The great Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
What better way for your players to learn, improve, and win more games than to show them firsthand how they are performing? Video allows an athlete to see him or herself in action—reinforcing what they are doing well and highlighting performance areas that need additional work.
The benefits of video extend beyond your team’s improvement by also providing a clear understanding of your opponents’ habits, strengths, and weaknesses. No more guessing what plays the other team will run, or who will start the game. Instead, you will see details like who their best receivers are, and how well they pick up blitzes. Building a library of videos helps your coaching team build better game strategy and leads to more wins. Following are some of the key areas that will benefit most from using video.
Perfecting Technique
Video helps players improve their form, technique, and ultimately their morale, as they can see their progress in real time. For example, if your wide receivers have only a mediocre running speed, focus on the other things they have to do exceptionally well and build their practice and drills around those areas. Wide receivers need to run precise patterns, evade the defensive line, out-jump and out-muscle defenders to catch and keep the ball, and outrun tacklers. When you capture their performance on video, customized training can be developed to help them perfect their techniques in those key areas.
Improved Performance
A football player’s success relies on a combination of three things:
- Solid football skills
- Athleticism—speed, agility, acceleration, jumping ability
- Power—strength, bodyweight and size, explosiveness
Of course, not every position needs the same level of skills in each area. The key is being able to achieve the right balance for each specific position. Using the wide receiver as an example again, their first big task is ‘getting off the ball,’ and their stance and initial step determine how well and how quickly they will get into the route. When quarterbacks and receivers continuously practice routes together, they become more comfortable with each other and can anticipate each other’s moves. The routes become second nature, and the team makes more touchdowns.
Video of practice drills and game plays gives the coaches and players a clear view of how well each position is executing their plays, how seamlessly the team is working together, and where things can be improved.
Better teamwork and Coaching
Video helps your team improve by seeing their own habits and tendencies, and learning how to work more effectively together. It also makes it easier to pinpoint a team’s deficiencies and change practice strategies. Using video ensures nothing is left to interpretation, as everyone can see and review what really happens on the field.
For coaches, video means deeper analysis and faster discovery of the weaknesses of not only their own team, but those of the competition. Knowing and understanding those weaknesses helps you decide what to work on during practice, who to move into certain positions (or move from certain positions), and where the gaps are in the opponent’s game.
