Season Plans - Advice
For nearly three weeks now I've blogged about every practice we've held. The information I've passed along to you is something I feel can be used by any team during the first three weeks of practice due to the importance of what is taught during that time, and how much was done (large amount of pounding done for the purpose of conditioning their legs for the season). The tricky part though is going to be what happens after our upcoming spring break.
A great deal of our practices will focus on individual needs starting in April. We will still work on things as a team, but once I have video of my jumpers (from meets) I have them work on what they need individually in a station setting. There is no reason for me to continually make athletes do the same drills over and over again if they've already mastered that drills focus(es).
The first month of practice is all about exposure, getting an approach mark, and simply understanding the jumps. After the initial month, you need to start changing your approach the training practice sessions to help athletes understand and work on their weaknesses. This will ensure that all athletes show growth during the remaining season. The last thing you want to do is ignore their needs and watch them plateau instead of grow!
This is something I will cover as the season progresses, but I simply wanted to put it "out there" before spring break next week. You need to start planning NOW for how you want to individualize your own practice to meet the needs of your jumpers. Don't hesitate - start now!
As for spring break - I will be gone. Our team encourages athletes to go on a vacation and don't hold it against them if they don't come to practice that week. The less-is-more approach after pounding their legs is highly recommended during this week!
I'll post a general guideline to my (short) workouts for spring break tomorrow before I leave for vacation on Sunday.