to face these kinds of situations many times in your adult life. You need to understand the process for getting to the answer for your question. There is only one way to do it correctly. Ask your coach for a time that you can come and sit and visit with him concerning your football situation. Make sure he gives you a time where you can go to his office, sit down, and explain what is on your mind. Hear what he has to say in return. Do not let the situation be handled in the middle of the dressing room with the other kids around as it is none of their business. You want an eye-to-eye, honest answer rather than a hasty, off-hand decision. By sitting and talking out your situation, you will let the coach know that you are serious about the situation, and it is highly important to you as a person and a player.

Many times throughout your life you are going to experience similar situations. I truly believe the very best and quickest way to a decision for all is to have a sit down discussion about whatever the situation is at the time. Now it is your football position, but 20 years from now it may be a position you hold within a company where you are looking to move up. Regardless of the situation, a face-to-face discussion about your position is the very best way. One other important point to understand is that you must be sure that the outcome of the meeting is crystal clear to yourself and coach. Always repeat in your words back to the coach what you understand him to say so there will be no misunderstanding at a later date on what exactly was said.

Good luck! I hope this will serve you well not only now, but in many other situations in life.

You can play just about any position you want. With your size and 4.47 speed, you are one exceptional athlete with physical gifts that most of America never gets to have. If I were you, first of all, I'd have a serious sit down with myself. Then I would talk to my coaches and find out what they think as well. After hearing what the coaching staff or head coach says, coupled with your own desires, I'd make my decision.

I can say typically, with the physical traits you possess, a running back is usually the choice. Regardless of what position you choose, one of the most important bits of information is that just because the good Lord has given you talent, make sure you do your part in developing that talent. Don't think small, think big. By that I mean, you will not be the only person with those traits. When you begin to climb the ladder of competition, you will find more and more with equal talent or beyond your own. If you understand this, you know that you need to make sure you do whatever you can to grow your talents in order to take you a long way in the game of football. I've seen WAY too many talented players with NO WORK ETHIC. Regardless of what avenue you choose in life, your work ethic will allow you to climb the ladder of success or NOT. This is where you come in by committing yourself to being the best that you can be. You only have one life to live and one high school career! You want to be able to look back on it when you are an older man with fond memories and a sense of accomplishment.

Football is big in Georgia. If you know your football history, then you know that one of the greatest backs to come out of Georgia was Herschel Walker. His work ethic was very good. Use him as an example of how to climb the ladder of success. Good luck, and work hard!!

Thanks for getting involved in your grandson's life. This is a BIG decision he is making at this time in his life, and he needs to understand the ramifications of his decision on the matter of football. He obviously has the qualities to go to the next level, which would mean a college scholarship and tremendous savings to your family as well. Not to mention the doors it could open for your grandson.

There obviously has been something take place in his life that has changed his mind about committing the effort, time, and hard work necessary to achieve the success with football that all of you hope for him to achieve. You need to sit down and have a VERY thorough talk with him. Have him explain to you WHY he has made the decisions he has made. There could be one of a hundred different reasons for his not wanting to go out for football, but you will never know unless he comes out and tells you. He needs to understand at this young age the tremendous rippling effect that this decision will have in his life because once his high school career ends, it is over FOREVER. There is no going back and there are no do-overs. It is finished, and the one opportunity to make his life a better life and more fulfilling life may be gone FOREVER as well.

Not an easy answer for you here. However, it is important that HE make a BIG BOY decision and make it for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones. This is where a good parent or grandparent comes into the mix. This is where you can make a difference in his life by guiding him down the right road and not letting him lose his way. Good luck! The world needs to start saving our young people and WINNING with them rather than losing them to lives that are unproductive and unfulfilled.

That is a tough question since you did not include the position that you play. One very simple way it will help is that you should always have leverage on people you are blocking and tackling. There have been a large number of people that have played high school, college and even pro football that aren't very tall. At the end of the day, it is HOW you play rather than your size. Remember that bigness is in the heart first and foremost. If you go out on the field feeling inferior then you will probably end up that way. There are going to be many obstacles you are going to have to climb over in your life. This may be the first big one you face. NEVER go into an event thinking you have less than adequate tools to get the job done. Preparation is usually the separating factor for most things I've come across in life. The more prepared you are than your opponent, the better you will perform. Hope this is of some help for now and always.

Yours is one of the better questions I've had to answer. I hope others will read also. You have one of the greatest moments in life right in front of you, and you must seize the moment. Your child needs to understand at this precise time in his life, the lessons that he is learning today in football/sports are the SAME ones he is going to face years down the road. In your own words, you said, you have seen the politics that life will throw at you from time to time. If you let him cut and run (quit) now, then the next time something is stacked against him or the next time hard times come a knocking at his door, then it will be easier to quit. There will come to a point where he does not even have to think about quitting. He may or may not be the player you want him to be but staying involved with sports/football will have so many resounding effects on his later life. It is almost scary. Perhaps you can relay the problems your life has seen and how you did not quit but stayed the course along with his older brother. Then you can lay out life's examples to him and he can't deny.

I truly believe in my heart of hearts that football has shaped my life for sure as well as so many other lives of people that I know that have become very successful in different walks of life. I cannot tell you how many letters and calls I've gotten down through the years from kids that said thanks for not letting me quit and pushing me to be the best. I cannot begin to even explain how much those calls/letters mean to me, but now it is your turn to do the same for your son. Make him stay the course and fight the good fight. Hold him accountable for his decision to join the team. It is up to you to put your foot down about giving up as he has the family name to protect.

You also have a chance to show and tell him of so many of the things life will throw at him and play it out in front of him each time the subject is brought up. It truly is an awesome job being a parent. I have told my children that the hardest job I've ever had in my life is being a parent. Good luck with yours, and I hope these words have given you something to tie to and a means to reach your kid. It has worked for me, and remember that each and all of us are tested to the max at some point in our life, and if he is interested in becoming an active member in society he has got to stay the course and understand this may be the first of MANY struggles he is going to see in his life.

That may be one of the best questions I've ever gotten! It has been a long time since I've been around a young man that has asked such a question. I will give you the same answer to the question that I did years ago. Football is so much like the game of life that we have to look at it the same way. The game of life is tough and demands us to be the same, but the game of football also teaches us rules by which we should abide and standards by which we have to treat the players on opposing teams. Football also teaches us to work with our own players to become as good a team as we can and to allow the coach and his staff to lead us to become better players and in turn, people.

The rules are there for all of us to follow. In today's modern game there is a lot more trash talking and other forms of disrespecting our opponents than there was when I grew up and played. If you choose to lose your sportsmanship during a course of a game then it sheds light on not only your team, school, and hometown, but your family as well. My suggestion to you is to simply be as good of a player as you can be and play the game hard and fair without doing all of that other stuff. Just by being who you are and how you go about playing your position, about how you treat others, about how you don't do anything cheap on the field or in the locker room will go a long way in answering your question. One of the best things you can be in all of life is a good example.

When I grew up, there was a kid I went to school with that had a bad childhood disease that almost rendered him immobile for his entire life, but he fought through this disease and was the first kid who chose to play up on our junior high team from grade school. We all thought he was crazy, but he made it! He went on and made All-American as a linebacker in high school and an outstanding hurdler in track and field. He went to college and had a wonderful college career and has spent his entire life coaching and teaching other kids. He NEVER once treated anyone with less class or dignity. His example so many years ago sets an example for me to this day. I have thanked him many times since then and told him how much I appreciated him setting the standard. This is something you can do also - it just takes the same mindset of my friend. Obviously, it worked as it affected MY life significantly! I hope you can choose the same path.

Good luck to you! I have no doubt that you will be highly successful because YOU want to be.

It sounds to me that you love the game and the physical nature of the position of linebacker but are lacking in the footwork and sudden burst of speed. If this is correct, then I will try to address these issues to help you. First, you MUST engage in a well thought out and well coached strength program as the added strength and explosion (which is created with a good strength program) is vital for a person in your position and seeking the skills you seek. Make sure you pay close attention to the techniques taught and explained to you. Work extremely hard on the squat and power clean exercises. Too much time is devoted to the bench press when in most cases it does little to advance your athleticism. You need to concern yourself with the things that will create movement and acceleration speed which occurs by creating force into the ground. Try to get to where you can squat 1.5 times your bodyweight in the squat and clean 1.25 times your bodyweight. By obtaining these two goals, you will start to see and feel the improvements come your way.

Next, begin the acceleration portion. These are some things I will give you that regardless of what you are doing with your program, you may supplement these things on your own. Every time you go out to run, you should always do 3-4 sets of 15 yards of ankle flips. Ankle flips are done by standing erect, and placing your hands on your hips as you do NOT want to use your hands/arms in any way to assist your jumping. Keeping the knees as straight as possible and using primarily only your ankles, begin jumping forward for 15 yards. Make sure to spend as little time as possible on the ground when you jump, and do NOT hit on the heels of your feet. You will land on a cocked and strong ankle that should strike the ground with the ball of the foot. Rebound as high as possible on each jump and continue moving in a forward pattern, until you reach the 15 yard marker. It is very similar in nature to jumping on a pogo stick if you understand that concept. The ankle flips can be and should be done 3 times per week. The next drill is pretty simple - a 10 yard sprint. Have a competent person (who knows how to time someone) time you in a 10 yard dash. To get the most accurate time, use the following method. With your hand on a line and the timer 10 yard away, sprint as fast as you possibly can for 10 yards. Upon reaching the 10 yard mark, do NOT stop quickly and return, but rather continue at a 3/4 pace (75% effort) for the next 20 yards which brings you to 30 yards in all. After finishing the 30 yards, stop and walk back to the starting point. Continue this method for a total of 10 reps. You should try to get your times down to 1.7 sec. By doing these short dashes, you build up your speed qualities (which are most frequently used in football), but also your speed endurance. These 10 yard sprints will be of more help to you in football than running gassers all day long! Good luck.

My suggestion to you would be to write a letter to the University of Mississippi head coach, Houston Nutt, and ask for any info he could give to you concerning the formation. If that doesn't work, then I'd have my son's football coach to call and ask for info concerning the formation. Usually the college coaches/recruiters will help out in any way they can to help the high schools. I hope this will work out in your favor.

Here are the eligibility rules in a nutshell: To qualify for a NFL draft, 3 NFL football seasons must have elapsed from a player's High School graduating class, or equivalent thereof.

It is possible to be drafted into the NFL without playing college football, but it is extremely rare. With that being said, it has happened - Eric Swann was drafted as the 6th overall pick in 1991 having only played semi-pro football. It is so rare becuase college and pro teams need to evaluate you somehow, preferably based on competition against your peers.

If you have the "dream" to play in the NFL then you are going to have to make some life altering decisions, along with your family, as to the next few years of your life. Good luck and I hope it works out in your behalf.

You can still try out for college, but with the reduced numbers of scholarships and walk-on positions available along with having no high school football experience, it is going to be very hard to get an audition. Coaches need something to evaluate you on and see your abilities. Without having a high school foundation of playing, it is not impossible, but it is very unlikely to play in college and even more difficult to go on to the NFL. I don't know why you would not want to play high school football, but I would suggest you to go out for your high school team. Enjoy the experience to the max and then decide if football is something I want to pursue for four more years. The high school experience under a good coach will pay you dividends in your life that at this stage of development you cannot begin to understand.

If the recruiters are not coming around to your school and you have a burning desire to play ball, then you need to take your game to the schools that you would like to attend. By that I mean you need to pick out the places you want to attend and begin sending them the game films of your Junior and Senior years, especially the games where you excelled. Find out what coaches recruit your area and start opening a line of communication with them regarding your thoughts.

I would suggest you get your squat up to double your body weight and work as hard as possible on your power clean, too. Spend the majority of your time working on your 10 and 20 yd sprints as this is the distance you will need most as a RB. Work on jumps of all kinds and get to where you can stand without moving your feet and jump onto and step off of as high a box as possible (try doing this 3 times per week for 10-20 reps). These are the tips I can give you for what I would try if I were in your shoes. I hope all works out for you as you hope, and you can obtain a good college education while playing.

No doubt you can make it to the NFL from ANY division of football. There have been great players from each classification of schools. Just because you do not attend a Division I school, do NOT think the NFL scouts do not check each and every school for players.

Along those same lines, I'd like to give you some advice. Enjoy your high school years as much as possible and put forth all of the efforts you can muster to do as well as you can both athletically and academically. You can only take one step at a time when you go through life, and as a young person you want to always speed up the process and move on down the road. Enjoy your high school career, and if you are good enough to go on to college and have a school pay for your education with a scholarship then you are one lucky young man. Make the most of each and every opportunity life puts before you. Good luck and my challenge to you is see if you can make the all-state football team in your home state.

One thing is for sure - if you do NOT try to see if you can play, then you will ALWAYS have that to deal with that question for the rest of your life. Go out for football. It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make in your life simply because it will teach you so many things you are going to have to deal with in later life. It is a team sport that teaches hard work, discipline and how to work and win with others. It also teaches you how to lose with class. You will thoroughly enjoy your experience. You are big enough to play. There are too many times that kids are scared off by the tale of the tape. Bigness is in the heart, and if you have that passion to play then there will nothing to stand in your way. Good luck and pour your heart into it.

Remember one very important point about playing any sport - if you are good at the sport then you will continue to progress upward. If you can develop your physical capabilities by increasing your strength then you will be that much better of a player. Being strong does not make you a good player, but being a good player and being strong will enhance your physical abilities far beyond where they are now. So yes, if you are good, then it will be for the coaches at the next level to determine where you will be best suited to play. There are numerous players that have switched positions during their careers. As long as they were good players, they had little to no trouble making the switch.

I am sorry, but I don't have an answer for that question as I am unsure of the rules and regulations regarding fan observations of practices. My suggestion to you is to contact a division of the NFL office in New York to determine that possibility. It is a great experience for anyone who loves football to experience a training camp in order to see the athletes working on their basic fundamental techniques as well as see the skill levels all of these players have.

I was at a clinic a week ago where Ron Hill, the NFL Vice President of Football Operations of the NFL, spoke. He showed the coaches/players/educators in attendance the staggering number of just how few of the kids who play high school football actually make it to the NFL. For those who are lucky/fortunate enough to make it, they often have very short careers. In other words, don't put all of your marbles in one basket. Create a plan for yourself as if pro football was NEVER going to happen in your life. Look at it like this - if you construct a plan for how you are going to go to college and play ball and get a degree in what interests you the most, then IF pro ball does come along you are still fine. If you are hurt in college or if you just aren't good enough to be drafted high and end up having a short career in the NFL, then you will have something you can use to make a good living. If you don't feel as if you need a plan for an education and putting forth the work, then you are taking a BIG gamble with the your life – you only get one chance in your life to do well in high school and college and that is what will ultimately lead you to have a productive career. There are no do-overs in life and very seldom, if ever, do you get second chances. If you have the plan for if ball doesn't come along or your career is cut short then you have the luxury of having something already in place. Otherwise, you will be on the streets with no education, no one to pay for your education, no football, no future in football and no one to help guide you which way to go. Use the people and listen to the people who have been down that road. Look at and understand the statistics on how few actually make it to the big leagues. If you are good enough to get a college scholarship, make sure you take advantage of EVERY situation that is offered to you as there will not be many come your way throughout life. You need to capitalize on what is before you rather than putting all of your life in the hands of a dream. Listen to your coaches, teachers and parents because they have the one thing you don't have - life experiences.

All of the positions for tackling are described as follows - head up, back flat, tail tucked and feet shoulder width apart. Have your shoulders slightly ahead of your toes and your weight evenly distributed on your feet. I am not sure of how to answer the next part of the question and be safety correct, but I will say you have to keep your eyes up at all times and NEVER drop your eyes. Tackle with the top of your head or you will risk serious injury. Look them into you. Let the cheek of your face slide to the side of the body and that will allow the shoulder to make solid contact. If you turn your head before contact, then it will make you hit with the "point" of the shoulder, and this too could result in an injury. Just like in every movement in sport, tackling is determined by force into the ground and the rate at which it is developed. The faster you can extend your legs, the more force you put into the ground and the harder you will hit. Throw your arms around the ball carrier as if you are hugging an old sweetheart, and then squeeze like the dickens once you've got a hold. Your feet should continue to run through the tackle and not lunge or jump towards the ball carrier. This one aspect is where the "naturals" of tackling seem to have the edge as they know exactly when to initiate their tackling sequence.

As to your second question of stamina - I can answer it very simply, it is extremely important. If you come out and run up a score of 21-0 in the first quarter and then run out of gas (stamina) in the second, third and fourth quarter, you will probably get beat 50-21. It is very important. Watch the high level college and professional games when there are two excellent teams playing. Watch the pace and intensity of the game - it will pick up to a high point somewhere in the second half (more than likely around the end of the third quarter and most definitely the fourth quarter). I used to work for a man that said that regardless of the score play the fourth quarter like you are behind. It is the fourth quarter where so many famous games have been won or lost and so many great plays have been made. Look at this year's Super Bowl - the last 4 minutes of the game. Both teams were playing at a higher and higher rate until the deciding play.

