Carp, take notice
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MapleLeaf
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...to rain on this parade, but that's just bad coaching.
To line kids up at that age in a full contact drill and have that result is poor coaching.
The kids came straight at each other and buried their heads down at the last minute before impact without even being in a position to see what they were hitting.
Poor technique - dangerous technique at that age.
As for Carpenter there is nothing in that video that he could compare with. Even the kids uniforms were dirtier than his will ever get.
To line kids up at that age in a full contact drill and have that result is poor coaching.
The kids came straight at each other and buried their heads down at the last minute before impact without even being in a position to see what they were hitting.
Poor technique - dangerous technique at that age.
As for Carpenter there is nothing in that video that he could compare with. Even the kids uniforms were dirtier than his will ever get.
Big Dakota
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Keep your heads up kids.
Hoofbite
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davidyee;3004891 said:
They're 8.
Coaching an 8 year old is like trying to coach a Labrador.
Not a lot gets through to them and it's gonna take a little lesson in life for them to get it.
Guaranteed that little guy doesn't go in head first like that again.
Sucks for him but that's the way it goes. At least he had a helmet. Me and my friends used to take harder falls on the playground without helmets or pads.
MapleLeaf
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Hoofbite;3004978 said:
...that this is the approach one should take with kids in a contact sport?
It's like telling a kid to ride his bike head first into a concrete wall just to get a life lesson in the unforgiving nature of a concrete wall.
At some point you have to tell yourself I am the adult here and I have a job to do.
As part of our spring camps we work extensively with kids on form tackling. They do not progress to live tackling until we have had two to three days of watching them hit tackling bags which are more forgiving.
What we look for is the subtle and not so subtle tip offs to a potential tackling error.
Obvious is lowering the head and exposing the crown of the helmet. Not so is the flinching of the eyes. Closing their eyes on impact. Cowering their body/spine at impact.
You can't just line up kids opposite to each other and let them run in like that.
By the time you want to go into live tackling you make them go 1/4 and 1/2 speed first. It minimizes the potential for serious life threatening injury, the continuation for bad habits and allows the coach a greater opportunity to diagnose tackling errors before impact.
At youth football the most important part of the program delivery is the proper form tackle. Well before any other part of the game.
I tell my parents at this age the kids jobs are to learn proper fundamental football and walk off the field with a smile. This is not the start of an NFL career and injuries are not an accepted part of life for this level of play.
rkell87
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davidyee;3010722 said:
thats great man but you have to realize at that age most coachs are just a kids parents that volonteer because they like football not because they have any knowledge of how to coach or teach fundamentals, mostly they are there just to run the drills the HC sets up for each position. its not good but it happens all the time and there really is nothing you can do about except maybe have each respective kids football organization provide each coach every year some book that teachs them how to coach from the safty stand point.
plus sometimes kids will just put their head down out of instinct even though they have been told over and over to keep their head up or 'see what you hit' i remember my little league days and i remember guys getting in trouble EVERYDAY for that cause that was a big thing with my coach, some kids just dont get it
MapleLeaf
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rkell87;3012357 said:
...the volunteer parent more than I do. It is the bread and butter of my coaching staff that I have worked hard to recruit and train.
My HC position runs (12) months of the year as my wife is always ready to remind me with a certain disdain.
It begins around January when I begin recruiting parents from the last season who I feel may be interested in coaching.
By March I have the crew enrolled in National Coaching Certification in order to get them trained in the fundamentals.
April we are in an indoor facility, just the coaches and I, to go over the drill binder I have for each position. Each drill page has the focus points the coaches should look for and the coaching key for that drill.
By May the coaches get to use their knowledge in a limited spring camp with the kids.
We review again in June. In time for August camp that runs for three weeks.
This is all to ensure the coaches feel they know what they are doing and we deliver a program that is safe for all kids.
My biggest fear is having to deal with a kid and their parents with a potential spinal injury. That's why our program is so lengthy.
It's not developed to guarantee wins, but rather the teaching of good fundamental football.
Some years we are good - last year we won it all. This year we have only (1) win and a tie. The program is the same and we have sent numerous kids onto upper levels of playing and onto high school.
In fact this year we had (2) kids from our (5) year program featured on Canada's National U19 team that traveled to Canton Ohio to play the World U19 Championships.
It's a thankless job sometimes when you are a single volunteer and there's this gaggle of kids standing in front of you.
But there's nothing more satisfying seeing a kid you coached years ago as a little leaguer runinng around on a high school or college field.
If you have an interest in coaching football at a younger age level I highly suggest you take the challenge up.