May 31, 2023

Football – Freshman – January

How To Get Some Respect

Take advantage of the winter months to build muscle mass and to also focus on increasing muscle strength.

Respect doesn’t just automatically happen on the football field, you have to earn it by putting in the ultimate weight room effort in the off season. 

Can anyone out train you?  This is a question you should honestly ask yourself.  Some of your teammates may have the edge as far as talent goes, but you can make up for it by giving your all in the weight room.

Believe it or not, games are won or lost during the off-season.   With that in mind, it is time to get serious about your resistance training.

Bigger muscles are not always stronger muscles.  Our goal this month is to not only continue building your muscle mass, but to also increase your muscle strength.

Exactly What Is Strength?

  • Strength is your ability to overcome resistance, and it is needed to improve quickness, agility, coordination, resistance to injury, increase bone density, and it also helps develop stronger muscles.

  • So, as you can see, it is much more than just building bulky muscles. In fact, bulky muscles often result in decreased agility, finesse and speed.

Blow Your Competition Away Next Year

If you want to leave your competition in the dust next football season, then it is totally essential  that you take your strength training seriously as it is the foundation for developing muscular endurance, flexibility, acceleration, agility, mobility and maximum speed.

The hard truth is that your performance on the field is largely determined by how powerful you are.  Explosive power is a combination of strength and speed. So, as you can see, strength training  is one of the most important elements in your overall football training.

How To Do Reps

Establish the right way to do reps now to obtain the most benefit from your time on the weights.  Pay close attention to how you are performing your reps.  It is critical that you use the right form in every rep.  Use full control, complete each exercise intelligently and apply full range of motion.

You have not actually completed a rep unless you have performed it in strict form.  Jerking or throwing a weight up does not count.

Remember, only you now whether you are giving your best during this period of your training.  When you are facing down a competitor next season, make sure you know in your own mind that you have left nothing in the weight room.

20 Important Character Traits For College Football Recruits

College football coaches look for other attributes besides athletic talent when evaluating potential recruits for their football teams.

Even if you are not an elite or blue chip athlete, but you are an above average player with decent grades, test scores, and you also possess most of the following characteristics, you will have an excellent chance to be widely considered for athletic scholarships:

1. You have drive

2. You are aggressive

3. You have determination

4. You are conscientious

5. You are self-motivated

6. You are capable of building trust

7. You have leadership abilities

8. You are respectful

9. You are disciplined

10. You are emotionally controlled

11. You are hard-working

12. You are team oriented

13. You are competitive

14. You are mentally tough

15. You a re friendly and outgoing

16. You are committed to excellence

17. You have a positive attitude

18. You are responsible

19. You are coachable

20. You display good sportsmanship

Take a good look at this list of the twenty personal characteristics that coaches routinely consider in their potential recruits and honestly see how you size up.  If you think you are weak in any of these areas, commit NOW to improve while you still have plenty of time.

 

Add this tip to your Financial Aid Tips file.  There’s plenty of money out there that has to go to someone.  It may as well be you.

Financial Aid Tips:

 Check with organizations connected with your field of interest.  Some examples are: American Bar Association, American Medical Association, National Communication Association.

These organizations all have websites, which offer literally a wealth of information regarding the fields or fields you think you may be interested in.

 Remember, the financial benefits of attending college are astronomical compared to not attending.  Students and parents, financial aid is available in many different places, begin thinking now about where you can find funds for college.

Regardless of your current financial situation, funds can be found in this country to pay college expenses.  Adopt a mind-set that says, “I am going to get a college education”.

 

Maintain Good Grades

Remember all those grades you receive in the 9th grade will be included in your GPA and class rank. So, KEEP THEM UP! 

 It’s much easier to keep them up as you go than to retake classes later on.  In many schools once you’ve taken a class, like Geometry, you can repeat Geometry but not prerequisite courses such as Algebra I.

 Drop by your counselor’s office and ask if there are any special scholarships or awards that you should know about now so you can work toward them.  The counselor should, by now, be able to recognize you.

Things To Do This Month Academically:

Learn An Effective Note Taking Strategy

Stay Organized –  Keep all notes for one class in one place.  Date and number pages to make referring back easier.

Before Class – Review materials assigned thoroughly.  Make a list of questions you have.

During Class – Use a good note taking method.  Things to keep in mind:

  • Get speaker’s main points; don’t write down every word.
  • Leave blanks in your notes to add explanations later.
  • Organize as you write. Listen for speaker’s emphasis.
  • Indicate main points and supporting points as you go.
  • Jot down key vocabulary, facts and formulas.
  • Ask questions now. Later the material will not be fresh in your mind.

After Class – Review your notes and fill in blanks. Underline, highlight to organize the information. In the left hand margin write down key words and questions.

  • At the bottom of the page write a summary of the notes on the page.

 

How to Stay Optimistic When Playing Football

Discovering how to stay optimistic involves two steps.

 First you’ve got to realize that your thoughts and beliefs have an enormous impact on how you play.

You may be surprised to learn that extensive psychological research on self-talk has proven that we don’t make our decisions based on what happens to us, we base our decisions on what we think will happen to us.

For example, you don’t make a mistake playing football because you just make a mistake.  You make a mistake because you just made a mistake and you think you’ll screw up again.

 The second step in maintaining optimism is to truly understand its function.  Optimism means telling yourself that your poor play is only temporary, it doesn’t mean telling yourself you’re playing well when you aren’t, or telling yourself you’re confident and happy when you aren’t.

At the heart of being and staying optimistic is the ability to realize that less than perfect play is a natural, yet temporary, part of almost every game.

 

 The minimum GPA required by the NCAA for college football players is now 2.3 up from 2.0.  While this allows you to scrape by with the NCAA,  will it be enough to qualify you for admittance to your dream schools?  Just one or two bad academic semesters can damage your GPA beyond repair.

  Golpashin (Oregon Ducks offensive lineman) started against LSU in the Cowboys Classic, the season opener, but tore his ACL a couple of weeks later in practice.  This scenario is common in college football, and this is one important reason why you should plan to accept an athletic scholarship only at a school where you can get a solid education that will prepare you for a career.

The NCAA’s newly passed plans to allow schools to give athletes a $2,000 stipend for living costs that are not covered by their athletic scholarships has been suspended with at least 125 of its member schools objecting to the new change.

Additionally, the new plans to allow schools to offer multi-year athletic scholarships has also been challenged by 75 member schools.

Both of these new changes will be addressed this month at the NCAA’s annual convention in  Indianapolis.

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.