A Question = conditioning

Question

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hey Coach! I just wanted say thankyou for reading this question. I haven't played football since high school and grade school. I played 1 year in J.V.. That was it. Now I graduated and working not going to college and feel like I want to go try out for semi pro football here in upstate new york. I need some advice I'm not that big of guy 6'1" 185pounds. I played running back and loved every minute of it. I was thinking on chooseing a different position WR. I need to know how to train and so forth. I begin to workout as of nov. and here it is dec 27th. Tryouts are in mayor june. What would you do. Over the summer I went to a football feild near me. My cousin and I ran down the feild time our selfs with a stop watch and i ran from goal post to goal poast in 16 seconds. not bad!!!
So please can you give me some feedback on what you would do if you were me.

         Thankyou,
         Jeremy
-----Answer-----
Jeremy -

You are very welcome.  I am glad you read the response with an open mind.  That shows me a lot.  It is players like you who have the shot, because you are willing to listen to a coach with experience, and learn from it.  Now, I would be glad to help further, but I need a little help first.  In your comments, you asked if I knew about "condiousing".  I am not sure exactly what that means.  Did you mean "conditioning"??  Let me know and I will be happy to help.

Take care

Coach Perl

Yes========== Thats what mean coach!! Please reply thankyou

Jeremy -

Thanks for writing.  Well, there isnt really much I can tell you at this point.  Your size, weight, speed are all important, but unless I had seen you play, I really couldnt tell you what you would need to work on.  Also, I do not know anything about the particular team or league you are in.  The only thing I can help you on is telling you what I know about semi-pro ball, and what it takes, then you can decide for yorself.

Currently, I coach for a semi-pro team here in Cleveland. I have also coached semi-pro in Alabama.  Both of these teams, and league were basically ex college players, looking to either move to NFL ro Arena ball, or just continue to play at a high level for a little while longer.  Off the top of my head, I cant think of any of my players, ever, that didnt play high school ball at the varsity level.  Most of whom were standouts during high school.  

I guess what I am trying to say is this.  Football is by far the hardest sport to play.  It not only requires tremendous physical skill, but it also requires a vast knowledge of the game itself.  All players at that level know much more about the game than most fans ever dreamed of knowing. I see you mentioned WR.  So ask yourself, if you showed up on tyrout days and they asked yo to run a "wheel route", "post-corner", "zone sit", "flats route", or a "seam", would you know what they are talking about?  And those are the ABSOLUTE BASICS.  It gets a lot more complicated, but I wanted to elicit a response from you.  Most things at that level are not cut and dry.  Routes change depending on coverages, so you will have to know those as well.  Cover 2, cover 3, combo coverages... Just to name a few of many.  If you cant recognize these coverages, you will not be able to run the routes called for.

My answer to you is this. If I were in your shoes, I would meet with the coaches, explain what you have explained to me, and se what they say.  Sometimes it is hard to face the truth, but which would be worse... if you spent your entire winter busting your butt to find out you dont have physical and / or mental skills the game requires?  Or to meet with them and see what they think.  Hey, you could very well be good enough and have the knowledge to make the team.  I dont know.  Thats why I started the response the way I did.  But to be 100% honest with you, which is what I think you are looking for here, what I can tell is you do have a limited understanding of what the coaches look for.  My tip off was when you described your speed by saying goal post to goal post.  Football is a power sport, and speed testing is done by short yardage times, like the 40 yd dash, or a shuttle run of some sort.  120 yards (100 plus both end zones) is basically irrelavent in football. And the training for a long sprint like 120 yards and a shorter one, 40 yards, is very different.  That is where the prior experience comes into play as far as training goes.  You need to know WHAT you are training for, and HOW to properly train for it.  So that is why I DO recommend you meet with the coaches.  If they are interested, get on their off season program, and see what happens.  If this is what you want, then I say go for it.  Just give yourself the best possible chance to succeed.  That is what I would do.  Plain and simple.

Best of luck

Coach Perl

Answer
Jeremy -

Alright.  Conditioning.  Well there are many options to get ready for trying your hand at football.  While picking out a conditioning routine, always remember what you are training for.  Like I stated in the first response, football is a power sport.  It requires short, high-intensity bursts of speed, with periods of rest between each.  So when training, try and find some routines that are similar to that.  Here are a few common, popular ones you can try.

1-  GASSERS:  Start at one sideline of the field (not end zone! Side line).  Sprint to the other sideline, then back.  Without stopping, do that one more time.  That is ONE gasser.  Sideline - back - sideline - back.  4 widths of the field.  Try and stay under about 44-46 seconds on each one.

2 - Continuous 40's:  Put a cone at the 40 yard line.  Start from the goal line.  Sprint to the cone (40 yards away). Once you reach the cone, circle around it, and jog back.  When you get back to the goal line, take about a 20 second rest, then go again.

3- LADDERS:  Start from the goal line.  Run to the 5, then back to the goal line. Run to the 10, then back. 15 and back.  20 and back. 25 and back.  That is one ladder.  You do these without stopping. 5-10-15-20-25, going back to the goal line after each one.  Take about a minute before starting again.

4-  OBSTACLE COURSE:  You can vary this to what you want to do.  Set up a bunch of obstacles, and do a normal course.  Try and add things that are realistic to football. Try and do some backpeddling, slides to the sides, over things, under things, high knees, etc.

5-  ROPES:  IF you can find some, do the ropes.  Get your knees high, and do different combos of rope runs.  If you cant find ropes, use the old tire drills you see on the old movies, stepping into the holes in the tires.

Of course, you will have to do some strength training.  Dont waste your time with meaningless exercises.  Stick with the basics of powerlifting - Bench, Incline, Military presses, pull-ups, lower back, squats, leg presses, dead lifts, neck machine, shrugs, etc.  These will get you strong, working the muscles you will need in football.

Well, there are a few to get you going.  Make sure and start easy.  Dont overdue it when beginning these programs.  Once you get in shape, increase the number of reps.  Start with 2-3  gassers, 10-12 cont. 40's, 4-5 ladders, etc, then increase over time.

Good luck with everything.  I hope you give it your all, and show those guys how its done.

BEst wishes

Coach Perl