Coaching Youth Football - The Snack Schedule

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This is a tough one especially if you are coaching a younger youth football team. My personal opinion is there is no need for a snack before the game or at the half. I am not even a fan of it after the game since the kids are more concerned about getting their food and not listening to the coaches.

We live in a democracy so plan on the kids getting something. The younger the team is the more likely there will snacks. This is where the Team Mom needs to assign a schedule for the families. I try to keep it to just a beverage, like Gatorade and only for AFTER the game. One year I allowed for oranges at half time since the parents thought it would energize the kids. What a nightmare! The kids used more energy pushing each other over to get to the bag of orange slice. No one listened and the player left orange peels all over the place. Half time was spent cleaning the mess made on the field. I have seen some teams have a "party" at half time with all kinds of cookies and other stuff. No way will I allow snacks at half time. If the individual parent gives you a hard time tell them to bring something for their kid and the parent can feed it to them while you speak to the team at half time.

I need to remind myself I am out here for the kids and if snacks are important, then I will try to accommodate that as long as it does not interfere with the coaching.

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Football Safety Tips For Kids

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Let's face it: in America, football is king. It is the social glue that holds together countless communities, groups of friends, and even entire families, with millions gathering in the stands and around TV screens annually to share in the thrill of a big game. In some towns, it would not be a surprise for a child to make his first pass before learning to walk. On the field, in the home or bar, football reigns supreme.

Every year, thousands of kids gear up for a first-hand taste of this national pastime. However, as a full-contact sport, there is no avoiding the fact that football can be dangerous at any level, amateur and professional alike. With this in mind, here are a few ways in which you can best ensure your child's experience on a school or club football team is as positive and character-building as it should be.

Proper Gear

The first step to take in keeping your child safe regardless of position he or she will play  is an investment in the right protective gear. The following list covers all the equipment with which any football player should be outfitted:

Helmet with face mask and a mouth guard - A proper fit in this department is crucial, as oversized helmets and mouth guards can easily be knocked off during rougher moments.

Protective padding for thighs, shoulders and around the hips

Cleats - Football is traditionally an all-weather sport, so having a shoes that can grip the turf well in every condition is important in preventing twisted ankles and other foot-related injuries.

Leg and ankle braces - Related to the point about, these minimize the severity of the slips, trips, and falls that occur in virtually every play.

Preparation

As with any sport, proper stretches and warm-up exercises are vital to preventing strains and maximizing athleticism. A thorough routine can be anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes long, and will raise body temperature, heart and respiratory rates, and increase metabolic Stretches should be comprehensive, covering not only limbs and joints but also the torso. Remember, always include at least a short run before stretching out to avoid pulling a muscle, and stretch just to the point of discomfort - not beyond.

Last but not least, always make sure your child understands the rules of the game before taking the field. This is one of the simplest to avoid an injury, and yet it is too often overlooked. Good communication between coaches, players, and referees is one of the best guarantees for safe game.

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Football Pass Catching Drills

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This article will discuss football pass catching drills that are designed to develop finger tip control, soft hands and stronger fingers. Considered repetition stationary drills, each of the 4 can be practiced alone and even at home.

4 Pass Catching Drills:

1. Ball Dropping Drill:
Positioning hands in the front about waist high, the athlete grips the ball finger tips only by the wider part of the football. Dropping the ball the athlete catches the ball with both hands using only the thumb and finger tips only. This drill helps develop stronger fingers and finger tip ball control.

2. The Toss Up Drill:
This drill requires the athlete to toss the ball straight up, about 4 feet above the head. Reaching and looking up for the ball trains the football player to put their arms and head in the proper catching position. Focusing on catching the ball with the fingers and thumb only develops muscle memory and stronger fingers for the athlete.

3. Side to Side Toss Drill:
This pass catching drill is done with the hands in front about waist high. Avoiding using the palm of the hand the athlete roll tosses the ball from one hand to the other catching the football with fingers and thumbs only. This exercise will help with muscle memory and getting finger tip control.

4. Behind the Back Drill:
This training drill usually follows the Side to Side. Like the Side to Side the hands are positioned about waist high but behind the back. This will cause a further arm extension. Roll tossing the ball from hand to hand, you want to catch the ball only with fingers and thumbs. This drill will help you develop softer hands and stronger fingers.

These football pass catching drills are easy to perform and will help you develop what every receiver wants, softer hands, finger tip control and more caught passes.

In the resource box below there is a link to a 4 minute video that demonstrates equipment designed to force catching the football with the fingers and shows all four of the practice drills listed in this article.

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Soccer Betting Games - Winning the Football Pools

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The football pools have been around for many years and have always been a firm favourite with all soccer fans. As a child, I can remember watching my grandfather filling out his coupon. He would do this religiously every week without fail. He would take his time going through the entire fixture list trying to predict enough results to win one of the many cash prizes.

This has always been a very popular form of soccer betting with people from all age groups. Winning the football pools has exactly the same sort of appeal as any kind of lottery competition. The beauty of the pools is that sports fans can use their knowledge of soccer to improve the chances of winning. Predicting the results of soccer matches is something that any football fan enjoys doing. Playing this game means your expertise can deliver some financial reward.  

Most of the leading bookmakers have games related to the football pools. They will even employ a collector to pick up completed coupons and payment from peoples home addresses. This made doing the pools a simple and straightforward exercise for the sports fan. The price to enter the competition was not very expensive and gave players a chance to win the famous jackpot prize.  

The football pools have enjoyed a resurgence recently which is largely due to the power of the internet. Previously these competitions were exclusively offline recreational activities. Harnessing the power of the online sports fan community means the pools have been introduced to a whole new audience. This has also rekindled the interest of previous users who had stopped playing this popular game.  

