Player safety is now at the forefront of every sport, especially football. Case in point – the cancellation of the Hall of Fame game. With concerns on the safety of the playing surface, the NFL elected to not play the game.
The tendency now is to not only err on the side of caution, but to put rules into place to guarantee safety. Whether it is the decision to cancel a game, forcing player workloads to be monitored through RFD or GPS devices (like those utilized at the University of Kentucky basketball), or laws or limitations on contact in practice (Ivy League eliminating tackling in practice). There is no question, player safety is a huge concern.
The reality is that on-field practice time needs to be cut back at times to ensure that players remain safe. A team that is overworked and fatigued by the end of the season; has little chance to win when championships are on the line, let alone increasing their potential to experience an injury.
So, how should coaches create greater understanding, when practice time is reduced? The answer comes in the form of a well organized, interactive learning system.
An older coaching philosophy states that players must learn a progression of what and how before they can play aggressively with confidence. With the nature of athletes today, adding “why” is just as important. This puts an emphasis on understanding scheme, technique and strategy. Furthermore, many injuries occur because a player doesn’t understand assignment or technique and becomes a danger to him or herself, as well as other players.
The method of paper playbook is becoming extinct, because millennials consume most of their information on their smartphones, tablets, and computers – they just do not learn from paper. This doesn’t mean that a coach should simply make all static play diagrams available electronically. It means the coaches need to create a more engaging learning environment to truly connect with their team.
Today’s playbook needs to be much more than a set of diagrams and assignments. It needs to be position specific, engaging and specific to every type of learning style. The power of multimedia and video allows every technique to be detailed and easily accessed by a player, at any time. A cutting edge playbook provides deeper and deeper details to help create player understanding before the player steps one foot onto the playing surface.
Just Play Solutions has developed that learning system. A system where diagrams, notes and video are all within one frame and can be consumed at the same time facilitating every learning style. Coaches can add a screencast telestrating, voiceover, or even explaining scheme of the play to create more detail and a deeper level of understanding – “wait, is this a virtual meeting? Yes.” Add specific play details that contain pathways to more diagrams, notes and video to further teach techniques that are part of the play or scheme.
The level of detail is just not possible with a traditional playbook, a PDF viewer or even the more modernized version that contains a diagram and a link to a video clip. It has to be convenient, easy and engaging for players.
Flip your meetings/practice, ensure players are prepared through the most in-depth analytics on player understanding and waste zero time, regardless of the limitations. There is no limitation on mental preparedness, nor a better tool to get you there.
Don’t wait to bring this advantage to your team. Click on the banner below for a free trial of Just Play Solutions and create a team that can execute at a higher level.
