Have A Teaching Progression


By FirstDown PlayBook on Sep 28, 2020

Today’s blog is a continuation of last week’s when we talked about the importance of listing the fundamentals of the position you coach. To read that just click here. Today we will emphasize the importance of a teaching progression.

After you have your list of what must be taught now you want to start developing the progression for getting these skills taught. This progression is normally taught better if you break the skill down into parts. For instance, with a young offensive linemen, we would teach them their stance and footwork first. We would use either bags or do this on air. Then we would teach them how to fit up on a block in a totally separate drill.

The “Fit” teaching progression allows the young players to understand what the body position feels like when you enter contact on a block. It also teaches what the footwork and technique is after you make contact. Once the young player understands these two things you can put the two together.

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Breaking your teaching up into parts helps a player focus on one thing at a time. As you do this they learn the muscle memory required for the technique.  The act of taking your body and blocking another human’s  body is not a natural thing for a young kid. Breaking  it up into parts helps to keep it from seeming to be an overwhelming task.

If you break the teaching down into parts it will help the young player focus on one thing. It allows you to concentrate on what needs to be improved. More reps and work can then be applied where it is needed most.