I am sure the awesome cougars little people football team will be so much better with you on it. I hope this can be of some help to you and your tackling ability. Good luck to you and the Cougars!

I am going to give you some great advice here - whether you make the varsity or not does in some respects depend upon talent, but talent alone is not what coaches seek. You must possess the desire to want to win and help the team to win. Not only is this going to be something you are going to experience at this juncture of your life, but this is going to be something you will see throughout your entire life. Not always does the position go to the most talented person, but to the person the coach feels can give their team what is needed to win. From the way you describe yourself and the numbers you've put up in your early career, I can almost guarantee the coaches know of your arrival on the team. It is in their team's interest to know all of the kids and their abilities coming to their team. With your apparent size, speed, strength and tackles it will be hard for them NOT to notice you. Now it is up to YOU to go show them you can do the same thing at the next level. Go be the best, and don't let anyone slow you down.

Once you've played the position of QB and remained in the game of football, going back to it should not be as hard as you may initially think. Youth is on your side. You can adjust quickly to new concepts. You need to understand just like anything else you have done or will do in your life; this is going to take a lot of work to catch yourself up. I'm unsure of your ankle problem, as it sounded you had either torn or had surgically repaired the ligaments/tendons in your ankle. If this is true, then you need to make sure you are continuing and will continue throughout your athletic and adult life with the rehab/strength exercises given to you post op. It makes no difference what position you play, if your ankle is hurting you will be hampered. There have been many before you and will be many after you to play with bad ankles and as you said - if I can't play QB, then I may have to give the game up. If you are passionate about the game as it sounds you are, then stay with it as long as you possibly can. Regardless if you are the star or on the last team, the game and being able to compete and work with a group of other young men are the life's memories you will take to your olden days. Never give up and quit as this will only set the stage for things to quit in later life as there will be other "injuries" to you and loved ones that will bring you back to this same crossroads and decision making. NEVER GIVE UP. Stay and fight the fight to your best ability. You will be admired for courageous leadership and toughness.

There are people scouting all of the time. Why is it that you don't have any video on your playing days? Most all of the schools that play have some form of video work done for game days. I would try to secure some video and find an agent that will represent you to the teams of the NFL and see if you can get a tryout. I am not sure if there are open tryouts around the country by the NFL. You may need to contact someone in the league office to answer those questions.

I assume you are a college player in eligibility. If I assume correctly, then I would go ahead and get on the US team and go have a wonderful experience playing international basketball. I would try to find an agent to represent me to the NFL and see if I could get a tryout with a club. If you are playing basketball, then you are still in condition and will be ready if and when the opportunity comes your way. Go, and enjoy the moment in basketball! Obviously you are good at it or you wouldn't have made the US team.

I think that you first have to stop the run. With this being said, you need to make sure each and every member of the defense understands his run fits on each defense that is called. If the player knows where he is suppose to fill or his area of responsibility then that allows him to not have to think and react, but rather just react to what he sees. I have always been a stickler for perfect technique on playing your individual position. Whether you are a defensive tackle or a cornerback, you have your individual techniques that have to be mastered before you will ever reach your potential. Once you have mastered these two traits then protect against the pass and work on team pursuit to the ball. This will pretty much take care of all facets of what needs to be continually practiced. You can hear a lot of coordinators say we need to create turnovers, and this is very important, but I can guarantee you if you spend your time on creating only turnovers and not know where your fits and not know how to perform your individual techniques correctly -YOU WILL BE SOUNDLY DEFEATED.

No, they are not. There have been players who have worn soccer shoes for football shoes. However, with all the good companies making quality shoes of every variety these days, I feel it is easy to find a shoe that will fit all needs. Make sure you are getting a well made shoe, as your feet are what you push through to create any and all movement on the football/soccer fields.

Great question, and one every coach should know and understand. There are a series of steps in rehab that will bring a player back to his pre-injury status. I would suggest that once the trauma of a sprain has been reduced and the initial soreness and swelling has subsided, then you begin with just walking and if you have the ability to use a swimming pool, have them work in there without putting too much pressure on the joint. Progress as the person and the injury allows. The one key point is if the joint starts to swell once again, then you need to ice and elevate and reduce the work you are asking of the athlete. It is a slow, but methodical process to get where the young person can once again move. Once he can move in a straight line have him start doing easy figure 8's around the numbers on the football field. As a coach, you can observe his movement patterns and see if he is able to make the cutting movements with any speed. Once he can run these 8's at full or close to full speed, then he should be put with his position coach and asked to perform the movements he will be asked to do on the field. Keep close observation of the joint for soreness and swelling.

One thing many people do not do, but is highly important, is keep this person coming in and getting treatments on the particular area of concern for the remainder of the season. When the season ends continue to bring the athlete back in for follow up work and have him do the rehab exercises for at least another 3 weeks after season ends. If he is a senior, then he will finish his eligibility, but if he is an underclassman, then when the semester is over, have him back in for rehab getting more aggressive with trying to build back strength/flexibility to the area.

As far as a strain of a muscle is concerned, a person should be out the next day doing some movement work on the strained area. To make this answer simple, I will use the hamstring as the muscle that is injured. Have the person walk the next day and then have him ice as much as possible. Before he ices, you need to stretch him as much and as long as possible with all of the muscles that surround the hamstring, as well as the hamstring itself. Have the athlete do this for 3 times per day, and after a few days, if you have the ability to use a swimming pool, then use it to do your running motions and exercises in the pool. The water resistance is perfect and consistent for the right movement needed to replicate the running motion. Once the pool work is done, continue your stretching just as before and you need to make sure you hold the stretches for 90 seconds each stretch. Once the pool work can be done well, then use the running drills called the ABC's of running. I suggest doing 10 reps for 10 yards for each exercise, and walk back to the start point and go again. After you watch the injured athlete perform these and he can do so without any hitch in his gate, then he can start striding for lengths of 30 yards. Start his volume of runs low and make sure he gets ample recovery time. Have him perform the toe touch stretch for 60 seconds after each run.

Another great method of treatment is finding a massage therapist and let that person break down the scar tissue that occurs from strains and pulls within the hamstring group. The scar tissue has to be broken down before there can be full restoration. If a therapist is not available, then use the STICK, which can be found in many of your sporting goods booklets, to assist in warming up the muscle before exercise. The STICK also helps to reduce the scar tissue and any other trigger points that may be associated with the pull/strain. Ask for the input of the athlete, but at the same time you must understand that it is your decision as to whether the player is ready or not. Remember most every athlete I've been around wants to play, and they will think they are fine when in fact they are not quite there yet. If you make a bad judgment by put them back into play too soon, then you stand the chance of losing the player for the rest of the season.

There are only a couple of ways to create gaps for the running back, either with line splits or excellent blocking. Some formations are being used to give advantages to run the ball such as the Notre Dame box, single wing, wishbone and now the spread formations. Each formation has the same goal: to create mismatches for the defense. I always feel if you are playing a team that plays a two gap defense, then the splits will help a whole lot due to the fact that the defender has more room to cover in his gap/area of responsibility. There are all kinds of traps that can be used for a penetrating defense that will also create the gaps for the running backs.

One of the best means for creating those gaps is for the RB to understand where the hole is and for him to not "dance" in the hole. Once a RB chops his steps, then he has to reaccelerate and that is way too much time to spend at the LOS with the ball. He has one cut and one cut only - anything more than this is not going to create any yardage. I feel this is a very simple thing, but not coached hard enough and understood by many running backs.

Yes. Bones will calcify and become strong once again. This should not interfere with your young athletic career.

Yes. Now, by saying yes to that question, I put myself in a position of saying yes, without knowing any existing rules your particular governing body of football may have. In all situations I have been in, the answer to your question is yes. You can also just let the QB punt the ball as he is usually your best athlete anyway. Having him punt the ball in that situation is probably best and the safest because he is simply your best player.

The one thing to remember once football practice starts is to NOT stop your workouts. Continue your workouts, but they must change quite a bit. By that I mean that the greatest part of your energy is going to be expended in practice and in the summer heat, especially with the frequent two-a-days. If this is the case, the first thing you must do is make sure you are getting enough fluid in your body to offset the loss during practice. Many times, you will not feel as if you are hungry, but only thirsty. Make sure you choose foods that will satisfy your hunger and satisfy to some extent your rehydration. One easy and correct way to see if you are hydrated well enough is to check the color of your urine upon rising in the morning. If the color is dark and yellow, you are not hydrated enough and must begin to drinking water to rehydrate yourself.

The next thing is to cut the reps of your exercises down to no more than 3 reps per exercise (in a lot of cases only do 1 rep), but you may end up doing 3 sets of one rep. Do a workout which would look like this: 1) warm-up very well 2) do these percentages of max -50% x 5 reps, 60% x 2 reps, 70% x 1 rep, 75% x 2 sets x 1 rep. This will give you 10 reps, and will be more than enough to keep your strength during two-a-day practices. This same sequence with a few adjustments during the year is the same thing you need to do to continue your strength program during the football season. You need to structure your workout days to parallel your practice schedules. Make sure during the season you get a very light workout along with some tempo runs to flush out the body of any soreness from the games. This will help you recover more quickly as well as be ready for the next week of practice and game. The other workouts can be on Monday and Wednesday assuming you played on Friday nights. Make sure you cut out a lot of the "extras" that you do during the off season as this will expend energy and you do NOT have any to waste. You'll be fine if you stick with the main exercises such as cleans, squats, and presses.

There are many reasons to keep the lifting going during the season, but I am sure that you can certainly maintain your strength level if not increase it during the season, even with a season as long as the NFL complete with playoff games. This will give you a big advantage for the upcoming year and will greatly enhance your chances of not being injured.

Teaching a team to play hard for the length of the game is a learned trait. Sure, you are going to have a few players who will always play hard just because of their love of the game, but a majority of kids will not understand how to sustain a maximum effort. In answering your question, you must teach them how. As a coach, you have to understand that when you get the kids at a young age, they will more than likely know nothing or at best only a few things about how to play the game. Just like in our educational system, when a kid enters the first grade that teacher has to be exceptional, because he/she is setting the learning curve and thirst for learning for many years to come. You are no different than the first grade teacher. You have got to break down the game into each category and teach them how to do everything, including one of the greatest lessons a kid can learn from sports-to NEVER GIVE UP! If you do a good job of teaching from the ground up, which includes max effort all of the time, this will last the players far longer than their football careers will ever last.

You need to reinforce your teachings (verbally) to their efforts during practice. When a kid is seen not giving a good effort, you need to point it out to him and to the rest of the team. Then, you can use this and other examples of what you are looking for to teach. When you change someone's learning curve, even though they are young and adapt quickly, it is going to take time. Be patient; praise the efforts of the ones that go all out, and point out the efforts of the ones who do not. You can also tell them about the lessons they are learning for later life. Although, they will more than likely not pay much attention as many of my past players did, but will come back to you 20 years later and say thanks for teaching them the ability to not quit. Please believe me when I tell you this - NOTHING can take the place of a young man coming up to you and saying thank you for teaching me a life lesson on the football field that is serving me in my present day life. No amount of money can buy that type of respect.

Good luck and good teaching/coaching!

If you don't have the athletes to compete in your district but you still have to play them, then my suggestion is that you work from the other side of the street meaning you need to drill your team to make no mistakes. Have your team take pride in making either no mistakes with the ball or as few as possible. If you aren't as physically gifted, you may be able to play the game closer or win by reducing two things - mistakes (fumbles, penalties or interceptions) and not allowing the team to have the long play which usually becomes an "easy touchdown". A lot of this is accomplished by coaching and making YOUR players aware of what is needed for them to win. If you are outmanned, the kicking game can also be a tremendous edge to you. Make sure you win this, too! If your team is in outstanding condition to play the entire length of the game, no matter the score, you will be surprised how many "talented" teams are undisciplined and unwilling to "pay the price" to play the entire game each and every down. You will need to ask a great deal of commitment from your players in order to even the game.

You also have to remember, that at some point during your career, you are going to face more talented and better coached teams that are just flat out better. You will be MUCH better off doing the things you can do well, rather than trying to "trick 'em" with some new formation or defense. Most blitz packages and "trick plays" work best because the opponent is worried about stopping your A game.

I coached and taught for a while in the public schools and you need to know that each and every year that you are not going to be delivered a championship team, but what you teach the kids through football WILL LAST THEIR ENTIRE LIFE. Things they are going to have to "live" each and every day can be taught on the football field. In the end, regardless of the outcome of the season, you will have done a great service for each player if you teach them the basics -preparation, discipline, hard work, team work and sacrifice. There are not many places left in today's society that can and will teach these basic elements of life.

I don't know anything about nine-man football, but I will give you my suggestion. If you are a big team that cannot run well, try to close down the middle with your size and force the other team to run outside. Hopefully, you can put two corners or outside linebackers that have better speed than the others there. They may be able to out run you as a team, but can they out run these four players? I hope this helps.

Yes-running on a hard surface will, over time take its toll on your feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back. If possible, try to limit the amount of work you do on concrete, and use grass or other softer surfaces for your exercises...you will thank me for it in the years to come.

I like the fact you are actively engaging in a weight program. It appears that you have got your squat to the right amount for your body weight. I'd try to elevate your power cleans more, and never forget to do your one leg squats. Do those while standing on a secure object and allowing yourself to come down only on one leg then standing up with the use of only one leg.

As far as the placement of position at either WR or OL, I'm out of my league to answer that one. The ONLY way to clear up a point like this is to request a visit with your respective coach and have him explain to you what he and the head coach see in you that has made them make the decisions to move you to the OL. They should be open and honest with you in the matter. Make sure you do not leave that office until you get the answer to the question you are seeking. Make sure you are at peace with the decision before leaving. Make sure you also speak your mind to the coach as to what you think you want to do. It is communication in this manner that makes the job much easier for both you and the coach as well. It is something you are going to have to do many times down through the years with the boss you have or the girl you marry. A good, sit down conversation about what is going on with you and your job or your family is very similar to the conversation you’ll be having with your coach. This is a good opportunity to learn how to do it correctly. Good luck, and I hope you have a great high school career regardless of the position you play.

You stated that you already had a weight program underway. I'd make sure you have a VERY competent person/coach teaching you the correct way in which to perform the exercises and lay out the plan for you in advance for the two of you to go over and discuss. At your age, make sure you spend a lot of time getting as strong as possible in the following lifts - squat, power clean, power snatch, and standing military press. You will find that as your strength level rises, your speed level will also rise, as well as your ability to throw the football. One of the next things I'd suggest is to learn how to run. This can hopefully be taught by the same person that is teaching your lifting, but if not then find someone who could teach you how to run properly with good technique. This will cause you to start getting faster. Stay with the short sprints of 10 yards to keep you out of danger of pulling a hamstring early on. As you get faster and faster at the 10 yard dashes, then you can elongate them to 20 yards running a set of 10 with an ample rest between each 10 yard dash and after completing 10 reps (time each dash if possible). After completing the 10 reps, walk/jog a lap around the field or track and come back to get water and stretch for another 6-8 minutes before repeating the process until you gain 200 yards of quality speed work.

One thing you can do on your own is obtain a 4kg medicine ball that has some rebound quality to it. Grasp the ball with both hands while standing approximately 3 yards in front of a solid wall (preferably brick/block). Put both feet shoulder width apart with the ball over your head. Locate a point on the wall above your head and throw the ball at this particular point as hard as possible without moving your feet. The ball will rebound off the wall and back into your hands if thrown properly. At which time you need to get the ball out of your hands and thrown against the wall as fast as humanly possible. Do this for 20 reps then break for 2 minutes and repeat again for a total of 3 series/sets. This can be done each day you lift. It is a good way to warm up prior to practice. Hope this can be of some help, and remember - it is not how much you can lift, at your age, but rather how technically sound you are in lifting what you can.

This is a really tough question to answer since I'm not able to see you block and can only make a few suggestions as to what I think may be the problem. You have good size for your height for high school so the first assumption I would make is that your legs are strong enough. The next thing I'd look at would be where and how you place your head, hands, and feet while blocking. If one of these 3 points of contact is out of sync then you will have a hard time maintaining your block which is what sounds like is your problem. It sounds to me that you can come off the ball well as evidenced by your DL play, but maintaining the block appears to be the problem. Make sure you work with a good wide base at your feet when you make contact and do NOT have your feet any narrower than your shoulder width. If anything, have your feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Basically OL and DL play are almost the same, except with OL play, you are asked to move a defensive player one way or another or cut him off one way or another. I would almost bet you that the width of your feet are not wide enough at and throughout your contact phase with the DL and so you are losing your base to work from. You must have a good base and strong legs to block.

