Sprint-Based Football: PRIORITIZE SPEED and Performance

[@SpeedandStrengthPlaybook]

What’s up, Tony? Love your work, man. I’ve been the head strength and speed coach at Ansonia High School for the last three seasons. Our record is 36-3 over that time, and we’ve won two state titles in those three years, including a dominant 58-12 victory over Bloomfield this year. By the way, shoutout to Daniel Hand High School-great coach and program!

[@coachtonyholler]

@@SpeedandStrengthPlaybook ⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@georgebeinhorn713]

No end of exciting because it's supported by results. I'm watching Langston Hughes v Milton. Speed, speed, speed. Who can defend Maurice Gleaton, Jr.? 42-35 at halftime, holy smokes.

[@loganwhite3161]

Numbers don’t lie!!! Record rank and publish !

[@jefforesik2863]

If you don’t have weightlifting classes during school, should you lift before practice?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@jefforesik2863 You can lift after practice if practice is light. If you practice 3 hours, there’s no lifting… you’ve burned the steak.

[@nobletstrength]

I'm trying to convince my fellow soccer people to embrace a lot of these concepts. Soccer coaches are still married to long runs and tons of conditioning. No speed work almost ever. I always tell them soccer is what gets soccer players conditioned. Our work outside of soccer should be speed, power, and strength. Conditioning is almost always surplus to requirement.

[@coachtonyholler]

@@nobletstrength When asked to describe their best soccer player, elite coaches always start with… “Fast, explosive, …”. The never say “can run all day”. Then, their practice and training fails to reflect their priorities. They DETRAIN speed and power.

[@erickminor]

This coach gets it. I’ve served as strength coach for 4 Olympic sprinters in 2 Olympic games and I've learned(from great track coaches) that speed is developed only when the athlete sprints while being fresh. So I always coordinate strength sessions around speed work.

[@coachtonyholler]

@@erickminor Prioritize speed! ⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@PneuPnue]

I got excited and I don’t mean this in a negative way but why is Plainfield hs where you work 4-5? Do you think it’s something else besides the style of practice?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@PneuPnue I’ve had no relationship with the PN football team since 2017. I’m a retired Chemistry teacher and retired 🏈 coach. I saw them play only one game this year. I don’t know why they were 4-5. 3 of my track athletes were their best players.

[@WhiteHiveKing]

What is your view on ice baths or hot tubs for recovery?

[@coachtonyholler]

@@WhiteHiveKing If someone BELIEVES in them, it may help. Sleep is key.

[@davidx5828]

On the Tribal Slide, imitation is immitatation; I’m guessing a typo error.

[@eclipsewrecker]

You should look at three things: 1) the navy keeps stats of timed/max-rep pre-buds tests and the highest correlation of successful candidates are in the top percentile of pre-test numbers = having a strong commitment and high level abilities 2) the department of the navy has found that skill acquirement and improvement helps develop successful seals (this is after the filtering, not to be confused with the development of the candidates) 3) the advice from top military advisors/trainers and from the most successful world grappling coach, is to develop skills to develop confidence and “mental strength.”

[@coachtonyholler]

@@eclipsewrecker Then, join the Navy! 🥴

[@eclipsewrecker]

@@coachtonyholler ha my point is that this contradicts the “SEALs mental toughness” narrative adopted by so many coaches.

[@coachtonyholler]

@ Do you agree with me? Military and football not the same thing.

[@eclipsewrecker]

@@coachtonyholler I thought I agreed with you, but now I’m confused. Do you agree with what the data gathered by the navy suggests: improving an individual’s abilities and skills is what leads to their success? Stating that “military and football are not the same thing,” isn’t much of a point in this context. I pointed out that the navy, and others, agreed with the principles in your points, and contradicted the “mental toughness” myth/culture to which seem to be arguing against. I’m lost on what the miscommunication is. Your principles seem to be: -raise abilities -develop skills -use health as an indicator and the goal -facilitate an athlete to coach/sport connection that cultivates desire not dread

[@coachtonyholler]

@@eclipsewrecker I misread or misunderstood your post. We agree. Toughness is task specific. Get good at the task!

[@axleochidae2853]

lol. Have heard this fluff so many times. “We can think our way around toughness”. It’s like getting a black belt from the YMCA- just doesn’t work on the street. In fact it puts you in danger as it makes you overconfident. Much like this guy thinking he knows football better than football coaches 😂. The 80s and 90s were the peak of human performance. To scoff at that era is just naive. Sure helmets needed to be made safer, hitting technique needed to be made safer but this current era is the softest in history (as Tom Brady has pointed out). You think you can make tough players by having fun? Haha good luck with that. Just Look at the current Taylor Swift NFL. They might as well wear pink Pom Poms out there. Real Football is gone- what we have now is fake! The players look slower too. There is no hitting, no intensity, no football. Basically what you are talking about is tag football. Fun yes, but not real football. Good luck mate- probably best to stick to track.

[@andrewjoyce7374]

Did you watch the whole video?

[@andrewjoyce7374]

Do you coach football? Is the goal toughness or winning?

[@eclipsewrecker]

This guy generalizes his points, I’m guessing as a counter to the foolish sheep culture that is football. We can have a contest, put your mental toughness training to the test: I’ll put my wrestlers against your toughest guys and I’ll bet my grapplers choke them out. I’ll put my CC runners against your football players and run 10miles and see who quits first. I’ll put my clean up crew against your toughest guys and see who finishes cleaning up a disaster area first/better…. Do you understand? I’ll put my national level sprinters against your guys and see who wins the 100m… I’ll put my out of shape, retired boxer against any 3 of your guys (1 at a time) and see who wins… I can understand the connection you might have but it comes from incomplete assessment. I’ve seen championship coaches who stay disciplined in skills and play teaching, drilling, and performance grading, and they practice short and do not “condition.” Mental toughness is misused and the “tests” for it are thoughtless and self defeating.

[@DrStevenHorwitz]

​@@eclipsewreckerExcellent response. Well stated!

[@coachtonyholler]

@@axleochidae2853 Thanks for the comment. Maybe you should have worn safer helmets! We, on the other hand, are in the business of winning games. Go ahead and put YOUR PLAYERS through boot camp while we make better football players. Oh, but YOU probably aren’t a coach, are you? 😉