Using Hudl in Inclement Weather

Posted March 12, 2013 by John Marinelli
Under  • Tips & Tricks  • Guest Post  • Partners

In November 2012, the Northeast was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Most schools were closed for at least a week, if not more. Our school was dismissed for a week due to the amount of destruction in our town and how unsafe the area was post-Sandy.  Not to mention we didn’t have power at the high school for five days. We downloaded cut-ups and game film to our iPads, iPhones, Androids, any device we could to stay ahead of the curve, knowing we were going to lose power and internet. We shared what we wanted our kids to download and sent out a Hudl message telling them what to download.

Pay Attention to Your Passing Game

Posted February 06, 2013 by Will Hewlett
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

It’s time to give your quarterback the attention he deserves. This is the perfect opportunity to apply your improved, simplified attitude and increased repetitions.

Passing five times a game applies much greater pressure than passing 20 times a game. The value-per-rep and the cost of failure increases as game-time passing repetitions decrease. Too often, coaches get mad at their quarterback for making the incorrect read on a play, but they only practiced the play seven times that week. When the repetition is reduced, success becomes scarce.

Optimize your QB play with more passing in practice and during games. Interceptions will happen, but that is part of the process; without failure, there is no learning.

Repetitions are the Key to Keeping Tempo

Posted January 31, 2013 by Will Hewlett
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

You know getting reps during the team segment of practice ensures the offense and defense get a game-like environment. Clearly, you should increase team segments as the season goes on, right? Wrong. Sacrificing individual skill development and consistency quenches discipline and fundamentals.

Now that you have all coaches and players on the same page with a common language and simplicity, it’s time to organize your practice to give team and individual reps the attention each deserves.

Maximize Your Practice, Coach

Posted January 24, 2013 by Will Hewlett
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

Does your quarterback look indecisive on the field, are your pass plays hit-or-miss, or is the win column paltry?  You might have a talent problem or a coaching problem. Then again, maybe it’s a practice problem.

For 15 years, I observed hundreds of football programs ranging from youth to Division I and made a critical determination: Successful programs share several things in common, but the most crucial to QB consistency and pass completion is a well-planned practice.

Keep Athletes Healthy Through Playoffs with Post-Game Recovery and Regeneration

Posted November 16, 2012 by Robert Pomazak
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

Playoff time is here and hopefully all of your offseason strength and conditioning work has paid off. Injuries this late in the season could determine the outcome of your state title, so it’s important to focus on post-game recovery for your athletes. We have a mandatory recovery session every Saturday following our games.

While post-game recovery is often overlooked, it will help your players regenerate their bodies so they are ready to hit the playing field for Monday’s Practice.

This is how we handle recovery with our team:

How Colorado Gets the Best Video of Their Team

Posted October 30, 2012 by Jamie Guy
Under  • Tips & Tricks  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics  • Technology

The more prepared you and your film crew are before you begin filming practice or a game, the better your video will be. Preparation, regardless of the level of football you play, will keep things running smoothly. I’ve found that when I’m properly prepared and have prepped my film crew, they take more pride in the video they’re capturing and the job they have to do.

You may have other ways you get your film crew prepped and ready but this is what I’ve found works best for us.

Building a Professional Video Operations Department: Our Workflow

Posted October 29, 2012 by Mikel Riggs
Under  • Guest Post  • Technology

This is the final part of a four-part series from Mikel Riggs detailing how he built a professional video operations department at Foley High School in Alabama. See Part One: Getting Everyone on Board, Part Two: The Equipment, or Part Three: Training the Students.

A big part of this season was getting our workflow down. We have a set schedule for our film work during the week for practice and also for game day. Here’s how our week looks:

Building a Professional Video Operations Department: Training the Students

Posted October 24, 2012 by Mikel Riggs
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics  • Technology

This is the third part of a four-part series from Mikel Riggs detailing how he built a professional video operations department at Foley High School in Alabama. See Part One: Getting Everyone on Board, Part Two: The Equipment or Part Four: Our Workflow

In order for the program to be successful and benefit the football program, student training was and continues to be essential. We didn’t want to put the money into a new program and then not get the quality of video we knew our equipment was capable of.

Here’s how we trained the students:

Building a Professional Video Operations Department: The Equipment

Posted October 18, 2012 by Mikel Riggs
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

This is the second part of a four-part series from Mikel Riggs detailing how he built a professional video operations department at Foley High School in Alabama. See Part One: Getting everyone on board, Part Three: Training the Students, or Part Four: Our Workflow.

After everyone was on board, we started research on our equipment. We made two things a priority when we were choosing:

Building a Professional Video Operations Department: Getting Everyone on Board

Posted October 17, 2012 by Mikel Riggs
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics  • Technology

Growing up a coach’s son, I saw firsthand how much time my dad devoted to his job and preparing for his team. My father’s time was valuable and as a family we knew that; any time we could spend with him, we took advantage of.

As I started at my first year as secondary coach at Foley High School (Ala.) last fall I realized I couldn’t give the attention to the video operations department it deserved and still fulfill my coaching responsibilities. I used my previous experience from the video operations department at Auburn University (Ala.) to design a video operations department for our team. This added efficiency to our football program and minimized wasted time at the office. The student workers do all the filming and uploading to Hudl. That way, our coaches can spend more time coaching, preparing, and with their families.

Here’s the first step I took to make it happen:

Keep Athletes at Their Best with Proper Hydration

Posted September 07, 2012 by Devan Moylan
Under  • Guest Post

This time of year the heat can be just as tough on your athletes as the 11 players lining up on the other side of the ball. The heat can lead to dehydration, which can lead to serious athletic disadvantages. Muscle contractions will begin to slow and weaken, causing your athletes to lose their optimal muscle function. This increases their chances of muscle pulls and strains.

It’s important for your athletes to know the importance of hydration and how to gauge their own hydration levels. There are a couple signs your athletes should use to gauge their hydration level:

Athletes and Video: Three Benefits to Starting Them Early

Posted September 06, 2012 by Hugh Gladner
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics

There are so many tools out there to help your athletes get better, but none are quite as powerful as video. Video doesn’t lie, so it keeps the “I did that” or “I wasn’t doing that” conversations to a minimum.

We begin building the foundation for our athletes in the sixth grade by introducing them to Hudl. We want to give them a taste of what they’ll be using in high school. We also integrate our youth with the high school program by doing community events and coaching clinics together. This helps build good relationships with coaches and athletes at every level.

A big part of building our foundation starts with video. Here are three benefits to starting them early:

Structuring Your Offseason Program Part 4: Max Strength Training

Posted July 23, 2012 by Robert Pomazak
Under  • Guest Post

In part one, two and three of structuring your offseason football workouts we focused on building stability and strength and increasing lean body mass. After the first three phases, your body is prepared to handle what will be the highest intensity of lifting in the program.

The purpose is to develop as much muscular strength as possible to increase overall peak performance. Football is a game of strength and beating the man in front of you. This phase of training will give you the edge to “out muscle” your opponent.

Build Your Own Practice Camera: Summer 2012

Posted July 05, 2012 by Mike Johnson
Under  • Guest Post  • Coaching & Athletics  • Technology

In order for us to constantly improve as a team, we work to constantly improve our equipment. Adding a practice camera into the mix has been great. We get a better angle than a handheld camera or tripod mounted unit gives us, and adding the angle into film reviews is another way to reinforce what we’re teaching our athletes.

Coaches are constantly evolving the build for the PracticeCam—trying to make it more efficient and keep it affordable. Take a look at what we use and recommend, and let me know if you have ways we can improve. If you build your own, be sure to send pictures and let me know how you made it work.