To address the issue of strong legs, the easiest way to find out if your leg strength is sufficient enough is to perform the 1 leg squat. Stand on anything solid and well balanced that will maintain your bodyweight and place one of your feet in the middle of the box and allow the other foot to hang down the outside of the box. Maintain contact with the down foot by placing the toe of the down foot against the box. Once you have assumed this position, which will put you in a 1 leg squat position, begin to squat on the leg that is in the middle of the box paying very close attention to maintaining and keeping the heel of the foot solidly placed on the box. NEVER allow yourself to raise up on your toe. Go down as far as possible with ease and do not “fall” down to the bottom and then stand back up. You should be able to perform at least 10 reps of this exercise. If you cannot do this exercise, then you have discovered a problem with your blocking - weak legs. It can be fixed with doing this 1 leg squat exercise for 3-5 sets x 6 reps for 3 days per week preferably on alternating days such as a M-W-F.

Hope this helps out some, and good luck to you this year.

There are hundreds of drills/devices to try and increase speed, but what I will give you today are a couple of sure fire means to lower your speed. I see where you squat 375 lbs. For someone who weighs around 180 lbs, this is very good because it is two times your body weight. This is needed for sprint speed. Next, you need to add to your squat routine by adding some one legged squats, which are done without weight and holding onto something that is very stable such as a power rack. Place your toe next to the rack while grabbing a portion of it. Keep your arm straight, lean back slightly, and kick one leg out in front of you while you squat down on the other. Do six reps on each leg for two to three sets. This small, but effective exercise will assist in your leg strength and speed. Next, locate some plyo boxes. Now, you can begin to jump on top of them and step off. Keep going up in height the same way you would lifting weights. Do sets of 10 reps at a certain height. If that was easily obtained, then move to the next highest box for the next workout. I suggest doing these jumps prior to your weight workout starting with one set for 10 reps adding another set after 3 weeks of training. Another good jumping drill is standing on a grass field and from a standing start, jump up as high as possible and bring your knees into your chest. When your knees have reached your chest move them quickly back to catch yourself hitting the ground. Repeat these jumps for 10 reps and begin with one set and increase once again to two sets after three weeks. These are called Tuck Jumps. One other jump is the Jack Knife Jump which is preformed the same way as the Tuck Jump, but this time do a jack knife movement with your legs by keeping them straight and reaching them out in front while jumping in the air. The next step is to reach out and try to touch your toes during the jump. The same rep scheme holds true for all jumps.

One other very important aspect is to start sprinting 10 yards as fast as possible. If you can, have a competent person time you. Once you've run the 10 yards at full speed, continue running for 20 more yards for a total of 30 yards. Do not run full speed the last 20 yards – only run at 85% capacity. This will give you the same feeling as running a 40, but without the possibility of an injury. Also it is important to understand that it is a whole lot easier to "fix" the beginning of a 40 yard timed dash than to start out trying to correct the back end of the 40 yard dash. Run 10 reps of these with a slow walk back to the start line between each rep. When you've reached 10 reps, then walk and jog either a lap on the track or a lap around the field. Remember, walk 20 yards and jog 20 yards. Upon returning to the start point, if your conditioning level allows you to do so, run another 10 reps of 10 yard dashes. Make sure to time each so you can understand if and where along the rep scheme the speed begins to diminish. I think when you will find coupling all of these exercises will improve your 10 yard dash times. When this happens it is almost a given that your 40 yard time will improve as well. Good luck and go burn'em up.

I applaud your attitude, and I will give you some ideas to try and help remedy this situation, but want you to know first off that BIGNESS IS IN THE HEART. You keep that attitude and apply a good work ethic to it, and you will be just fine - not only in football, but in life.

Now, I'll give you a few ideas to help add a few pounds. You first need to understand that you will never gain 100 pounds and grow another foot taller. You need to understand we have to work within the confines of what you have. My first and foremost suggestion is to start a well designed, correctly taught/coached and properly applied weight program focusing on leg strength first and foremost while not being overly concerned with other nonathletic exercises. If you have a competent coach to help you with the squat and power clean, I think you will find that the results will be outstanding. Make sure you learn HOW to do the exercises properly FIRST, then worry about how much you can do later on.

Another idea for you is to find a good high grade protein at a reputable health food store and make yourself a shake after each and every workout. The key is to drink the shake no longer than 15 minutes after the workout. This provides the maximum benefits of the protein shake. Drink another one prior to going to bed as this is the period of the time during the day that the body restores itself from the stresses of the day. This shake will enhance your recovery and apply the needed building blocks for a weight gain effect to take place.

These are a couple of tried and true suggestions that have worked for many down through the years, and I feel certain they will work for you as well. Good luck, keep up the great attitude, and NEVER let anyone dash your hopes and dreams.

The first thing is to NEVER let go of your dreams. Dreams are what makes reality occur. As far as playing QB is concerned, there is one overlooked factor in playing that position. Players can have strong arms and throw the ball a mile, but the best ones that I've ever seen are the ones that can throw it where they want it. Accuracy is paramount. Take a look on TV in the NFL at the games where Manning, Brees, Brady, Rivers, and Vick are throwing the ball into those tight, small windows. It is accuracy that is the overlooked factor of most QB's. Practice on throwing it where you want it to go and in all forms of movement - rollouts, bootlegs, dropbacks and scrambles of all types. This will make you a better overall QB in game situations. Your experience at safety will let you have some insight on what is happening in the back end of coverage. You should be a good athlete if you can play in the secondary so practice the above mentioned component to help your QB game.

In answer to the part about getting thicker, my answer will always be to get involved with a well thought out, planned, taught and disciplined weight program. You will be amazed at the results you can make at your age with a well designed program. It will not only give you additional bodyweight, but will most definitely increase your athleticism. Good luck, and always follow your dream to the top.

There are a couple of suggestions that I can make to help you out. It seems you have already figured out one of them - to squat at least 2 times your bodyweight. This will give you sufficient leg strength to sprint at your maximum speed. Another training tool is jumping. You can jump vertically onto boxes, or you can do a standing long jump. Be sure to measure the results of each jump. A jump of 9'6" is good with 10' being outstanding. Next, get a qualified coach to time you in a 10 yard sprint. Have him time you for 4-5 runs and average your times out. I am not sure of your position or skill level, but will give you some times to try and obtain - 1.6 seconds or faster is good for WR-DB-RB; 1.75 for LB-TE-QB-DE; 1.85 for the remaining positions. This will give you an understanding of the levels you need to reach. Another suggestion is to find a qualified, knowledgeable strength coach who can teach you the Olympic lifts in the proper progression. If you master these lifts, they will enhance your speed qualities as well. One other very important ingredient is flexibility. Make sure you stretch well after each and every workout/practice. Hold your stretches for 60 seconds. Don't worry about stretching too much at the first of practice/workout as you want to warm up the muscles with movement and low grade running exercises. Stretch after the workout/practice. Good luck with your workouts!

First of all, your son has the one ingredient that is the most sought after aspect in sports -speed. It is a rare occasion where size comes with speed, and it is certainly more the exception than the rule. If you are not careful and smart then you will have your son gain some weight that will not be beneficial to his athleticism ending up slowing him down. The question you have about trying to gain weight, while already possessing speed, can be answered with one simple answer - have your son begin lifting weights with a coach who understands the developmental stages of a young man's life. By lifting weights in a well thought out and technique taught environment, your son will not only gain weight, but he will also increase his speed as well. Make sure he continues to keep up with his sprinting while lifting as this will only enhance his speed qualities. You must understand that he is not going to gain a lot of weight, but the pounds he does add will be muscle rather than unwanted weight and will increase his speed. He needs to also work on jumping on and off boxes or something that will support his bodyweight. Have him stand in front of the object and without moving his feet jump on top and step off. Another thing is to have him stand under a lower basketball goal with a basketball and repeatedly dunk the basketball for sets of 10 repetitions. One other jump drill that is highly beneficial to football is having him stand in the grass and mark off a starting line and then put lines out at increments of 7’, 8’, 9' and 10'. Have him perform a standing long jump and see how far he can get to these lines marked in the grass. Have him do a set of 8 jumps to begin with. These markers will allow him to judge his own improvement, which is a great test for explosive power. Good luck, and work smart.

You are at a perfect age to where you will take a growth spurt, and if adding weight is your goal, you need to follow a few easy rules. First, find the best available protein supplement at your health food store. Usually each well run store, will have a capable employee/owner, who can answer any question you may have about their products and point you in the correct direction. The main thing to understand is that there is a 15 minute window after working out or practice that you need to get your recovery drink in your body. This window must be met and you need to get to your drink ASAP.

As far as protein powder or other supplements is concerned, my suggestion would be to consult your family physician to discuss what is best for you. Good luck

This is a fairly common problem and not a bad one as you may now think. My suggestions are these - make sure you try to eat four meals a day and if you are currently NOT eating breakfast, then certainly begin to do so. Breakfast is very important for a number of reasons. Try to add an extra meal of a sandwich of your choice that can be wrapped and taken to school and preferably eaten mid-morning. You should have a good, well-rounded lunch and that will take you to practice or workout time in mid-afternoon. Within 15 minutes after you finish either your workout or practice make sure you take a drink which will provide you with protein/carbs. Drunk within this 15 minute window will assure you receive the maximum benefits of the supplement drink. Last, but not least eat a good nutritious dinner. If you are not able to eat a mid-morning snack, then make sure you take a protein shake before going to bed. This will give you the equivalent of a fourth meal. Remember this one point - you cannot change your metabolism, but only try to enhance your present position. Remember that what has gotten you to this point in your athletic career is your ability to run and move. Make sure you keep these qualities at a high level. Don't be too preoccupied by trying to gain too much weight. Coaches are looking for players, and the smart ones understand that the kids they sign in high school are going to mature and grow during their college careers. Remember, they are looking for good athletes and good people above all.

There is a video that the league and I worked on together that would be very beneficial to you so let us know your shipping address and we will send it out. There are not only strength exercises, but also speed building exercises that will be a great place to start. It is very good for your son to play as many sports as he enjoys playing at a young age as these different sports will only increase his athleticism. This is what you want to occur when you are young. If you marry up some of these strength building exercises two or three times per week depending upon his game schedule then you will only enhance his abilities. Understand that the big strength gains are not going to be made until he is around 12 yrs old when puberty occurs. Until that time, he can master the base exercises needed to develop anyone regardless of their age. Once he can master these exercises and begin to work on the complex series of exercises which is outlined in the video then he will be well on his way to being as complete an athlete as he can be during his junior high and high school career. Wrestling is a great individual sport that will enhance his body strength, increase his competitive nature and teach many useable qualities in other sports. Make sure you do one very important thing - listen and watch your son paying close attention to how he is tolerating all of the work. When he begins to look as if he is not passionate about what he is doing then see if you can either change up some things or just call off the workout for that day to sit and have a good father and son talk about how he is doing. Take it from me, it is hard to be a good coach and a good father to your own children. I made a lot of mistakes by not listening and not being aware of what would be best for them that day and time. Good luck and enjoy the journey with your son as it is a great time in life for the both of you.

You need to understand that unless you hit a growth spurt then you will not be a big back. Don't let this concern you, but rather focus on what you have to work with - your implied great acceleration and good elusiveness as a “scat back”. Remember every touchdown counts for 6 points whether you are a 225lb running back crossing the goal line or not. The point I am trying to make to you is that you need to hone your skills of running, start on a great lifting program and totally dedicate yourself to it forgetting all about your size. Be a strong, quick, fast hitting and elusive back.

You must understand one important aspect of weight training; if you are dealing with young kids between the ages of 8-12 years old, you cannot just "start right up" on a full scale weight program WITHOUT engaging in at least 3 months of preparatory exercises and movements that will strengthen the entire body and ready the young bodies for some moderate lifting. Young people's motor learning skills are highly adaptive, and they can perform fairly high amounts of workload, but they DO NOT have enough strength to engage in formal lifting programs without some training. It is important to find out where each athlete's shortcomings may be-such as any joint impingements or lack of local muscular strength before fully engaging in weight lifting.

I can refer you to the videos I've done to help you see the things that need to be done with athletes prior to a formal lifting program. Remember that a lifting program is just the same as the education program-when you start off in kindergarten or first grade, you are trying to learn how to write and say the ABC's and color within the lines etc. As the child gets older and progresses from grade to grade, then the education process becomes more in depth, just the same way that a lifting program should follow.

Please do not be one of the many to do a disservice to the young people and get them involved too quick into a formal lifting program. Give them what they need and allow them to progress as their abilities will allow them to. They will be much more capable of handling a lifting program after they have followed what we have set up for them to follow. Take a look at other answers I have given on this website, they should answer a lot of questions you may have at this time.

I cannot honestly tell you what the best supplement to take is on today's list of supplements. I can say that there are a lot of "bogus" products out there that claim one thing but do absolutely nothing for you or that may have some ingredients that are not suitable for young athletes. My best advice is be careful and do a lot of research before buying.

I will add this-the period for supplementation to work best is the first 15-20 minutes after working out and prior to going to bed each night.

Your question requires three different answers. I know this age group well as this is the age of kids that I started out coaching in Junior High. If I had to go back and do it all over again, this is what I would do. I think this will answer your question, too.

First for this age athlete, I think the main thing to do with them is to get them started on a proper weight training program. If you request a copy of the JPD speed and strength DVD shot in New Jersey with Bill Parisi and myself, then you will get a lot of answers to your questions. Additionally, you will have a "how to" guide to view as well.

To answer your question regarding strength, I highly suggest the complex exercise. This particular set of exercises will increase strength, increase work capacity, increase cardio and will detect any joint mobility problems in the athletes. The complex is a series of six exercises done in succession without setting the weight down. The first exercise is the upright row done from the knee. The athlete has to assume a proper athletic stance with his shoulders slightly in front of his knees, back flat, eyes forward and feet underneath the armpits. The first movement is to stand up and simultaneously raise either the dumbbells or barbell as close as possible to the body up to the chest level making sure to keep the elbows higher than the weight. Also, when you raise the weight to it's highest point, extend up on your toes as much as possible. This will give as much work to the important ankle joint as possible. The second movement is the mirror of the first one (upright row). It is the muscle snatch. It is the same exact movement as the first, but done by standing up as fast as possible and pulling the bar overhead. The easiest way to explain the portion of movement from the chest (where the upright row ends) and the remainder of the lift is as if you had two Frisbees in your hand and are throwing them straight above your head. You will not be strong enough to do this without having to "catch" the bar in or around the nose area of the face. Turn your wrists under the bar at this time and press out the remaining portion of the lift. DO NOT move your feet or bend your knees to make this portion of the lift easier. The third portion and the fourth portion are combination exercises - the back squat and the push press overhead. Lower the bar to the back of the neck after completion of the muscle snatch and place it squarely on the shoulders. In proper squatting form where you keep the end of the bar BEHIND the toes of the foot and come down to just BELOW parallel, rise up fast and when the legs reach just about full extension begin to press the bar overhead. Lower the bar to the back and repeat. Make sure you come down very smooth and slow to the bottom of the squatting position, but rise up fast enough to give the bar some "jump" overhead. The fifth portion of the lift is accomplished by taking the bar from overhead and placing it in front of the body at arms length. Once in this position, assume the first position we have talked about - the correct athletic stance. Now, instead of stopping the bar at the knee, continue to bend the knee more which will allow the bar to go below the knee. Keep the eyes and back the same as in all other positions, but now place all of the weight of the body on the knuckle of the big toe to the heel. You will NEVER let the heels leave the floor in the bent over row portion of exercise. You should be able to wiggle the big toes while doing this exercise. From this position the bar will be below the knee, but very close to the knee/leg area. While maintaining this position using nothing but the arms, pull the weight to the chest until it touches the chest and return to the starting point. The last and sixth portion of the lift is the RDL, which stands for Romanian Dead Lift. Assume the standing position with the bar in front of the body at arms length and with a SLIGHT bend in the knees, weight on the heel of the foot and not the toes. Let your hips move backward and allow your upper body to bend at the waist and the bar slide along the leg until it goes beyond the knee joint and the upper body is parallel to the floor. When you have reached this bottom position, keeping the weight as mentioned, straighten the body back up to the original starting point. I recommend standing up on the toes once again while shrugging the shoulders. The shrug happens the same way as if someone asked you a question and you did NOT know the answer.

Do six repetitions of each exercise for a total of 36 reps. This will accomplish some of the facts we mentioned earlier. It will give you a tremendous amount of work as you can multiply the number of total reps (36) times the amount of weight lifted to give you the total tonnage of the exercise. Even with small weights such as 30-50lbs, you can lift a large amount of weight if you do 3 to 5 series of the complex. The complex, along with some incline presses, bench presses and some sit ups without feet being grounded and hands on hips should be enough for anyone, much less a beginner in lifting.

Another great point is that once you teach the complex properly and the kids master the technique of each portion, there will NOT be another facet of lifting that will require double teaching. You will be able to assume the correct positions for doing any major lift you will be asked to do, IF you master these positions and movements. You will also master the number one component of all sports - learning how to apply force into the ground which initiates movement.

