DEERFIELD BEACH BUCKS FOOTBALL PERFORMANCE PROGRAM

Improvements in strength training have made the biggest positive contribution to football performance in the past two decades. This program will emphasize football-specific exercises that are designed with one goal in mind: to improve football performance. These exercises are effective in improving football performance because they directly correlate to actions and movements used on the actual playing field. This program also emphasizes position-specific speed and agility drills in football-speed development training. The athletic requirements for a defensive lineman are different than those of a wide receiver, and different drills will be used to train each of them. DAILY ROUTINE The strength and conditioning program will consist most days of four daily parts: study hall, warm-up, football-speed development training, and strength training. tudy hall will be mandatory for all student-athletes at !eerfield "each #igh chool. tudy hall will be in the $.%. &ab 'next to tudent %ffairs(, and go from ):*+ until ,:*+ each day after school. tudent-athletes will dress out after study hall. -arm-up and position-specific speed and agility drills will be done outdoors and go from ). to *+ minutes, depending on the training phase. The lifting session in the weight room will then last *+ minutes to an hour. TESTING tudent-athletes will be tested three times in a twelve-month period. The first time will be in the winter, after the fall season is completed. The second time will be before spring football practice in /ay, and the third time will be before fall practice in %ugust. The $niversity of 0ebras1a determined four athletic abilities to have the biggest correlation with football performance: 2. %cceleration- measured by 2.-yard dash ). peed- measured by *.-yard dash ,. %gility- measured by ).-yard shuttle run *. 3ower- measured by vertical 4ump or standing long 4ump This program will emphasize improving athletic performance in these four areas to best improve football performance. These four tests will be used as well as height, weight, and one-rep maxes for squat and bench press. The top measurements for the test areas will be posted in the weight room. athletes and coaches will then set goals for the next testing period. WARM - UP 3roper warm-up is the most important aspect of speed and strength development. It will increase speed and strength and prevent in4ury. If you do not have time to properly warmup, you do not have time to exercise. -arm-up is important because of the stress that athletes put on their 4oints when playing football. 3roper warm-up will increase the flexibility of the 4oints and decrease the chance of in4ury. 5esearch also shows that warmtudent-

up before exercise will increase the speed and power capacity of the muscle, resulting in increased athletic performance. -arm-up will consist of motor drills and stretching. /otor drills are used to develop speed mechanics. They will be done before stretching to improve speed, warm up the muscles and 4oints, and increase flexibility in the hips and legs. /ost football players do not put enough effort into motor drills during football practice because they are not aware of the benefit of speed development. 6ogging alone will warm-up the body, but we do motor drills to warm-up the body and develop speed. FOOTBALL - SPEED DEVELOPMENT TRAINING The most important aspect of football-speed development is coordination. 5unning fast ta1es great coordination. It requires running relaxed and maintaining proper form when running at full speed. /ost players do not have proper form when running7 and by improving form, speed will be improved. Improving form will increase speed by improving stride length and stride frequency. 8ootball speed-development training is used to ma1e a football player faster on the football field. 8ootball speed is not 4ust straight-ahead *.-yard dash speed7 it is speed in every direction. !ifferent position-specific exercises are used, since each position has different speed and agility requirements. %ll running will be football-specific interval training. 8ootball plays last an average of five seconds with an average rest period of fifty seconds. The wor1-to-rest ratio is 2.:2. peed and agility drills must also be approximately five seconds long with a fifty second rest period in order to be football-specific. This type of interval training is more effective than long-distance running in building football-specific endurance. peed drills will be done on /onday and Thursday, and agility drills will be done on Tuesday and 8riday. STRENGTH TRAINING &ifting weights to improve performance in a specific sport is called strength training. -e train to be football players, not power lifters. Technique is more important than weight. 3roper technique will allow an athlete to develop more power and speed, allowing him to become a better football player. 3oor technique may help you to lift more weight, but it won9t help you to develop into a better football player. -e stress proper technique through a full range of motion in each type of lift. 3artial movements will reduce the range of motion of a 4oint, which will reduce flexibility and increase the chance of in4ury. 8ull range of motion training will increase flexibility and help to eliminate in4uries. The beginning level of the strength training program is used to help the football player to develop his muscles and 4oints to handle the stress of more intense exercises later on. -e want to first develop a solid base and then build on top of that. -e want our football players to pea1 at the right time, which is at mid-season. -e don9t want to pea1 before or after that.

There are nine stages in the year-round strength training program: "eginner- "ase 3hase "eginner- !evelopment 3hase Intermediate- "ase 3hase Intermediate- !evelopment 3hase Intermediate- 3ea1 3hase %dvanced- "ase 3hase %dvanced- !evelopment 3hase %dvanced- 3ea1 3hase In- eason Training 0o explosive lifts or running wor1outs will be done during initial phases. -e want the athlete to gain muscle mass and learn proper technique in the beginning. % split routine will be used as follows: BACKS and RECEIVERS /T-T#8#eavy :xplosive day &ight "ase trength day day off &ight :xplosive day #eavy "ase trength day

LINEMAN and LINEBACKERS /T-T#8&ight "ase trength day #eavy :xplosive day day off #eavy "ase trength day &ight :xplosive day

%ndreu wasey, the strength and conditioning coach at the $niversity of /iami says that the ma4or problem of football players coming into his program is a wea1 core area. The core area is the abdominals and lower bac1. It is where all of a football player9s force and energy comes from. %n offensive lineman may be able to bench press ,.. pounds, but if he has a wea1 core, he will not be able to deliver all of that force. -ithout a strong core, his strength is useless on the football field. % strong core allows a football player to fully ;explode< into a hit. 8ootball is a game of collisions, and a strong core will allow a football player to win those collisions. =ore training is a must for football performance development. -e will ma1e opponents 1now next season that the "uc1s from !eerfield "each are the hardest hitting and fastest team they9ve ever faced. >ur football-specific emphasis on acceleration, speed, agility, power, and core training will allow us to physically dominate our opponents and reach our maximum level of football performance.