Most football pools have a spot the ball competition on the coupon. This is where you have to correctly predict where the hidden ball is located in an image of a football match. You have a choice of grid squares and the objective is to pick the correct one. People usually focus on the area where the players in the photo are looking. The spot the ball competition is just as popular as the pools themselves.  

The typical sports fan with a passion for soccer betting games will relish playing this competition. Whether they win the football pools or not depends on how good their knowledge of the sport is. If you are unsuccessful one week then more football matches are just around the corner. This means a fresh chance to win a cash prize or maybe even the elusive jackpot.

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ACL Protection During Football

The greatest number of ACL injuries occur in July & August. It is obvious that this is the time that football and other contact sports begin, so the chances of injury are greater.

An ACL tear is usually a season ending injury. It accounts for 2% of all NFL injuries , with 20% involving special teams. There is no difference if the field is grass or artificial turf.

Lets look at the knee joint and try to understand why this injury occurs.

There are four major ligaments around the knee joint. These ligaments are designed to stabilize the knee and to control functional range of motion. The ligaments on each side of the knee are referred to as collateral ligaments. The medial collateral is located along the inside of the knee (medial is a reference to the midline of the body). The lateral collateral ligament is located along the outside of the knee. Most football players suffer from medial collateral ligament tears, due to side impact collisions with another player, resulting in stretching or tearing of this ligament.

Right in the middle of the knee there's two ligaments that hold the whole joint together. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) & the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL is the more important of the two in reference to football injuries. If you tear the ACL completely, your knee is completely unstable and you risk further injury if not attended to.

When the ACL is torn, about 40% of the athletes will usually hear a 'popping sound' and then experiences extreme pain and swelling. One study of college students reported that a college football player has a 16% chance of ACL injury. Almost 50% of athletes who suffer an ACL injury will also have an injury to the meniscus (shock absorbing cartilage in the knee). ACL injuries usually mean players are out for the season. The treatment usually depends on the type of injury, but almost all players will have to go through some type of rehabilitation or even surgery.

A post-operative knee brace or knee immobilizer is sometimes used following injury or surgery.
These braces have adjustable hinges on the side to control range of motion during the healing stages. In many instances, a player will wear a metal or carbon fiber brace after healing, to provide additional support and protection, and prevent recurrence.

Athletes who suffer ACL injuries must seek out medical attention and receive proper treatment to avoid further injury and increased risk of arthritis in the knee joint.

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Football - Not For Dumb People

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For those of you who think professional football players can be as dumb as tree stumps and still play the game, as long as they are either big and strong, have an arm that can throw a hand grenade from Ohio to California or have a leg that can kick the chrome off of a bumper, you need to think again. Pro football is a very complex sport and unless you've got a good head on your shoulders, you are going to find out the hard way that it isn't simply a matter of being skilled.

Sure, you have to be big and strong, especially if you're going to be a lineman. These guys top the scales and 300 pounds plus and feel like mack trucks when they hit you. Certainly if you're a 90 pound weakling, you're not going to get far in the game of football. And yes, if you have a fantastic arm and can throw a football the length of the field accurately, you'll most likely make a good quarterback, again, provided that you have a head on your shoulder.

Okay, so why the need for brains? Isn't this a rather simple game? Isn't the object of the game to score a goal by either running or passing the football over the goal line? And if that's not simple enough, you can also kick it over if you think you're too far out for a regular score. How hard can this be? Kids in high school play it and some of these kids aren't the brightest bulbs in the bunch.

To answer that question, one has to understand the level at which pro football is played. These players ARE the strongest of the strong and the most talented. They have the best arms and legs. When it comes to raw talent, there is none better anywhere. What separates the good players from the great players is how they assimilate the game on an intellectual level. In pro football there are a great number of plays for both offense and defense. Some teams have play books that have well over 100 plays. And they're all used. If the coach calls a play, you better know what it means and how you're supposed to react. That means storing a hundred or more plays in your head. And you thought cramming for an exam was hard. This requires a certain degree of brain power.

Imagine the coach calls a play and you forget which play it is and you miss an assignment or a route or a block. It could mean the difference between scoring and not scoring or the opposition scoring or not scoring. Usually it's mistakes that decide games. By having the plays down cold, you minimize the chance of those mistakes.

So the next time you think that football players are just a bunch of dumb jocks, I suggest you try getting a hold of one of their play books and see if you can learn even half of what's in them.

Professional football. It's NOT for dumb people.

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Tournament Poker Tips For Different Stages of the Game

A tournament of poker is quite different from the cash game which can be played indefinitely. In tournament players buy a ticket to the event and start play at the same time with a fixed number of chips. The person who loses all the chips is eliminated from the game. Here the aim is always to protect the chips and grow obtain more. Players should have a different approach to different stages of the game.

The stages in a tournament poker can be broken down into early, middle and late.

In the early stage you will have the most number of chips in relation to the blind. Everybody gets to play at this stage and has the experience in this stage. You must play tight here; how tight depends on the tournament structure. If the blinds are low you can sit tight but when they begin to rise then you have to go out and gamble!

In the middle stage the goal is to stay alive and healthy. Losing with enough chips in hand for a next chance is better than not having any and being eliminated altogether from the tournament. Here you cannot sit tight; you must steal blinds and protect your chips so that you don't get too short.

In the late stage there will be some players who will have few chips and a few players with lot of chips. At this stage it is all about money, not only chips. There is no choice but to play aggressive without making any mistakes. Here you should be ready for coin flips and have faith in your luck to pull you through.

Remember the key is to change your strategy according to stage you have reached in the game. Remember you are playing in a fixed time frame and the blinds are constantly increasing and hence you must play more hands than in a ring game.

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