IF you increase the strength component of the young athletes, then you will increase their speed, too. Speed is no different than "learning" how to do the above exercises properly. You have to learn how to run and move properly. It is a learned activity, just the same as shooting a free throw, throwing a baseball or putting a golf ball. Teach the correct running form by repeating 60 yd runs with a walk back to the start. The coach should position himself around the 50 yd area and instruct each athlete as they come by about some facet of their running. Do not give them more than one aspect to correct per time, per day and per workout. You should instruct the kids to run at 80-90% of capacity for this activity. OBVIOUSLY this will not occur without a thorough and proper warm up. Start with 6 to 8 runs and as the athletes accommodate to it, then you can add more and more reps. You must understand that around 2,000 yards should be max for anyone.

Quickness is the first segment of acceleration/speed and is best developed by developing strength along with some two footed jump drills. I love doing standing long jumps and rockets. Standing long jumps are just what they sound like - stand with the toes behind a line and jump as far as possible marking where the heel hits. Measure the jumps and you will find the faster athletes jump the furthest. The rockets are accomplished by squatting down and placing the fingers BETWEEN the toes and not in FRONT of the toes. Head is up, and back is flat. When you jump, extend BOTH arms as high as possible. As soon as you land, bend the knees and assume the starting position, and go again. If done properly, the exercise will resemble a pogo stick look.

Hope this helps you. I recommend doing the complex on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the running on Tuesday and Thursday. Good luck! I guarantee you if you do this for two months in succession, you will have tremendous athletic development.

There are a lot of things you can do without the convenience of a weight room. You will need access to some chairs and a chin up bar, and you can use your own bodyweight to do the following regime this will accomplish not only body tone and strength, but cardiovascular training as well.

Write the following list on a 5x8 note card that you can carry with you during your exercising. Have the equipment needed already set up and ready to be used before starting. Go from one exercise to the other without rest, continue until you reach the last exercise. Once you complete the last exercise, take a 3 minute rest, or if you know how to, check your pulse and when it returns to around 110 bpm, begin again.

Follow the order of exercise and number of repetitions noted for each.

1. BENCH STEP-UP
With one leg on a solid bench or chair, step up until the leg on the chair is straight-you do not need to put the other foot on the chair as only straightening the leg you have on the chair is needed. Switch feet after the reps have been completed. (10 reps per leg)

2. SIT-UPS
Sitting on the floor without the feet under anything to secure them and hands on hips with your chin tucked to your chest, do a sit up until you almost reach vertical with your upper body, and then come back down to where the shoulder blades touch and repeat. (15 reps)

3. PUSH-UPS
A fairly standard exercise that every athlete should know how to do. Make sure you keep your eyes looking forward and your chest will graze the ground on each rep. Keep the body from "sinking" or jackknifing from the hips. (12 reps)

4. SUPERMAN
While still on the floor, assume the position of superman flying with your hands touching and extended out in front of you and with your feet touching and together behind you. Start by raising the right hand and left leg simultaneously. Switch to the other side and repeat, To finish, raise both hands and both feet at the same time. This works the lower back very well. (8 reps of each movement 8+8+8)

5. FRONT LUNGE
In a standing position with your hands beside you, take a long step forward and allow the opposite knee to graze the ground. Push yourself back to the starting position Stay on this same leg until the required reps have been done. (10 reps per leg)

6. CHIN-UPS
From a secure bar or other apparatus overhead, reach or jump up to the bar with an underhanded grip shoulder width apart, and then pull yourself up until the chin can come over the bar. (10 reps)*
*If you cannot do 10 reps to begin, then do as many as you can but use good form and DO NOT cheat. You will soon be able to reach the desired number. If you are unable to do any reps at this, then see if you can lower the bar and with your body at an angle and the bar at about chest height, use the same grip and pull your chest up to the bar-this is less demanding and may need to be the way to start.

7. KNEE-UPS
Sit with your behind at the edge of a chair and your hands gripping the sides of the chair. Extend your legs in front of you, lift your feet up and pull your knees up to your chest. Extend your legs and allow your feet to come back to the original place. Try to keep the feet from touching and keep a constant movement without jerking. (20 reps)

8. ROCKETS
Start in a squatting position with your hands between your feet (not in front of your toes) and your chest and eyes upward and outward. Jump as high as possible keeping your arms tightly at your sides. Once you hit the floor, go back to the starting position and jump again. (8 jumps or rockets)

The goal is to complete 3 circuits, but you will have to determine your own work capacity. Always remember to start correctly and do not sacrifice proper technique of the exercise to accomplish a required number of reps. If you do it right, it will pay off. Make sure to keep moving after one complete circuit and do not sit down. Try to drink some water and keep walking.

You are not too young to lift, and as a matter of fact, you need to start ASAP.

You also need to try to understand that the quest is not to see how much you can lift to start off with, but rather to start training properly (technique wise) to establish the correct motor pathways for things to follow, and to allow for a total overall body development. Remember when you train to be an athlete, you are training differently than other lifting regimes, but yet again similiar to all.

Good question. Because of your age, you need to worry more about preparing your body to start weight lifting. This is done by a number of free handed exercises, such as push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, hyperextensions, one leg bodyweight squats out of a chair and other similar exercises. For your speed, there is a video that was done by the NFL JPD program that will show you the very thing to do to improve your movement patterns and eliminate any joint impingements you may have at this age. I suggest doing the "lifting" portion of your workout protocol on Mon-Wed-Fri and your continuous warm up on Tuesday and Thursday.

For the above mentioned exercises, I'd start out by doing 2x10 (2 sets times 10 reps per set) for each exercise for the first 2 weeks. The exercises that you can do for these sets and reps, add another set of 10 reps to the exercise. Another great exercise for you to do is to purchase a 4 or 5kg medicine ball. Stand with both hands under the ball and squat down with the ball going down below the knees and then explosively throw the ball as high and as far as you can. Go retrieve the ball and throw it back to the same start point. Do this for 10 reps and repeat. Next, do the same thing, but this time throw the ball over your head backward. Do this for 10 reps. After that, hold the ball with two hands just as you would a basketball at chest level, then squat down and keeping the ball on the chest explosively jump out of the squat and throw the ball with a 2 handed chest pass as far as possible. Go retrieve, and repeat for 10 reps.

Next, stand on a soft surface, and mark the start line. With both feet on the start line and without moving your feet, see how far you can jump forward. Have someone measure how far you jump and keep up with the results. I'd do this on Tuesday and Thursday for 10 reps each day. After 2 weeks of doing this, add another set of 10 reps on each day. Keep track of your improvements and learn to land in a good well balanced position without falling.

These are a few of the things you can do to get yourself started. I understand that you will become "bored" after a while doing the same routine over and over, so I suggest you resubmit your question to me again once you have done these exercises for a while. Remember, you just cannot go into a weight room and start lifting weights without the proper preparation of your body to withstand the rigors that weight training will put on you. Otherwise, you will do more harm than good. In the meantime, you need to locate a coach that understands the correct sequence to put you through to start you on your weight lifting path of improvement. You need to understand that the lifts you do need to also be preparatory and not "full blown" training in the beginning. I cannot emphasize enough to you the importance of the mastering all the exercises in the preparatory period BEFORE you engage in formal lifting.

I hope these suggestions will get you started on a safe and sound program for development.

To get your hands better, you first need to understand how to catch the ball. This is quite simple. Open both hands and place the thumbs together. You may either find it better to place your two trigger fingers together or you may find you need to separate them some. Next, you need to understand how to track the ball with your eyes and follow it into your hands each and every time. Don't get lazy or start showing off here because as soon as you take your eye off the ball, you will start to have drops. The last thing is simple, too. Follow the ball into your hands. Once secure, place the ball under your arm with your fingers over the tip of the ball.

The second part of the question is you need to improve your leg strength and standing jumping ability. These two qualities will equate into acceleration speed which is exactly what the game of football is all about. I'd have you start out by standing on a secure object (box or bench elevated approximately 28”) and placing one foot off of the secure object. Then, balancing yourself on one foot, lower your body to where you squat on one leg. Come all the way down as far as you can go until you place your hamstring to your calf of the leg making sure you come down slow and under control. Stand up, and repeat this for 6 reps per leg doing 3 sets. Wait approximately 2 minutes between sets. Next is the standing long jump. Mark off a place on a soft surface of either grass or a tartanistic surface and place your toes on the line. Jump as far as you possibly can. Either have someone else mark where your heels hit or have it pre-marked for your jump distance. The distance you are trying to obtain to start with is 9'. Start by doing a jump, landing under control, and slowly walking back to your starting mark. Continue for 10 reps. Do these jumps on the same day right after you do your one leg squats.

If you get to where you can do 4 sets of 6 reps with the one leg squat and can jump 9' without problem, you are ready to move on to the barbell squats and sprints after your jumps. These will enhance your sprinting ability for the distances you need as a football player. Good luck, and I wish you well.

There are a few things you need to do in order to get the most out of your eating schedule. One important thing is to have some form of nutritionally beneficial recuperative drink within 15 minutes of completing either a workout or practice each and every time. This 15 minute window is very important in beginning the repair of the body from the practice/workout. Make sure you eat breakfast. Even if you are not a breakfast person, make yourself find and eat something to get your day going on the right foot. Juices of your liking are good at this time of day, too. There is an old saying - "Eat like a king for breakfast, a queen for lunch, and a pauper for supper, and you will live to be an old man." I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I'd try to be a king at each meal. Try to watch out for and be very aware of all the things you put into your body as they will all have a direct effect on how your body performs. Limit lots of soda, fast food (as much as possible), and select things that will provide energy and rebuild muscle like white meats, pastas, and lean red meat. One very important part of the diet is to make sure you are properly hydrated. This can easily be done by checking your urine each morning. If your color is yellow and dark, then you need to begin to drink more water as you are dehydrated. If your urine is clear, then you are properly hydrated so keep up the same schedule you are on. Muscle is composed of more than 70% of water; hence, the importance of staying hydrated.
Not sure if this helped much with the speed factor as a WR, but it will certainly help you with what and how to eat as well as things you can look for while doing so. Good luck, and work hard!

One important thing you need to always remember is NEVER trade pounds for power because just being big does not make you good. More times than not, especially with young men as yourself, extra weight is a detriment to ability. You mentioned you can bench 155 pounds, but said NOTHING about what you can squat. You need to understand that your legs create power and speed. You need to be much more interested in your squat and jumping than in your bench press, where you lay down on your back and perform an exercise. It is not an athletic movement, and you need to concern yourself with things that are going to create athleticism and capitalize on your abilities. Make double sure the technique on the squat is correct and safe. See if you can squat double your bodyweight by your senior year in high school. Start doing some standing long jumps - 10 per workout or 3 times per week marking how far you jump each time. A great jump for a DL is 10', but a high school DL jump should be at least 9'. You do not have to jump that far next week, but rather work towards that length at the end of your high school career. Another form of jumping is the standing two handed vertical jump. Stand under a basketball goal and either try to touch the net or the back board with both hands. Do a set of 10 reps without moving or shuffling your feet. Rest a few minutes and repeat for three series of 10 reps. Make sure to reach and touch with both hands rather than just one to avoid any injuries.

One other thing that you can do is either join the track team and run the sprints regardless of whether or not you ever compete in a track meet. This sprinting that will enhance your abilities. If you do not choose to join the track team, then my suggestion is to have you run two times per week doing 10 reps of 10 yard sprints with a walk back to the start before repeating each time. Work on your speed, and do not hasten your return to the starting position without full recovery, which should not take too long. After running a set of 10 reps for 10 yards each, walk and jog around the football field two times. Then, repeat the 10 reps of 10 yard sprints. After two months, you can progress to 20 yard dashes, but only do 10 reps total of these. Have someone time you, just as you measured your jumps and you can tell what your results are on each and every sprint indicating your progress.

Good luck, and get started squatting, jumping, and sprinting.

You must understand that if you are a good player, then the college recruiters will find you, and there are always the Junior Colleges. Regardless, the recruiters will find a good football player. Just keep playing your tail off and hitting them, and colleges will find you. Make sure you do your part in the classroom and community so that when the recruiters do come to visit, they will find you as a qualifier for college entrance. It would be a sick feeling if your play on the field warrants a scholarship, but you do not have the grades to enter. Do your part.

If you are a DB, then trying to get faster is certainly an important part of the position. Make sure you get as strong as you can in the weight room, especially in the squat lift. My other suggestion for speed is to join the track team. Coaches all over the nation will look at the times posted by athletes in track as a means of determining talent. Track is a wonderful sport, and who knows, you may even get a scholarship offer in track, too. One other point I want to pass on to you is this - sprint backward for 10yds just as much as you sprint forward. Your backpedal speed is just (if not more) important than your straight ahead speed. Get to where you can backpedal from a standing start for 10 yards in the 1.8 sec range or faster. Then, slowly work it down from there. Good luck, and I hope to be watching you on TV one day in the near future.

There are a number of things he can do by himself or with your help. First, he needs to know how to run. There are two major components that need to be looked at first - one is his arm swing while running. His hands need to look as if he is picking his nose, then picking his pocket. This will allow the proper arm swing so he can minimize body sway while making the arms swing as fast as possible which in turn makes the legs move faster. This drill can be practiced sitting down. Have him move properly and establish the correct arm swing. Once this is done and he understands the motion needed, then have him sit down with his upper body erect and legs straight out in front him. Have him sprint with his arms ONLY for 10 seconds. If he is moving fast enough, he will move around the floor on his bottom. Have him rest for 40 seconds and repeat the arm sprint until he can build up to doing 5 fast arm sprints with the proper 40 second rests. Complete 5 reps. Then have him get up and walk around and stay moving for 3-4 minutes. Then repeat the arm sprint cycle for another 5 reps.

The second major component is warming up properly. Stand in the middle of the football field and have your son on one sideline at the goal line. Have him run 100 yards at about 80-85% of his maximum speed. You should be checking for how your son places his foot on the ground. He should not be sprinting, but also not jogging for this exercise. He SHOULD place the foot underneath him in a cocked, strong position causing him to land on the heel first and then roll to the toe. He should NOT extend his leg out in front of himself. He can practice this motion in a standing position while stabilizing himself with one hand and moving the foot through the correct action of rotation. Watch the foot and the foot should be in a position where the toe is pulled back to the shin bone as much as possible. After the foot comes close to striking the ground, then your son needs to recover by bringing the foot back to the butt and not allowing it to flow behind him causing him to lose time in recovering the movement of the foot.

Another thing you can to help your son with speed training is make sure he is participating in a good, well-rounded strength program because he will need to get his squat up to at least 1.5 times his body-weight. Realize that every time the foot strikes the ground while sprinting, there will be 3 times his body-weight striking the ground. If his legs are not strong enough, then he will sink into the ground causing him to stay on the ground longer and be slower.

Additionally, have him do jumps of two types. First, have him see how far he can broad jump. Measure the jumps and keep up with the distance as this will indicate more leg strength/explosion being acquired, which means more speed is being produced. Next have him jump on boxes/benches or anything that is solid and will withstand his weight. Have him stand in front of the box, jump on top, step off, and repeat. Initially, each jumping exercise needs to be done for 2 sets of 8 reps and have a 3-4 minute walk around in between the sets.

Finally, make sure he runs short sprints of 10 to 20 yards working on this part of sprinting first. This is the most important part of sprinting for a football player and should get the most attention. My suggestion is to warm up well, run 5x10 yard sprints with 75 second rests between each. After 5 reps, walk/jog 2 laps around the football field walking 20 yards, then jogging 20 yards. Then, repeat the 5x10 yard sprints.

This will help if he follows it to the letter. Good luck.

Good question and one that a lot of coaches/players overlook. Running is a learned trait, the very same learned trait as shooting free throws, kicking extra points and putting a golf ball. The act itself, must be repeated time and again, but must be repeated CORRECTLY, or you will do nothing more than to engrain the WRONG way to run. As with most things, you will not be able to watch yourself run, and need the experienced eye of a competent coach. He can detail for you how you are striking the ground. It is virtually impossible, unless you have video equipment available, to do it by yourself.

The first aspect you need to understand is that we are talking about the phase of running after we get out of the acceleration phase, which usually occurs between 15-30 yds depending upon the athlete. In the acceleration phase the foot will strike the ground with the ball of the foot first, due to where the hips are in respect to the feet. Once you've obtained "full stride", then your foot will strike the ground on a cocked ankle, where the ankle is the strongest. You will not point your toe, as no one is strong enough to stay on their toes as a ballet dancer, and you sure as heck don't want to be on your heels, as then you would have your feet in front of your hips, and this does NOT allow for speed. The ankle will be in a cocked position, and will change very little if any, as it recovers from the ground to cycle to the next stride. The easiest way to describe how this cocked ankle should look would be to stand in place and place your hands beside your hips and begin jumping as if you were jumping rope. During the jump, you can "experiment" with how the foot strikes the ground from the toe all of the way back to landing on the heel. You will quickly find out that your foot is fastest off the ground, once you strike the ground with the ball of the foot, without allowing the heel to hit. As you can imagine this is going to take a lot of ankle/calf strength and therefore needs to be trained along with how to run. With the help of the coach and your own "feel" for how you hit the ground the foot placement can be obtained.

