This first thing about changing a teams culture in the off-season is that there is no off-season! They are competing with their teammates, opponents, athletes across the state and even country for playing time, accolades, and scholarships. The school I am currently had a strength coaching for the 2013-2014 school year and he was very successful working will all sports. If the athletes followed the program than they would get bigger, faster, stronger, and would move better. The problem was buy-in we had several athletes skip the athletic period we would run them make them sore but no real buy in.
So we started with our ideal end product and worked from there:
- They would have passing grades
- They would have perfect attendance
- They would attend powerlifting practice
- They would attend track practice
We broke them up into 4 teams with 2 captains for each team. We had to develop some leadership from those guys we were going to count on for the coming up season. Then we had a Draft where each team would pick every person in offseason.
Average strength increases in pounds based on attending after school workouts from Thanksgiving break to February 1st.
Points
System
·
Attendance
o
+100 for entire team showing up on the same day
o
+20 for going to track practice
o
+20 for going to power lifting practice
§
Additional +20 for going to both
o
+35 for attending and competing in a meet for
either track or power lifting
o
-30 points for excused absences with a call or
email.
o
-100 points for skipping
§
Skipping is any absence without a call or email
o
-15 points for being the last person to the
weight room
·
Effort
o
Bonus points given by coaches for being seen,
putting out effort, doing extra.
·
Gains
o
+1 point/lb increase
o
+10 points for every .1 decrease in running time
o
+10 points for every 1 inch increase in jumping
·
Grades
o
+75 points for straight As
o
+10 for a passing grade
o
-100 points for failing
o
+100 points for taking the SAT or ACT
§
Additional +50 for taking both
·
Competition
o
Determined by the competition and coaches
·
Discipline
o
-30 points for not knowing locker combo
o
-50 points for missing clothes
o
-15 points for not filling out sheet
o
– 15 points for minor discipline problem
o
-100 points for major discipline problem
o
– 30 points for arguing with a teammate
o
-100 points for arguing with a coach
·
Rewards
o
End of year party for winning team
o
6 week Navy Football instead in of running
o
Large Towels for 1st place team
o
Release based on team place
o
Last place team wears shimmel shirts
Average
strength increase for the football team across the three core lifts from
Thanksgiving break to February 1st.
Power Clean
|
Squat
|
Bench Press
|
Total Lbs
|
|
Team Average
|
15
|
45
|
25
|
79.4
|
Average strength increases in pounds based on attending after school workouts from Thanksgiving break to February 1st.
Attendance
|
Power Clean
|
Squat
|
Bench Press
|
3+ / week:
|
17.5
|
70
|
32.5
|
1 or 2 times / week:
|
13
|
48
|
28
|
Not at all:
|
11
|
24
|
20
|
The final results were the following:
Out of 64 athletes..
At the start of the offseason, 12 had a vertical higher than 24 inches. Only 4, jumped higher than 27.3 (Nike Sparq National Average)
At the start of the offseason, 12 had a vertical higher than 24 inches. Only 4, jumped higher than 27.3 (Nike Sparq National Average)
Now there are 26 jumping higher than 24, with 11 posting marks over 27.3
At the start of the offseason, 19 athletes had a standing broad jump over 7 feet 5 inches.
Now there are 27.
At the start of the offseason, 17 athletes ran the 5-10-5 in under 4.72 (Nike Sparq National Average).
Now there are 29, with 14 posting marks under 4.49 seconds.
These results were amazing considering the following:
- Our Head Football Coach/ Athletic Director resigned 2 weeks into the off-season
- We went through an exhaustive search which lasted from Mid January to a week before Spring Break