To quote my old boss, Coach Bear Bryant, "It all counts 6 points when you score regardless of your size and speed". You must understand that if you are a bigger back then more than likely you will not have the blazing speed of smaller backs. With this being said, you can still have great acceleration speed which is much more important in football than is top end speed. Acceleration is from 0-35 yards. If you look at the majority of runs in football, the first 35 yards are certainly the most important. Don't be too caught up in the fact that you cannot run a fast 40 yard dash time, but more concerned on how fast you hit the LOS (line of scrimmage). Don't be something you aren't - hit the line as fast as possible and NEVER dance around in the hole. Each and every time you run the ball, make a quick decision as to where exactly you are going to hit the LOS. When you make your decision then try to run the fastest 10 yard dash of your life. What this does is create yards when there is little or no movement at that point. Another important aspect is that if there is a hole then you will run through the arm tackles on your way to the end zone. If you have some smaller defensive backs (usually safeties) come up to make the tackle on you then make them feel your weight and drop your shoulder on them. When the second half comes around, they will not be as quick to "fill the hole" like they were in the first half.

As to how to increase your quickness and acceleration speed, I suggest you start in the offseason on a well-rounded strength program, jump program, run program and flexibility program. Most of these have been covered in past questions, and if you can refer to the website, you will see the programs I mentioned. One great thing I would suggest for you to do to increase the acceleration speed is hill training and/or sled pulling. If you have a hill near your training site then use it, and if you don't, then go to the stadium steps. Use the following protocol for sled pulling and hill training. Run 3 reps with the sled for a distance of 20 yards with a full 2 minute rest between repetitions. At the end of the 3rd rep, take the sled off and run a rep without the sled. Take a break of 8 minutes and continue to stretch and move (do not sit down) and then run another series the same way. Once your conditioning level jumps up in about 2 months, then add another series. You can do the same thing with hill/stadium running, but run 4, then take the 8 minute break before running another series. Now, it is very important for you at this time to make sure you run 3x50 yard strides at around 80% of max to re-elongate the stride. This is very important when any type of hill work is done, but you do not need to do it when you are running sleds since the last rep of each series will be an unweighted run.

Good luck, and make those tacklers FEEL your size!!

The 40-yard dash is a standard test to demonstrate your 0-40 yard acceleration rate. Just like I stated in previous answers, the ability to run the first 10 to 20 yards is VERY important. If you are a lineman, then it is probably the most important aspect of the test. There are a number of things you will need to do to better your times. I will not go into lengthy detail on each, but rather touch the major aspects. The number one thing is knowing HOW TO RUN. This is accomplished with a good coach and running tempo runs at 80% max effort as well as running drills which break the run down into categories. Another aspect is flexibility. Another aspect is strength with leg strength being the most important. Not to say that total body strength is not important, it is just prioritizing the area that will give you the best results for the 40 immediately. Once you have learned how to run fluidly and without any joint impingement, you have gotten your lower body strength to the correct level for your bodyweight. At that point, you can begin to specialize with work in the area of starts, correct body position to starting, jump training to improve power output, different drills designed to improve the acceleration portion of the run (i.e. wall marches and runs, stadium/sled/hills and parachute training). Now, this seems like a lot and to be truthful it is, but the secret is to have a coach who knows how and when to use these tools to apply them to you to bring out the most of your potential.

A lot depends on how old you are, and what is your classification in school? If you are an upperclassman in high school (Junior or Senior) then you are a perfect size for a linebacker or a tight end. If you possess running skills, then you could easily be a fullback. A lot depends on how old you are, as you will develop a lot from the ages of 13 to18 years old. You may put on 20lbs from one grade to the next during this time span. As far as the speed is concerned, you have enough speed to play a lot of positions.

There are a number of things to consider when improving your bench press. The first thing is how long have you been working out? If you have been at it on a consistent basis for a couple of years, then you will have already made some significant gains. Some suggestions I have are to start adding some dips after your bench press day, as well as adding some tricep extensions with either a barbell or dumbbells. Also make sure you do not bench press more than 2 times per week, preferably a Monday and a Friday. Also you need to create some variance in your workouts, such as doing pauses for 2 seconds on your chest on Fridays. Do not do more than 3 reps per set and stay around 75% of maximum energy to begin with. You can start with 3 sets on the first week, 4 sets on the second week and 5 sets on the third week, and then drop back to 2 sets on the fourth week. Your body will need a recovery week every fourth week to adjust to the work load you have placed it under the previous weeks. Without a proper recovery week of less work and less weight lifted, then the body will not have time to recover/replenish itself from the workload, and if you continue lifting heavy and hard, then you will become over trained, and will most certainly begin to lose not only strength but weight which will in turn make you lose your appetite to train. It will take 2 to 3 weeks to come back from overtraining, and in a lot of cases longer than that. You do not need to concern yourself too much at a young age about how much you can do for one rep, which is maxing out, but rather see if you can obtain 3 reps with increasing weight as time goes by. Too many max days in a short period of time, at a young age, will have an adverse affect on you and your strength levels. You have to learn to become stronger while you are working out, and realize that maximum attempts during the training year should be kept at a minimum. You get stronger by training, rather than by maxing out.

As far as the speed goes, you need to understand one thing-the stronger and more explosive the legs are, then the faster you will become. The two joints I always recommend to strengthen are the ankle and hip. The knee is the fulcrum between these two joints, and will have to move if the other two do. The foot is the first thing that hits the ground, and the reactivity of the ankle/foot will result in your speed. If the foot is on the ground for a longer period-then you are slower, and if it is on the ground for less than one second, then you will be faster. The ankle can be made stronger by doing one legged dumbbell toe raises, and it can be made more reactive by doing reactive jumps. A couple of jumps to do are ankle flips, with your hands on your hips and with very little if any knee bend, jump with just the ankles as the joint of movement. These are more hops than jumps and can be done for 20 yards. Walk back and repeat for 3 to 5 series. Another good ankle jump exercise is the basketball back board touch. You can do the same over a door frame too. With your hands extended over your head, use your ankles to jump up, and as soon as the foot touches the ground, jump back and try to touch the same place with your hands. Remember in both the ankle flips and backboard touches, the heel of the foot should never touch the ground.
The hips are best developed by the barbell back squat. Once you are able to squat double your bodyweight, then that is enough strength to be at your optimum for speed development. Make sure you find a knowledgeable person to teach you the proper way of squatting, and make sure you do not start out with too heavy weight. A lot of problems occur from doing this exercise improperly, and that is why a trained person should be able to watch you squat for at least the first 6 months. Also one legged squats are great. Sit in a chair with your buttocks at the edge of the chair and both feet placed firmly and flat under you. Stand up a few times with your eyes and chest up and without bending forward at the waist. Now if this is easy and you can accomplish without any problem, then remove one foot from the floor and extend that leg forward, and now stand up on the one leg. Do 10 reps with each leg and try to do 3 sets on each leg. Remember, you only have one foot on the ground when you run, and you will need the strength in each leg equally.

Uphill running (up stadiums and up any form of incline) will help the acceleration portion of speed. This is the major factor in most of sport, and should receive the most attention in obtaining. One of the reasons uphill running is good is that the foot is on the ground for a much longer period of time than a level field. This time under tension will create a great speed specific base to build upon. One thing you need to always remember when using an incline of any form to run o, is that when you have finished your prescribed workout for that day, ALWAYS finish up with 2x50 yard strides at around 80% of your max speed. The reason is that when you train a certain way, in this case uphill, it will affect how you run on a flat surface and by “re-educating" the muscles to perform as they will be required to you have made sure the uphill training has provided what it was intended to do without any problems occurring later on.

Another great exercise for athletes that aren't strong enough to begin with is to hook them up to a weighted sled of nominal weight and while maintaining excellent running form, walk for 40 yards. Remember to maintain perfect form and not allow yourself to lean into the walk. This is a good specific strength builder for running as is the uphill work. Also, remember to stretch the calves of the lower leg very well as they will be very sore from the uphill training.

Speed development can be developed by increasing the strength levels of the entire body, especially the hip, legs and ankle area. It can also be developed by learning the correct movement patterns in arm, leg and torso while running at full speed. You need to also understand at this young age, that most of sports are about acceleration rather than top end speed. The exceptions to the rule are track and field and in some instances soccer. So the distance from 0 yds to 30 yds is of the utmost concern, and this is improved when you can increase your power output, which is force x distance divided by time.

I've seen some of the greatest running backs ever, and each had their own distinctive style of running. I am not sure that you can dictate to them how to hit the hole, but I also do know you can teach them how to take on a tackler. Many RB coaches start out their practices by having the RB's either grab at their arms to try and cause a fumble or have them lower their shoulder on the back with the ball to create the feel of a tackler in a game situation. It is nothing more than a gauntlet line and switching out the first or last man each time. The drill doesn't take long, and it is going to loosen and teach all backs at the same time. In the spring, I suggest many one-on-one drills with a back or a 3-on-3 drill in a 10 yard square with a back running the ball as well. This is live action with many reps so that the proper body lean can be taught very easily. Reps of anything you want to try to accomplish is the way to teach any motor skill that you want them to learn. Picking a particular drill (like the ones before mentioned) can be something you create as well. I do firmly believe that the running back MUST hit the line and hole area without a lot of unnecessary footwork or cuts. He gets one cut and then it is up field. The defensive players of today are not going to stay blocked all day so he must hit the hole while the defensive players are engaged in a block from the offensive linemen. The faster he hits the hole, the better chance he has coming free on the backside. I think if you stress this, the speed to the line and through the line will give you the lean you are looking for from your RB's.

Love to hear from a young man that has a passion to try to get better. I hope and pray that this answer will do you justice. It has been my experience that you need to shorten the whole tackling process down to having a person or dummy in front of you and work rep after rep on placing your head properly on the person/dummy with just the fast extension of the legs and hips. Once you have done a good many reps at this position and feel comfortable with how your head is placed and the follow through with the arms on the tackle, then move back a few yards and have the person move from side to side and work on keeping your base under you and placing your head in the proper position for a ball carrier running either right or left. Now, when I say keep your base under you, I mean have your feet shoulder-width apart and your hips located over your feet and not leaning in front of your feet. If your hips get too far in front of your feet, it will be really hard to "put the hat on them" when they cut back. Practice this procedure daily and you will find in a short period of time that you will get the feeling back on how to do it once again. Remember one very important fact - tackling is a learned movement, no different from learning how to shoot a free throw, punt a football, putt a golf ball or throw a baseball. It has to be practiced and perfected. It will always boil back down to that old four letter word – WORK! You cannot be a good tackler by watching film or talking about it. You have to tackle to be a good tackler! You have to understand the proper foot position to make you a safety that RB and WR fear. Good luck!

My suggestion is to go to the website where Morten Anderson teaches kicking in Atlanta, Ga. I know Mort, and I can vouch for his understanding of how to teach a person to kick the ball effectively. He was as natural a kicker as I have ever been around. More importantly, he is a good teacher/coach that can communicate very well with athletes.

I think you just answered your own question. You said that after you changed your hand placement in order to receive the snaps better. Although this may necessitate the center moving the ball around for you to take the laces properly, this can be done without much trouble. I don't think it is anything that you have not already figured out. I'd just have the center change to meet your hand placement, and if the center is able to do this without greatly changing his technique, then you have found the answer yourself. As always, it will take countless numbers of reps to take the snap properly, and you and the center must spend at least a full 10 minute period prior to your practice start time in order to work on nothing but the snap and first step for each of you. Without this exchange, the game cannot take place.

I think I can quickly and easily answer this question. I can answer it as honestly as I will ever answer any question, because the answer was "taught" to me. The answer is simple - block each and every day until the task is learned. Blocking is the same motor function as shooting a free throw or putting a golf ball. It must be done over and over and over again until it is perfected as close as that particular individual can do it. You will need to teach the blocking in the same sequence as you asked the question. First, stay low which will require you show the player where his "aiming point" is located. Then, come off the ball. This is accomplished the same as the start of the 100m race and can be enhanced with jumping exercises. Being aggressive and finishing the blocks is nothing more than attitude and understanding the aspect of blocking properly. It is nothing more than a learned trait. It is going to take some players much longer to "learn" how to block than others, but if you are teaching the blocking techniques at each practice for at least 30 minutes per practice, then the players will learn to block. Make sure you start off with the players close together (only a ball's distance between them) to allow for correct head placement. As the player achieves success at this position, you can back the defensive player (i.e. a linebacker) away from him and then have him learn blocking technique which will require more foot movement. Simple one-on-one drills are the best way to teach blocking. This will in turn teach some of the other ingredients you are also seeking.

Hand strength can be improved in a number of ways, but the easiest and cheapest way of doing so without having to purchase any exercise equipment are the following simple measures. Find some bricks and grip the bricks with only the end of the fingers and thumbs. Then, have your son walk around for 60 seconds carrying the bricks in each hand. Time him and if he doesn't get to 60 sec before dropping the bricks have him pick them up again. After a two minute break, you should repeat. Do this for 3-5 reps. When he is able to accomplish without any trouble, then have him remove one finger at a time. Another great exercise is have your son hang from a chin up bar or limb for a timed period. You should try to achieve two minutes for good/superior hand strength. The other simple means is to purchase some heavy duty putty to squeeze in both hands while doing anything around the house.

I suggest you start off throwing the ball to your son and watching how he positions his hands when receiving the ball. Also watch his eyes to see if he is following the ball into his hands. You want him to focus on the point of the ball and position his hands away from the body and put the trigger fingers together along with the thumbs which will almost make a triangle gap between the hands. Look the tip of the ball into this "triangle" and as the ball enters the triangle, the girth of the ball will cause the hands to collapse on the ball and end up in a catch. This should be started by a very simple means of throwing him the ball while facing him (approximately 10 yards apart) and coach and critique each catch until you "teach" him the correct feel/sight of catching the ball. Once this has been accomplished, then you can increase the complexity of the drills by having him turn halfway around and turn and face you quickly before making the catch and finally turn all the way around and upon your command turn and find the flight of the ball and create the triangle at the same time. Once you have this drill down, then you can escalate to other more complex catches, but you must remember the FIRST MAIN OBJECTIVE - LEARN TO CATCH THE BALL FIRST AND GET FANCY SECOND.

Not only will your son soon acquire the ability to receive better, but it will give the two of you quality time together. This is something that will be remembered by both of you far longer than any of the catches he will make.

I suggest that you break the tackle technique down into steps and teach him the simple aspects before teaching the complex aspects of tackling. First, your son needs to know where and how to place the head when tackling. Have him stand without moving and practice on another teammate until the first aspect is learned to perfection. Then continue to move forward. Just like a golf swing, a basketball free throw, or any other learned skill, the ability to tackle is learned by repetition.

That is a good question. First, I would suggest viewing some of the previous workout programs posted on our website that will give your son strength to throw the ball better. If he increases his overall body strength, then he will be able to ALL things better, including throwing the ball.

One great exercise I used for all quarterbacks is the medicine ball throws against a stationery wall. Stand approximately 3-5 feet in front of a solid wall and hold a medicine ball overhead with both hands. The ball should weigh around 2kg (4lbs). Keep your feet no wider than the arm pits and square your shoulders to the wall at all times without moving them. With the ball overhead and your body square, pick out a point on the wall to throw the ball. You can use a piece of tape to mark the spot. Throw the ball with both hands as hard as you can on the wall and expect for the ball to rebound quickly back to you. When the rebound occurs, catch and throw the ball back as quick and hard as possible.

This exercise develops strength in the same area and is the same release as throwing a football. You can do 15-20 throws before practice each day as a warm-up. It can also be used after practice as a strength builder (which is what I think you are looking for) on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday rotation using 3 sets of 20 throws per set. Rest about 2 minutes between sets.

Remember one more important aspect of throwing the football is leg strength. This is paramount in assisting the throwing of the ball.

The pre-game and pre-practice warm-ups should mirror each other very closely. It has been my experience that most athletes will spend a little extra time on game days warming up or being stretched/loosened prior to the game. I think this is due to time restraints with practice usually starting quickly after classes/meetings. A game is a much more time relaxed atmosphere than practice.

The routine should always have the same theme. First and foremost, the goal should be to create blood flow to the muscles themselves. This is accomplished with movement, which will encompass the major joints of movement- the ankles, knees and hips. With these major joints being moved along with the shoulder girdle area, the athlete is sure to bring blood flow to the muscles that create movement. After the blood flow to the muscles occurs, you should engage in stretching the areas, but not holding the stretches more than 10 seconds.

I always would have the athletes start out with skipping forward for 40yds, and then backward skip for 40 yards followed a side slide, which is a lateral side straddle hop one way for 40 yards then returning the opposite direction. At this time, I would have them stride down and back the same 40 yards. Once they return to the start, I would have them perform a series of squats in place for 10 reps followed by a body rotation of 5 circles to each side and 5 lunges (can be done in any or all planes of movement- forward, lateral, backward, crossover and diagonal). Then, we would do a toe touch stretch where we would place one foot over the top of the other and hold for no longer than 10 seconds.

We would continue to integrate the movement patterns with stretches to the areas. After a few series of each, we would have the athletes get up and perform another 40 yard movement of walking lunges or a low skip and scoop. This would give us another 80 yards of movement and then right back down on the ground for additional movements and stretches. You can build this into a very inclusive package of warming up.

We always would end up with 2x40 yard build ups, where I would give the players a certain percentage of effort to run. Finish with a backward run.

First, let me say, that coaching is going to be one of the single most rewarding things you may ever do especially when your son is involved. Getting started is quite simple -be as basic and as simple as you can possibly be with the kids. Start by teaching each and all how to get into a good football stance and then how to block and tackle correctly. The "glamour" of the game will come down the line AFTER THEY LEARN THE BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF HOW TO PLAY. I cannot emphasize that enough. Without the basic fundamentals and understanding of the game, they will have NOTHING to fall back on. Start with simple plays and don't run too many as they will not be able to understand and execute the complexity of a large scheme. Be simple, rather than complex.

Make sure you practice the kicking game and show them the way to line up on kickoffs and punts and how to receive a punt. You must have a schedule of how you want to teach each segment of the game and your installation plan in place prior to the start of the season. These check points will serve you well throughout the year and will keep you on track to accomplish what you need to in order to give the kids what they need. If for some reason they do not understand a certain phase of the game, then stay there until it is learned because you can't leap frog ahead and not cover an aspect. Simple to complex is the way to go.

You will find that if you teach the basic fundaments of football and you have a plan for what you want to accomplish with the kids then you will be far, far ahead of most of the other coaches who are more interested in lining up and "cutting it loose" without understanding the basics. That is the way it has always worked, and that is the way it works today. The only thing that has changed is the losers have a different set of excuses.

Make sure you teach life's lessons along the way as well because the football field, in my opinion, is one of the last teachers of life, that still exists. Make applications from your own experiences and how the lessons on the football field are direct teachers of how things are in real life situations. If you can help out one kid along the way and change his life in a positive manner, then you've been paid in full. Good luck, and enjoy the journey.

Good question, and I will give you my ideas about your brother's situation. I think he is correct in attending his community college, which I assume is a 2 year college. He should have his eye on where he will graduate from with his bachelor's degree too. I also assume, that your brother played high school football, but is not playing college football. If this is true, then he will have his afternoons available to coach. My suggestion is for him to choose the very best high school or college team within a short driving distance from his home, and go by and visit with the coach, at a time that is convenient for the head coach, to volunteer his time to that school and athletic/football program. By going to the best situation available, it is like going to the best teacher of a subject area-you get the best teaching available, and will be far ahead of the norm. Your brother also needs to understand that he is going to have to start at the VERY bottom of the coaching chain and work his way up from there. Understanding this and hoping it works out best for him, and then he should begin immediately to locate the 4 year University of choice, and see what opportunities are available there as well. He needs to understand that the NCAA has strict guidelines on the number of coaches that can be on the field and on the staff, and he will more than likely have to just go to practice (coach permitting) and observe each and every day what the schedule is like, how the practice is conducted, all organizational components of putting on a good smooth running practice, and then last but not least find the best assistant coaches that are doing the best and most passionate job of teaching and hone in on their teaching/coaching abilities.

Your brother needs to understand too, that he just simply cannot "go by" practice when he feels like it, but needs to be there rain, sleet or snow each and every day to observe the things that will help him in later life. He needs to come home each night or certainly each week and have a 30 min period of time where he sits down, writes down on paper what he has observed both good and bad, and make comments in regards to all things observed. He needs to write down his feelings about what and how things are done as well, and this will help him to develop his own style of coaching, what type of offense, defense and special teams he will run, and how to set up and run a practice properly. If he learns from the best, and is in observation of them each and every day for a couple of years, then he will have NO problem making definite decisions on what he needs and wants to do as a coach. In many ways, he will be further along than some players, as he will get a chance to observe ALL aspects of the game, rather than just one position. He also needs to observe games, and game management which includes play calling, clock management, situational football, when and where HE would take a chance of some form or fashion, and more importantly watch how the two teams on game night try to beat the other, and what he would do to counteract their plans.

One little diddie, I'd like to pass on to him, is that young men need a strong male figure in their life, that will teach them the game of football correctly, and in doing so make them aware of the things life is going to throw at them once they are out in the "real world". By showing them the similarities of life and football, your brother can not only be a good coach to his players, but more importantly be a person that will prepare them for the "game" that will take his players all of the way through life. Good luck to him and you can be a major supporter for him, as my sister has been for me.

I feel qualified to answer that question since my first job was coaching junior high school boys. There are a number of things that need to be considered when discussing the length of a practice. One is the pace of the practice. If the practice is fast paced and full of movement as well as organized and disciplined, then the length of the practice cannot be long as the kids will not be able to hold up. If the practice is more of a moderate paced practice with a lot of teaching, technique, responsibilities and coordination of offensive and defensive plays/defenses, then it will be more of a lengthy type of practice. More times than not, the practices will need to be somewhat longer (around 1 ½ hours) to be able to get all of the things taught that needs to be taught. Young men of this age will need quite a bit of teaching of the game, as opposed to the college or professional player who should be skilled in a lot of these categories already.

Now I will address your question of does practice make them better? If you have ever played a sport then you know that all sports require endless hours of practicing a particular skill, whether it be putting a golf ball, shooting free throws, hitting a baseball or any other skill pertaining to each particular sport. This is why school grounds have kids shooting baskets, driving ranges have people hitting bucket after bucket of balls and soccer fields have kids practicing their kicks into the net. So YES, practice does help quite a bit as even learning how to type on your computer requires practice to become proficient with where the keys are located. Remember one very important point - if a young person is out practicing his/her particular set of skills, then he or she is not getting involved in the negative types of activities that we so frequently read about our children getting involved with. They are doing something productive, something they are taking pride in, and something that may last them a lifetime. This will keep them on the straight and narrow through their most formative years.

There are guidelines in college on the practice times, but to my knowledge there are no such restrictions for high schools. There are certain guidelines that have to be followed in the NFL concerning practices, but practice times are highly scrutinized as well as at the college level. Practice time for the young men in junior high school should be understood and correctly applied by the competent coaches hired by the school system in your area.

The best advice I can give to you is at this age is allow him to have fun at the game and make sure he works hard at each practice on tackling. With a young boy of this age, he will have to be taught to tackle properly as this will not occur for a few years to come. As long as he is enjoying the game and the association with the other players, then try to do nothing but encourage him and point out all of the wonderful things you think he is doing. He will have more than ample time to develop the skills needed to be a solid tackler, and you and he may find out that he is best suited for a position on offense where tackling is not required as often. Make sure he is working on his tackling skills with his coach each day of practice, and then just sit back and enjoy the experience of him playing the greatest team game being played today. If he has a good coach then he will learn many more things than just football, and it could easily be the most productive time of his life because things being taught on the football field will take you throughout life. Good luck, enjoy your son's career, and encourage him at every opportunity.

I am the world's worse person to ask about 9-man football. I am unsure of anything about it, as I have never seen it played or had any dealings with 9-man football in my life or coaching career. I will say this, if you can run the ball and stop the run then the likelihood of winning is highly in your favor, especially in high school. There may be some great QB's you run across from time to time, but as a rule, there are NOT great QB's year in and year out. If they throw a lot and don't know what they are doing, then they will shorten their time with the ball and increase their chances of losing. Physical football will win out the greatest majority of the time. The most exceptional teams I've ever seen have been very physical on defense and could either stop the run or limit it as well as run the ball themselves on offense. Of course, the exceptional teams had exceptional QB's also. Don't know if this is of any help, but maybe it will give you a little direction.

To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know a thing about 9-man football or the configuration of what you would do with two less players than normal. I would think there has to be a rule book available to you from the league you are participating in or at least a commissioner/head official that would be available for Q&A. Sorry I couldn't be of help, but I can tell you this - if you have one player or a hundred players, teaching good basic fundaments of blocking, tackling and the kicking game is going to win you a whole lot of ball games. Best of luck.

The first and foremost rule for any defensive back is to NEVER let them throw the ball OVER your head for a TD. Now, you have just covered the most important rule of defensive back play. Whether you can look into the backfield to determine the nature of the play depends upon what defense is called – man-to-man or zone. In many zone defenses, the corners are lined up off the ball and can venture a look into the backfield to determine what is being run. On some press zone coverages, where the corners are leveled to take away the short zones, they play it the same as man defense and that requires you to pay full attention to the WR and not allow him to release freely downfield. You need to understand when you play a leveled zone corner or a man corner that you have to disrupt the path of the WR and you have a 5 yard rule in effect for contact. Make the receiver take as long as possible to release from the line of scrimmage before moving downfield as this will allow the pass rush to get to the QB or allow for over the top safety help to come. Remember that time is on your side and the longer it takes the WR to release, the better you do your job. To answer the last part of the question - it is ALWAYS pass first and run second.

Allowing him to quit will be a hard and agonizing decision for you both. If you allow him to quit the first time, then the next time he wants to quit, it will just keep getting easier to where he will not even have to think about it much. I suggest you use this time in his young life to teach some life skills/lessons to him. Let him know that things don't always go your way and you don't always get to win. The most important thing is how you prepare and how you set the example for the other kids. If he sets himself apart from the others by his dedication and pride, then others will follow - I will promise you this. He will thank you 25 years from now for teaching him the things that will make him a valued member of society. By taking a year off, he will lose the skills he has acquired the last 5 years. There never has been anything good accomplished and there never will be anything good accomplished by quitting. This is a crossroad for him as a young man and he needs a strong male figure, like you, to point out the right way to go. In the future, he is going to be faced with the same feelings, but at that point in time the stakes will most likely be much higher.

Congratulations on making your decision to enter the coaching field. It has to be a game that you do truly LOVE and have a thirst and passion to be around. One other important ingredient is that you need to be able to communicate well with people/kids/players. One other main ingredient you need to possess is discipline. You need to portray this discipline and work ethic so the kids will try to duplicate your desire and passion and work ethic for the game. It doesn't matter if you are a great player/athlete or not. Some of the better coaches never played college football, but learned it as you are doing. The game is played at the beginning level by groups of very young kids who do not know or understand a thing about the organized game of football. Make sure when you start with them you have a plan for the steps on how you are going to teach them and for their progression. Do not go too fast for them and make sure that they learn the basic fundaments of football from you at this beginning level. You should be teaching them things like how to line up properly, how to get in a good stance, how to make a block correctly and how to tackle correctly. If you can achieve these things with the aforementioned discipline and work ethic, then you are on your way to becoming a very successful coach that is being a positive, influential force in a young man's life. I wish you all of the luck in the world, and NEVER forget to stick to the basics.

My first suggestion to you is to obtain a teaching degree/certificate if you do not already have one. To do this you can enroll at a local college that offers a degree in education. Next, you should find the best head coach in your area and when his season is over and he has some down time, go by and discuss the option of you coming to either volunteering your time or work as only a coach and receive some compensation for your efforts. If you do not find a good coach to learn from then the ability for you to learn and grow as a coach is going to be shortly curtailed. It may take some convincing on your part to persuade the coach to allow you to help, but persistence is a great asset. Once you have your foot in the door and can understand ALL aspects that coaching entails then you can make the decision to step out on your own or stay where you are. I know of no other way to attack your problem. Make sure you have your ducks in a row when you go speak to the head coach - be truthful and open about your intentions.

Check out my answer to a previous question about creating gaps for the running back and the part about the RB's hitting the hole with only one cut and as fast as they can. This is a big part of the answer for you and anybody else who runs the ball. Looking at the majority of long runs with teams today, the number of them that hit it running and not dancing in the hole is far greater for the fast, hard hitters of the hole, with the one cut mentality.

One of the best tried and true drills that can ever be used for the running backs as well as the offensive blockers and the defenders is the one-on-one blocking/tackling drill between the dummies. It teaches the back about gaining the tough yards first and allows the RB to understand that there will more than likely be some contact at the point of attack. At this point, he needs to initiate it and run through the arm tackles that should occur if the offensive blocker is doing what he is asked to do. It is a great drill that can help out everyone involved in the drill. I would use a lot of this in the off season and limit the reps during the season, but still brush up on the quality and speed of the drill by having each back get 3-5 reps once or twice earlier in the week. You can do a lot of coaching with the kids who, at their age group, need all of the understanding about how the game should be played as they can handle. They need to understand that the successful teams run the ball well and defend the run well. You can do both in one simple drill.

It appears to me that you have the people in place to be successful already. My suggestion to you is to put the TB on the bench or at wingback and put the wingback at TB, and run the FB a lot more with some short traps. You seem pleased with the wingback's speed and ability. If he is a running back already, then put him in there and let him carry the load. Design your offense around these two players (FB and the new TB, formerly the WB) and place the TB in a position where he can block. One thing is that you cannot try and wait for him to get better while the other 10 players are busting their humps and doing what you ask. It is a team game, and he needs to understand that he is just 1/11th of the equation.

As far as drills are concerned to help him, I'd suggest a simple one that includes the linemen as well. Place two dummies 3-4 yards apart and put an offensive blocker and a defensive person opposite each other with the running backs lined up their same distance from the LOS. Have the two linemen perform a one-on-one drill and the back take a direct handoff from the QB. This will teach the importance of hitting the hole quickly, teach blocking to the OL, and teach defending a blocker and making a tackle to the defensive player.

It depends upon the number of reps that each player got during that 75 minute period. If there was a whole lot of coaching going on as I would suppose there was then the number of reps per individual would have been low. If, on the other hand, it was a rapid fire off the ground up and go again without the instruction for better technique, then yes the reps would've been too high. I strongly believe, as I have stated earlier, that kids need to be taught the basic fundamentals of the game-stance, start, body position to block and tackle and to do this well, then you must practice them, and not talk about them. These 8-year olds are not trying to win the Super Bowl, but are trying to ready themselves for their senior high school experience of playing. A good feeder school program from the youth football to the Junior High and from the Junior High to the high school is paramount for a successful high school program. Without these fundamentals being taught by the youth coaches, the high school will not be nearly as successful, and the players will not be able to experience the most success possible because of the lack of proper teaching at a younger age.

I would hope the coaches of your son's team would be wise enough to know how much is enough and how many reps a kid can have before his well-being comes into the picture. As I have stated before, a good coach is a good teacher. The better coaches a kid can be around at any age, then the more the kid will progress. This does not mean that the coach may be liked by many of the players/families, but they do understand that the coach is doing the best thing for the child's development - this is the bottom line. I would hope that your son's coaches understand this and the teaching progression of all fundamentals.

If you teach a young athlete that it is alright to quit or just for the sake of it change teams, then it is a pretty hard and sometimes gut wrenching decision to make. But faced with the same decision the second time, the quitting or changing becomes easier and easier to where you hardly even have to think about it. I think you should stay with the team you had initially placed him on and if he is the star player of that team then he has the opportunity to inspire others to be as good as he is. In my humble opinion, I believe if you are not loyal to your employer, team, family, friends and whatever life situation you can name, then you are just that much less of a good example for people in general. You have a good opportunity NOW to teach a life lesson about what lies ahead for him 20-30-40 years from now. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO SET THE EXAMPLE, and just as importantly tell the young man WHY you are making this decision.

I know the glitz and glamour of possibly better coaching and a team is intriguing, but my finding is that they very seldom turn out to be the bang for your buck that you so desire.

Football for you was fast and furious when it started, and you had some years to mature before starting. When you started you probably were behind in technique of how to read flow, drops and keys, but you were a good athlete and ended up playing college ball. Go back to your first days on the football field, and try to understand what your first days were like. I have said this many times to many coaches - don't get the cart before the horse. Every coach wants his players to be "the best", but they forget about the learning curves that have to first take place to master the basic techniques of football. This is what you should be teaching and should continue teaching every single day you are with these kids because playing linebacker, whether you are 10 years old or 30 years old is about the same thing - taking on a block and getting rid of the blocker, tackling, reading your keys, knowing your coverage areas and playing aggressively. Throw in there the understanding of where to line up and you just about have it. Now, there are a lot more subtle things to learn as you move forward, but you CANNOT move forward until you learn the basic fundamentals. It has been my finding that the best coaches are those that focus on the fundamentals. They put out the best players, too.

If you go back and look at all of the successful head coaches of the last 50 years, you will find they were strict technique teachers, which makes their teams tough and hard to beat because as the opposing team you have to be just as well coached on your fundamentals or you be beaten at the point of contact.

My suggestion is to slow it down and teach the basic fundamentals. I promise you that during mid-season to the end of the season, you will see marked improvement in the skills linebackers need to play the game the correct way.

Most kids at this age are not aggressive when it comes to blocking and tackling the proper way, but it can be taught just like our education system where kids begin by learning their ABC's and progress to Algebra and much more in depth studies. Football is no different. The better the teachings early on and with proper support from home, the child will flourish. With the proper football gear on, have the young man learn a good stance first and foremost. He should stand with his feet shoulder width apart, head up, back flat and with his hips down. You can start out with a hand held dummy and teach him to roll over the balls of his feet and extend his legs quickly, while placing his head in the correct position. MAKE SURE HE KEEPS HIS EYES UP!! Have him do this time and again. Then, teach the natural swing or throw of the arms to wrap up the tackle. If you start a young person slow and understand that it will take considerable time before he reaches the finished product, then you are on the right path. You cannot go out there and throw him into a full scale scrimmage and expect him to tackle like Dick Butkus. Many, many, many reps need to be done before he engages in hitting another person, as this certainly changes the difficulty of tackling. When the proper technique of "how to do it" is learned, then it will lessen the fear of tackling a person, but you have to remember that as I stated earlier, it is going to take a lot of time and even years to accomplish.

On the same note, by teaching a young person how to play football I truly believe you have one of the last bastions of teaching life's skills to young people. You are teaching these kids things that they are going to have to rely on in the everyday world of today. Again, as we mentioned at the onset, that the better teachers (coaches) will do the best jobs of teaching and have more "successful" players/students. They will teach them the things that will carry them through life-discipline, work, team chemistry/bonding and winning. These are lessons that are learned from just the simple beginnings of football.

In closing to this question, be patient. Do not negatively coach this kid because if it takes him until he is a senior in high school and all he ends up playing is in a backup capacity, he STILL has learned and achieved far more, than when he first started. YOU can take pride in the fact that you helped him through the hardest phase-the learning phase!! You will take great pride in your efforts (as all teachers and coaches should) when they see their students/athletes go on to become good people/players.

I suggest taking a look at the Football Curriculum videos under HS Player Development on this site. Look at the Stance videos of different positions to get the basics of the 3 pt. stance. Another drill to have the kids try is to do the 3 pt stance in the mirror. This will allow the kids to see if the are unbalanced.

That is a great question! I don't know that I can honestly give you a definite age. There are so many aspects of look at when answering a question of this scope. This is my belief - any kid needs at least one year of preparatory work before he begins tackle football. I know from being a father of a son who played football that you need to be VERY patient with their development. All parents think they are housing the next Joe Namath, but that is just not true for the most part.

With all that being said, I would pick the ages of 8-10 years old. I think this will give them ample time to develop their abilities into fine senior high football players. In this case, they should have at least one good year of preparatory work prior to their eighth birthday.

You are right in the middle of the age for your son to better himself. If he is a late bloomer, then all the better. You can improve footwork just like you can improve any other learned motor skill, but you have to understand the flip side of that statement-there is a lot of work involved in learning/improving. More than likely your son has unreactive ankles, which makes him more flat footed or heel prone when running. Check him out as he strides/runs down the field and see what part of his foot strikes the ground first. If his heel hits first, which I suppose is the case, then he is preventing himself from moving forward and his lower leg is not responsive. He should be told and taught that he needs to let the ball of the foot strike the ground first as this allows the foot to be placed underneath him and allows his hips to move forward. By having his heels hit first, then his leg is extended in front of his hips and this is not conducive to speed development or foot speed.

One of the best exercises to use to help create ankle reactivity and coordination is rope jumping. Have your son start with going 15-20 seconds per rep and teach him how to cock the ankle where he strikes on the ball of his foot, but not on his toes, which will elevate the heel of the foot too much. He will feel the strong position when he lowers his heel to the ground. This will create a muscle memory of the correct position to be in when moving his feet. Expand his time and reps to whatever he can handle and once he has the ability to go for 60 seconds without missing, then have him go one footed. There are a number of other exercises that he can use to develop this aspect of ankle reactivity, but he must finish each workout with his proper sequence of steps that is required of his QB coach. He will develop quicker and better foot agility, but he needs to rehearse his actual movements, where he can put his newfound quality into actual football movements. Just like with any other learned motor skill this will take time and reps and consistency and most athletes get bored by the same old thing. Once you see this happening, then shoot me another question and I will show you another stage to go to that will keep his attention and will continue his progress.

You are going into your real formative years and the things you do at your age will catapult you to a higher athletic plateau. For the position of offensive lineman/guard, there are three very important things you need to master. First, you need to get totally involved in a well orchestrated, well planned and technique teaching weight program. Make sure you center your attention on the squats, power cleans/snatches and presses of all kinds NOT just the bench press but overhead pressing as well as incline press. Be as consistent as possible in the workouts, and do your best NEVER to miss a workout. This will give you so many of the needed ingredients of a good offensive lineman. Next, work on your 10 yard dash from your football stance trying your best to get the times as low as possible. A good time for an offensive lineman is 1.75 seconds. This is a very good time, but this will give you a good benchmark to try and achieve. The 10 yard dash is what is required of you from a speed aspect on each and every play. Repetitive runs at this distance will greatly enhance your explosion and quickness. The last thing I would recommend would be a jump program, which can be done in conjunction with your run days. I suggest the standing long jump for a person of your position as almost all of your movement patterns are done on a linear path. Stand and jump while having someone measure the distance of each jump. Ten reps of jumps per running workout is sufficient. A good distance to achieve for a young lineman is 9 feet. If you will master these three things, then I will guarantee you that NO ONE will be better prepared than you for your high school experience in football. Good luck!

First, let me applaud you in your attempt to help these two young men out with their football. I don't know the schedules of the football camps, but I do know that the NFL does have the schedules of some of the camps that are taught by very capable and knowledgeable coaches. I'd suggest calling the NFL asking to be placed in contact with someone who works with these camps and can make a recommendation as to which ones are the best and closest to your home. Thanks for helping these two guys because one day in the near future they may mature to become coaches/teachers that will affect thousands of kids in their lives.

This is a good question, and it is one that every parent should ask themselves. I truly believe 100% that if your school has a solid and competitive track program that this (track) is the best sport to help out football players. The number one ingredient in football is speed, and there is nothing better to help develop a young person than a good track coach and a competitive track program. Regardless of whether your son is a lineman or not, he has to be able to run. It will also get your son in great shape, and if he is a lineman then it will keep him from getting too big which is what I am seeing with a lot of high school linemen today.

Another thing your son needs to start is a well designed and implemented strength program under the guidance of a qualified teacher/coach.

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The very first thing you need to do will be to dedicate yourself totally to a sound, well-constructed, and highly coached weight program. If you are fortunate to have one of these at your school, then take full advantage of it! Try to remember that the one thing that will help you throw the ball is the leg strength you possess. Work awfully hard on the lower body movements like the squat and cleans, and do NOT spend all of your time on the bench press.

One other exercise you need to do 3 times per week, as in a Mon-Wed-Fri scenario, is a medicine ball (4KG) wall throw. This is done by standing approximately 4-5 feet from a solid wall holding the ball with both hands over the top of your head. Aim for a spot at about the same height as the ball is located above your head. You can mark this easily on the wall with a piece of tape. With both feet square to the wall and the ball overhead, throw the ball as hard as you can at the piece of tape on the wall. The ball will quickly rebound to your hands, and you have to be ready to catch it. When the rebound catch occurs, get the ball out of your hands as fast as possible throwing it once again with as much as you can muster against the wall all the while staying in place with your feet and keeping your body erect. Do this for 20 total throws on the wall. Wait 2-3 minutes and then repeat for another set. Rest another 2-3 minutes, and repeat for a third set.

Over the course of the spring and summer months leading up to next year's football season, you will find that these weight training exercises along with the above mentioned ball throw will make marked improvement in your throwing capabilities. Once the season starts, use the ball throw on the wall as a warm up exercise BEFORE going out to practice.

Good luck in your quest to be the best!

Great question! The first thing you have to remember is that quick feet can be developed. It is nothing more than ground reactivity. Sounds simple, but it is a little more complex as there are a few components that go into it. Whenever attacking a problem like this, think simple to complex first. First of all, make sure you have good strong legs. You should be able to squat 1.5 times your bodyweight in high school and 2 times your body weight in college. This is the first step, and without this step, it is very difficult to go forward. Next, you need to get the foot/ankle reactive and strong to ground contact. That can be done in a number of ways, but the easiest and most widely used is the jump rope. However, understand that when you are jumping the rope, DO NOT jump off the toes, but rather the cocked ankle (which is the strongest position for it to be in). The cocked ankle is nothing more than having the foot in a position where when jumping rope the heel does NOT touch, but almost does. If you try this a few times without anything by just jumping around then you will find out what I'm talking about. Change the angle of the ankle until you feel it at its strongest position. Then, remember that particular position and duplicate it each and every time you jump rope (or do the next drill I'm going to explain to you).

The one drill I like personally more than rope jumping is one I learned from Don Chu, who is the guru of jump training. Standing on a grass field, place your hands on your hips and stand erect. With primarily nothing more than just the ankles and a VERY slight if ANY knee bend, begin “ankle flipping” while jumping and moving downfield. Go 20 yards to begin, and walk back and repeat for a series of 5. As the reactivity and strength of the ankle begins to occur, add more reps until you reach 10. Then, add more distance. Jump as high as you can and expect to feel the ground with the foot and react to it with as much force as the foot/ankle can generate into the ground. Try to understand how the foot is striking the ground and try to "sky" as much as possible.

With these two things accomplished, you MUST practice what you do. As an offensive linemen, you have a specific technique. It is the same as a golfer putting the ball or a basketball player shooting a free throw - it is a learned skill. You have to understand what the techniques are of your specific position and the offense you run as all are different and require different foot sequential steps and movement patterns. BUT, if you master the two above mentioned tasks prior to the technique work, or better still, in conjunction with the skill work, then you will be far, far ahead. Good luck, and I hope this helps!

This should be fairly easy to fix. It can be done with many, many reps of blocking with proper technique on the dummies and also when you practice against your teammates. When blocking the dummies there should be good head placement to the respective place for the ball to run or pass block responsibility. With proper head placement comes the placement of the hands. The hands should extend forward with the thumbs upward trying to slide under the armpits of the defensive player. After securing the 3 points of contact and allowing your feet to come up underneath the hips, the rest is fairly easy. You must not close your eyes while blocking and must look the target in. Many reps are needed to get the hands and head working as one much like a good boxer throwing a jab. While watching practice or game film, you need to check if you are overextending yourself or does your head and upper body get way out in front of your hips and feet. This will make you top heavy and easy to juke.

Hope this can be of some help. Remember when you practice that you have to have a particular technique you are trying to perfect. Without that, you are just going through the motions. Make each practice and each drill a positive experience. That will only happen with great concentration and physical effort. Good luck to you, and knock 'em out of the hole.

Your question might have two answers. I am going to assume you are playing inside linebacker as the reads there are more complicated than the outside. The defense you are running may ask you to read through the guard to the near back or may have you key strictly on the near back to your side or may ask you to read the guard completely. I suggest you visit with your defensive coordinator and have him clear up the question you have. If I would suggest one way or another to you, it may be totally incorrect as to how your defensive coordinator wants you to key. Go visit with the coach to get it all cleared up. Good luck!

I have always heard coaches tell our QBs to place the hand that is your throwing hand on top directly under the center's butt and make sure that the fingers do not extend downward with the hand tightly placed against the center's butt. The offhand is placed with the wrists touching and the bottom hand facing downward as far as it can, to allow the placement of the football. The thumbs need to be together and the fingers outstretched. This is the basic position for accepting the snap from center. While working with your center if there is any kind of extra thing you and your center come up with to eliminate any fumbled snap, then practice it and do it. There is nothing worse than to lose the football on a center/QB exchange. One other important factor, that you have to remember and practice enough that it becomes second nature to you, is to ride the center out once you've been snapped the ball. Problems occur in tight situations where you are more concerned about making a play and not doing the small fundamentals properly. Hope this can be of some help, and good luck this year.

The coaches have seen something in you that they think will be more valuable to the team at that position than your previous CB position. If you ever have a question of this nature, the thing to do as a young man is to go up to the coach after practice and ask him that same question. I would suppose it is for the same reason I gave you above, but he can go more into detail with why because he knows your abilities better and he understands the makeup of the team, too. Make sure you do not leave the conversation unless you are fully satisfied with the answer given. Do not hesitate to ask the coach to explain further exactly what he just told you. Good luck, and play hard.

I think that is the very first time I have been asked that question. To be quite honest with you, I am at a bit of a crossroads. I am unsure of what the California rules for allowing girls to participate in high school football are, but obviously it is going to allow you to play. I have never been one to crush the dreams of young people on their way through school. Rather, I try to encourage them to always pursue their dreams with all they have to give. I also have a deep rooted sense of responsibility for the female gender growing up with a sister and having a daughter of my own who was very active in sports so I understand the other side of this question, too. If the high school regulations allow for girls to participate in football at your school and you want to play, then play. If you were my daughter, I'd try to steer you into another sport where you could use your talents just as effectively without as great a risk of injury.

I don't know if that is much of an answer as I find myself vacillating back and forth while trying to put myself in your father's shoes. I hope this in some way can lend itself to assisting you in a decision. I always think it is up to the individual to weigh all of the info and make a well informed decision based on their feelings. Only one person can answer if you are playing for the love of the game, and that is YOU. Good luck, and I'd like to find out what decision you made and why you made it.

That really depends upon the offense you run. It also depends upon where you see yourself as a player. If you had these qualities, then I'd look at you as a fullback. Most TE's are taller as this helps them in blocking the taller LB's and DE's. Not saying you cannot do it as well at your size as you'd have leverage for sure, but for your BEST position, you may want to think about fullback or possibly linebacker. Just remember one very important point that will hopefully carry you through life - when you make a decision on something, study through it well before making it and don't let it be just a quick thought or an impulse. Once that decision has been thought out and made, then make sure YOU NEVER LET ANYBODY TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN'T DO SOMETHING. The world is full of naysayers and losers that want to do nothing but bring you down to their level. It is the old stick-to-it attitude that will make you the man you are today and for later years as well.

That is a broad topic you've asked me, but I'll try to narrow down the things I feel are important that can be accomplished away from the football field. One is to find out if you are a corner or a safety. If you are a CB, then you have to work on your backpedaling qualities/speed. Either way safety or corner, you will need to become as strong as possible because at your age if you possess speed then that is a positive for you already. You can increase your strength in the lifts of the squat, clean, and snatch. This will only enhance your speed qualities and help with injury protection. I've said it many times before, but I'll say it again to you, find a qualified coach who knows how to teach the progression of the before mentioned lifts and go to work on them. Try to get your squat weight to double your bodyweight. This will help significantly with your explosive speed and COD (change of direction).

Another major part of the skills needed is to be able to move backward which takes a whole new learning curve of its own. Start out by skipping backwards for 50 yards and bring your heel of the foot up to your butt. This will do a few things – 1) it will warm up and strengthen your hamstring muscles and 2) it will give you the feeling of moving backwards while at a much slower speed than the position requires. Work in some forward skipping and some lateral skipping for the same 50 yards. I'd suggest 3 to 4 reps of 50 yards each of these. Once you've done this, then progress to running at approximately 80% speed forward and return by running backwards for the same distance all the while trying to get your heel to reach up and touch your butt before extending it in your backward run.

The next progressive step for you to master once you've been able to do the above without any hitches in your movement pattern would be to sprint for 10 yards backward. In your DB stance, sprint backwards as fast as possible having someone time you for each rep. Once you have gone past the 10 yard cone or line full speed, then turn over either your left or right shoulder and run another 5 yards. Switch shoulders each time you do a rep, and try to stay on as straight a line as you possibly can. Run 10 reps of these. This should get you on your way to understanding the movement patterns for a good DB. You can submit another question to me once you have mastered the above mentioned techniques. There is more to learn, but we must start with the simple stuff and move to the complex later. Good luck.

It is almost impossible for me to answer the question of which position is best for you since I have never seen you play. My answer would be to choose two of the positions you like the most - one on offense and one on defense and then let the coach put you in the place where they feel you can help the team the most. It is part of his job to evaluate your potential and determine the best position for the team. Understand that this can easily change from year to year and even from game to game. As you grow as an athlete, your abilities will grow, too. Just play as hard and as passionate as you can and put your trust in your coaching staff to put you in the best position to help your team win championships.

From the positions that you have chosen, your best asset as a player is going to be your speed and quickness along with your ability to actually play the game. It appears you have good size for a 13 year old, and maturity will help you as well. My first suggestion for you is to join the track team and concentrate on the runs up to 400m along with trying your hand at the long jump and triple jump and maybe even the hurdles. The track background gives you exactly what you need, and also what college recruiters can qualify you with as far as true speed is concerned. Track is a great sport for individual achievement and also a team concept of winning championships. Another very important ingredient in getting better is the same thing I have recommended to kids before - find a good weight training program that teaches the correct way and uses the correct program to improve your athleticism. This is easily said, but harder to do. Hopefully your school has one in place, and you can spend your time there, but if not, then you may have to seek out a qualified instructor that can provide the necessary guidance to give you what you need.

Good luck, and I hope you can find what you are looking for. I think track will be a great choice for you, and one you will enjoy as well. I do know that NJ has a great indoor season, too.

Good question. I am going to assume that your school has you involved in a great off season program with the lifts, sprints and jumps to improve the physical part of your game. My suggestion to you in that respect is NEVER miss a workout and ALWAYS make sure you do everything as well as you can. My other suggestion along the lines of physical development is for you to go out for the high school track team and run the sprints - the 100m and 200m. Regardless of if you get to run in the meets or not, the training as a sprinter will enhance your speed qualities as well as anything you can do. I KNOW Texas has some great track programs. The above mentioned will most assuredly take care of your physical development (speed & strength).

The next part is quite simple. Learn to catch the ball with as much consistency as humanly possible. Take the approach of if it touches my hands then I should catch it attitude. Have someone (brother, dad, or next door neighbor) throw the ball to you every day, if possible. Learn the small details of watching the ball completely into your hands. Once you've mastered this, work with catching one handed then work with two hands over the shoulder and then one hand over the shoulder, etc. Another technique you can work on in your backyard is to come out of your breaks with as little footwork as possible and run precise angles on the patterns. If you work on a sideline route, put a marker where you need to break and back off 5-8 yards then accelerate to your point, plant, and cut. Also place a marker 1 yard in front of where the cut mark is located and work on ending up at the second marker 1 yard ahead of the plant point on each rep. This will give you good hip mobility and speed out of the cut, which will give separation on the pattern. Work on both sides. Once you've perfected the out route, then do the same thing and work on either the deep hook pattern where you will need to once again come back to the ball from the plant point. The other patterns - fly, dig and slant - are not as challenging footwork wise and the ability you gain from learning the hook and out route will carry over to these and make learning them much easier. Because you are only backing off approximately 5-8 yards in front of the break, you can run quite a few patterns in your backyard before tiring out. I hope this can be of some help to you. If you master these above mentioned techniques accompanied with the physical development end of it then you will be well on your way to being as complete a receiver as you have the ability to be.

My suggestion is not to do what others want you to do as much as you need to make up your own mind about where you ENJOY playing the most and stick with that position. Now, with that being said, you also do not need to stack yourself behind some other talented players since you want to be on the field of play. Therefore, my second suggestion is for you to choose the position YOU enjoy that would be your second choice and would allow you to be on the field and play.

You don't know it right now, but you are learning many of life's lessons as you are having to make these decisions at a young age because there will be other times in your adult life that you will have to make decisions that are similar to those being made by yourself now and those decisions will have greater ramifications on your life. Examine the problem you are facing and make a good, logical, and systematic decision upon which way to go. NEVER forget this process of decision making because you will use it many times again in the future.

Good luck with your high school playing days, and good luck with your decision making! You need to understand you only have ONE high school career and you want to be able to look back on it fondly and with memories of games, practices, scrimmages, pep rallies, and friendships that will carry you to your last days on earth. Enjoy the journey!

Obviously, you are a good blocker and have attained a starting position in a good football community. The speed factor is seemingly where you lack. That can be attacked with the time you have remaining in high school by following the outlined info: weight program, short sprints, and jumps. The first portion is the weight program. I would assume that you have nice facilities at your high school in San Antonio. So let's look at what you should be able to accomplish at this point in your athletic career. At this point in your career, you should be able to squat a minimum of 1.5 times your bodyweight and preferably around 2 times your bodyweight is ideal. Once you can do this, then one leg work of step ups and one leg squats are good, but NEVER go away from your back and front squat movements. The next aspect is the short dashes - a good TE should be able to run 1.65 in the 10yd dash. This is where you need to put the major part of your emphasis. In the game of football, you will seldom run an all out sprint further than 25 yards without making a cut or having to look for the ball. My suggestion is not try to fix the back end of the 40 yard dash, but fix first things first, and that is the first 10 yards. This can be accomplished by running (from your football stance) a 10 yard dash having a capable person timing you. After the 10 yard dash, continue running another 20 yards at 85% capacity which will make the run 30 yards total. After slowing down, walk back to the start and repeat, until you have done 10 reps. To cool down between sets, walk 20 yards and jog 20 yards for a distance of 800 yards. Then briefly stretch your hamstrings and groin area before repeating the 10 yard dashes for another 10 reps. On the second day of running of the week, run what is referred to as tempo runs. These are runs of 100 yards at about 80% capacity (15 seconds for a TE) with a 50 yard walk between each run. It is easily accomplished by running the sideline of a football field, walking the end zone to the other sideline, and repeating until you've reached the required number of reps. I suggest starting out with 10 x 100 yards and progress your way up to where you can do 10 x 100yds at 15 seconds before walking 100 yards and repeating for another 8 reps. This cannot be done immediately, but you need to get to where in the 3rd week you begin to add one rep of 100 yards, adding one each week until you reach the prescribed amount of runs. Understand that there may be times that for some reason you will not be able to complete what you have set forth because of a number of reasons. If needed, cut back the runs and do what the body feels is right.

The next aspect is short jumps. These can be done before your sprints or tempo runs. Do 3 x 15/20 yards of ankle flips, which is accomplished by placing your hands on your hips, keeping your knees as straight as possible with little bend, and using your ankles primarily to "pogo jump" the required distance. Get as much height as possible, and do NOT spend a lot of time on the ground as you want as LITTLE ground contact time as possible. The other jump exercise is the standing long jump. Mark off a starting line and a distance of 9'. Without moving your feet, jump OVER the 9' line. Repeat the jumps for 10 reps with rest in between.

I sincerely believe if you follow the guidelines above, you will most assuredly improve your speed to your genetic capabilities. Good luck, good training, and I hope you have a very memorable senior year in high school.

This is a legitimate question, and I'll try to give you some things to help you out. You first need to do a quick check of yourself and what you are doing. Are you involved in a solid, well constructed weight program? If so, then you should be able to squat 1.5 times your bodyweight and power clean 1.25 times your bodyweight. If you can do this, then the first place to start is with your speed training. Along with the weight program, you need to make sure you are spending a lot of time running full speed 10 yard dashes. These should be done in this manner - sprint the first 10 yards as fast as possible having someone time you on each rep. Once you've reached 10 yards, continue for another 20 yards making the total sprint 30 yards. The last 20 yards should be run at 85% max speed. Walk back to the starting point and continue to repeat the 10 yard dashes until you've reached 10 reps. Take a break of 12 minutes, which is done by walking and jogging 20 yards each for 800 total yards. This will give your heart rate a chance to normalize and will allow you to fully recover. Stretch your hamstrings and groin area well before repeating the cycle of 10 yard sprints.

You must realize that ANY gains you make will be slow in coming, but after a month of training you will begin to see marked improvement in all phases of your athleticism. I think when you run your sprints during the summer for the coaches they will see the improvement in speed has occurred from your hard work. This should get you a LOT more attention from the coaches when you ask for a position change. Good luck, and train hard because you only have ONE high school career.

That is a very, very, very good question, and I applaud you for seeking a way to play. My answer will be short and hopefully sweet-go get a sit down face to face with your head coach. There are going to be many times in your adult life that situations such as these will come to your doorstep, and understanding how to communicate and solve these problems is highly educational to you at this time, and will most assuredly provide you with knowledge for later on.

My suggestion about a face to face meeting, will alert the head coach as this is not just a "how are you doing" type of meeting. Make an appointment with him, and tell him you need 15 min. of his time for some help with a problem, and you are turning to him for help. There SHOULD NOT BE a head coach out there that will EVER turn his back on a student/athlete who is seeking his help. Sit down with the man and lay out your thoughts to him, and await his reply. You may very well learn something you NEVER thought was ever in the picture about your situation. This is my suggestion to you, and I think this will lead to a sound resolution to your problem and hopefully a successful career as well.

There are a number of things I will list for you to do to lose weight, but you must understand how you gain weight first. You gain weight by taking in more calories than you are burning up. The first thing you should do is write down everything you eat from the moment you wake up in the morning to the moment you go to bed at night. Do this for four days. This includes all drinks, gum, candies, meals and any other types of things you may ingest. When you sit back on the 5th day and examine all of the foods you've eaten, separate them into categories that are good muscle building foods and others that are nothing more than junk foods. Totally eliminate the junk foods. Replace them with other things of your liking, such as fruits.

Second, you need to increase your exercise. If you are practicing 5 out of 7 days a week, I suggest you add extra conditioning work for yourself on days after practice, but far enough away from game day that you do not wear yourself down prior to game time. This can be achieved by striding either 50 or100 yards at 85% of your maximum speed. Make a good stride from either end zone to end zone or across half of the field, walk across the end zone, until you reach the far sideline and repeat the stride. Start with 6x100 yards and 10x 50 yards. As a Wide Receiver, you will be required to run a lot more than a Tight End will run so the extra running will help you in that respect as well.

After your games, if your coach does not bring you to school for a recovery workout and watch film, then you need to go out and loosen up well and get your run in on the day off. Follow your runs by a good stretching session. This will really help your recovery from the game, and prepare you for the next week's game.

I think if you follow this format that you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Good Luck!

Tackling is a skill just the same as shooting a basketball or putting a golf ball. First of all, you need to check your stance and make sure all of the basics are correct - head up, tail down and feet shoulder width apart with the shoulder slightly in front of the knees. Next, check what you are looking at when tackling. Make sure you do not close your eyes or drop your head while making the tackle because if you can't see them then you can't hit them. Work on stepping with the correct foot if the ball carrier cuts to one side or the other - do not cross one foot in front of the other in making your tackle. A lot of good RB's will move you one way to get you to commit and then cut back. If your feet are not where they can make a counter step, then it is very hard for you to make good solid contact with the RB. I think if you can practice these basic fundamentals then you will make more and more solid tackles.

Good question and a question that should interest many people. Punting a football is like so many other aspects of sport - it is a power movement. The most explosive/athletic person who has the same capabilities will punt the ball the farthest. The things you need to do, that we've outlined for players on this website before are the same things that your son should do to become a better punter. You will notice as his strength/power exercises continue to get better, his punting will do the same. His hang time will be a few tenths of a second better and his distance will be a few yards further. As he continues to progress athletically, then he will progress as a punter. He must understand that he always needs to continue punting the football and that it is a learned trait just as putting a golf ball or shooting a free throw. The more he does it the better he will become, but he has to make some improvements before he will make the large jumps in hang time and yardage. Also make sure your son practices directional punting. He should be able to place a punt where he wants it to land.

You need to do exactly what your coach tells you to do. You have to remember one piece of information - when you stop your feet or slow down and wait there are 11 defensive people coming to get you. It is in your best interest to get what you can on each and every play since not on all plays do things "open up" for you to run for a TD. Most of the gains are made by explosive moves into the designated holes. Great vision and great acceleration are two major ingredients for a productive RB. I heard it phrased best from a coaching friend – “you get to make one cut and then you are running toward the goal line”. Offensive linemen cannot block a defensive lineman for very long so you need to mesh with their blocking scheme and moments of contact to make the most yards. Your coach is coaching you exactly right – now the rest is up to you.

You will have the same problem on offense as well as defense. My suggestion for you to be able to come off the ball quicker is to develop your leg strength. It is very important to start immediately at your age and continue throughout your football career. The added strength will allow you to move your bodyweight faster and with less energy than previously. Another drill is to find a very stationary box/object that will hold your bodyweight easily and has a large surface to land on. Stand in front of the box/object and without moving your feet jump up on top of the box/object and land with both feet. Step down, and repeat. Do this for a total of 10 times, rest 2 minutes, and repeat another two times for a total of 3 sets of 10 repetitions/jumps. This will give you the speed with which to come off the ball faster. This coupled with the strength you will be gaining by strengthening your legs results in the best of both worlds. In addition to the jumps (which should be done on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule), on some days without wearing pads practice getting down in your stance and coming off the ball using the dummies or sleds at your school. This can add a little leg drive as well. Good luck! If you work hard at these drills, I guarantee you results by next football season.

I suggest a 3 point stance. With this being said, there are some little points I’d like to give you. Work on putting the hand down that is closest to the gap of responsibility. For instance, if you are a right defensive tackle (2 technique) and you are playing on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard, put your left hand on the ground. If you are playing on the inside shoulder of the same offensive guard, put your right hand on the ground. This will coordinate your feet and aiming point a lot easier. Another good thing to remember is to place your hand in front of the shoulder so you are placing a lot of weight on the hand on the ground. This will make you come off the ball with the correct back and leg angle to create as much power into the offensive lineman as possible. If your hand is underneath you too much, it will allow you to stand up straight quicker and easier and you will not be able to deliver the blow to the offensive lineman as well. Next, work with your hand placement, and as with any and all skills/techniques in football, you must work tirelessly everyday to perfect these movements.

That is a good question. I will have to defer to someone with a rule book, but my first impression is NONE. No one can in the neutral zone.

My suggestion to you is to practice, practice and practice some more. Remember the snap from center is no different than the learned trait of shooting a free throw. It takes many repetitions to get it just exactly where you want it. One thing I can suggest is to get as many footballs together as possible and place a trash can with the open end to you at the same height as your QB and at the same distance the coach has the QB to stand from the ball. While keeping your eyes upward, try to blind snap as many as you can into the garbage can. Also another good thing to practice along with your snap to the QB is the first step you have to make on your blocking assignment. This will not only enhance your quickness and the accuracy of your snap, but will allow you to function the same way as you do during a game. With consistency of practice and the correct technique, you will make large improvements in your abilities. You have to do it enough and be confident enough in your snap to not even have it enter your mind as to where the ball may end up. Good luck!

First, you NEVER want to take football away from a young man in this situation because this is his last lifeline. If football is taken away, then he will lose ALL purpose in life. I think it has to be a situation where he hears the right things from the right people about his education. Education is a necessity in reading your playbook, reading the scouting report, understanding the numbers to find out where a first down is located, and for interaction with teammates. Football will only last a small segment of one’s life, but you will use your education your entire life. It is a necessary element in being a productive member of society and of taking charge of one’s own life. If he has a strong male figure in his life as a teacher, coach, pastor, or family friend whom he respects, then have that particular person get involved with his life showing attention not only to his athletic prowess, but to his academic achievement as well.

I would accumulate as much game footage as I could gather on his Junior and Senior year of playing. Then, contact the colleges that you and your son feel are right for him. One thing you need to be mindful of is making sure to speak with someone at the college that has a decision making position concerning your son's playing abilities. The old saying - “If you want something done correctly, then do it yourself!” - really does apply here. If you have any contacts that have an affiliation with any school, then I'd have them to try and help you out as well. It is almost unthinkable for a high school coach NOT to want to help his players better themselves in life, but I hope this is of some help to you. This is what I'd do with my son if I were in your situation. Good luck to you both.

Great question! I'm first of all proud of you for taking the active position in your sons’ life and academics because academics will carry your son FAR longer than football ever will. As you said, you help with them at home with their studies and expect they will continue their A status with grades in school. My hat is off to you for that.

In answering the other question as to changing schools, I sure would. If my son was at a school where the coaching staff were not good teachers and were lethargic in their jobs, then you better bet I'd take my son and put him in a place where he could have a grand experience in his high school years. Bad coaches/good coaches - I am very sad to say that there are both out there just like in any other profession. If you have the ability to remove your son from this experience, then by all means, do so. He will have a much better chance of being taught some of life's most important lessons on the football field in a better environment. Give him as much of a chance for success as possible as he is only going to have ONE high school experience. As a parent, you should be concerned on making it as good for him as possible.

I wish you and your son the very best.

This is not a hard question to answer. It is fairly simple for you to get back on track. There is a four letter word that you will need to make very close friends with for the rest of your life if you plan on being a successful person. It is WORK. If you have talent, but not a starting position along with grade problems, then the effort you put forth in both football and academics is showing in those results. If you want to rise up from your present position both athletically and academically, then YOU must show effort each and every day. The key is each and every day, not just when you want. I can go on for paragraphs about the kids that had talent, but did not fulfill their abilities. They gave away great careers and a chance for a much better life than they ended up with presently. You have to remember this simple statement - "hard work will always beat talent when talent does not work hard". You are not out of time, but you are behind the 8 ball and cannot afford to miss a day of school or waste one practice or workout. You will learn a lot about yourself in the remaining days of the school year and in your summer workouts as well as summer school most likely. You still have a chance, and a chance is all anyone in this world ever has, but it is up to you to choose to make the effort and WORK at being a success. No doubt you have the ability, but you can look at no one else at the end of your high school career and say it was the teacher's fault or the coach's fault. It will almost always come back to the individual in the fight to work himself into a better position. Good luck to you, and please believe me when I tell you that I wish you the best of luck in the fight to regain a positive work ethic.

All of us have our strong points both athletically and mentally. My suggestion to you is to go to the teachers of the classes you are having trouble with, be completely honest with them, and tell them of your problems with these classes. If the teachers are good then they will help you with the extra time and instruction. If this does not work out, then you may acquire some outside services that are provided to assist with learning after school. You are in the process of becoming educated and as you will understand many years from now, that often this process is the most important thing. Work ethic in the classroom is what is required. This is the same thing that is required on the playing fields/courts as well as the same thing required to make a good living for you and your future family. People want to employ workers. You must know how to work before you can ever be successful. Good luck and work hard.