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Sunday, February 9, 2025

The Rock Almighty. Dear God, Have We Finally Hit Peak 'Woke'? And Jesus Is All Over The Super Bowl!

 


  • Author Nicole Chardenet

I can’t say there’s any good that can have come out of Hamas’s indefensible intentional slaughter of Israeli civilians on October 7th, but a by-product may be the beginning of the end for wokeness.

The authoritarian political ideology from which genuine social justice and plain common sense departed several years ago appears to have jumped the public acceptability shark.

The hard left’s uncritical applause for terrorist perpetrator Hamas, under the guise of ‘supporting’ the Palestinians, leaves many of us on the right and left shaking our heads like wet dogs.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE???

Whether it’s just-below-the-surface anti-Semitism that has always lurked darkly in the hearts of virtue-signalling leftists, or just a dimwitted allegiance to the essential tenet of what passes for Critical Race Theory - dark good, white bad - the ‘woke’ left, which always assumes ‘marginalized’ people are victimized angels, looks deeply deranged to those of us who haven’t filed for moral bankruptcy.

I guess the woke left is having its ‘there are many good people on both sides’ moment.

Hamas groupies should ask themselves, “Would I approve if these actions were taken against ‘oppressors’ and ‘land-stealers’ I like more?”

Like, say, if the aggrieved were America’s Indigenous?

What if a band of well-armed, well-trained Indigenous terrorists wasted a New Mexico town, swarming in on hang gliders to gun down New Mexicans running through the desert - let’s bear in mind that white people are only 36% of New Mexico’s diversity - and mowed down everyone white, black and brown running from the Albuquerque, say, annual balloon festival? That the ground troops moved in and brutally raped New Mexican women and girls so hard they broke their pelvises? Burnt families alive in their homes, slaughtered without mercy everyone from babies to grandmothers, tortured others and kidnapped a few to be tortured, raped, or murdered for later?

Think about it, wokies.

What I’ve noticed, just within the last week to ten days, is that with or without Hamas, encouraging signs indicate ‘peak woke’ may be declining like Donald Trump’s net worth.

Here are a few indicators I’ve observed recently that a frightening siege of common sense may be amassing outside the Wokeness Wall.

'Wokeness is cancellable, especially for being a terrorist-loving butthead'

Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: When it’s possible to cancel far left deplorables without having to be on the far left one’s self.

Turns out over-privileged, entitled, money-grubbing little college campus shits scurry like cockroaches when one of them loses a plum law firm job offer because, well, she publicly supported violence and terrorism.

Even more ironically, their First Example is a more-marginalized-than thou black female ‘non-binary’.

In a sign of how weird the world’s gotten, none other than a hedge fund billionaire emerged as the hero to offer chemoscare-apy to treat Stage 4 metastasized wokeness.

Bill Ackman discovered an open letter signed by over thirty student groups at Harvard blaming Israelis for Hamas’s mass slaughter.

He quickly accrued a mob of his own, a dozen CEOs who asked Harvard to release the names of all signatories of all the groups, and the names quickly circulated among Ackman’s powerful buddies. Subject line: Let’s make sure we never offer any of them a job!

Then the law firm who had extended a job offer to the non-binary human rescinded it—who the hell wants a terrorist lover working for them?—and the woke woke up to the other side of the cancel culture bully cannon.

The signatories scampered to remove their names from the letter, their commitment to the Palestinians extending only as far as the looming prospect of living with their parents until senility, saddled with crippling student debt.

It’s called ‘accountability’, children. And remember: In accordance with your own values, you must never, ever be forgiven. No matter how much you apologize, grovel and cry on TikTok, no matter what you do or accomplish after this, the only thing that should ever define you is your youthful, ill-considered applause for mass slaughter and rape culture.

'The BBC calls a man in a dress accused of raping a woman ‘a man in a dress’

To be fair, Kay Georges, né Andrew Miller, gave the Beeb permission to refer to him in their news reporting as he/him for ‘simplicity’s sake’, which goes to show you how committed he was to the whole ‘I’m a chick’ thing in the first place. The Beeb reports Miller is accused of abducting and repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl while dressed as a woman after he offered to give her a lift. It would have been more laudable had the Beeb had the balls to take a stand for hard science and truth-telling without permission, which is supposed to be their job, but hey, it’s a start. We should encourage, oh fuck it, high-pressure journalists to tell the truth about rapists appropriating womanhood: If it has a penis and shoves it into an unconsenting orifice, it’s a him/he-man.

Calling a man a man? Further evidence peak woke is crumbling.

'Speaking of men in dresses, transactivists fail to shut down a feminist event in Glasgow or to terrify J.K. Rowling'

The FiLia group, part of a larger Scottish feminist organization, scheduled a women’s conference at the Glasgow Platform, which, being as pussy as any other venue that deplatforms women’s conferences at the last minute when hopelessly male-looking guys in dresses stomp their feet and threaten to rape and murder everyone in the United Kingdom if the conference isn’t cancelled, backed down like frightened little girls. At least until FiLia lawyers cited a recent favorable decision for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association against a different Scottish venue who canceled the Billyboys.

The result? The conference went on as planned and J.K. Rowling showed up to look bored while she listened to the usual rape, bodily harm and death threats we’ve come to associate with ‘the most marginalized people ever’ and later spoke at the conference.

'Washington University makes it hard for aspiring boy/girl wannabes because, I dunno, the threat of detransitioning lawsuits on the horizon?'

Scientifically deficient ‘gender-affirming care’ is in the cross-hairs of Republican politicians and circling lawyers in what is shaping up to be one mother of a medical scandal in North America.

St. Louis’s Washington University gender clinic announced in September it’s discontinuing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for everyone, not because they realized they don’t have enough data to determine whether these treatments are safe on otherwise healthy children, but because of the ‘unacceptable’ threat of legal liability.

Here’s where the rubber hits the road for ‘gender-affirming care’ doctors and hospitals: Missouri’s new emergency rule makes it harder for medical professionals to prescribe life-altering treatments willy-nilly for both minors and adults, and returns the transitioning process to the much lengthier and considered path that worked beautifully for decades before 2015.

Otherwise, script-happy docs could find themselves on the business end of the existing Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, designed to prevent and prosecute fraudulent business practices.

It’s about damn time. And a little Republican Attorney General shall lead them.

'Ibram X. Kendi goes down when he can’t explain where the money went'

Hey Dr. Kendi, have you erased racism yet?

No? Well how about $43 million?

The author of How To Be An Antiracist, Stamped From The Beginning and Antiracist Baby, who could find white supremacy in a basket of kittens, can’t ‘splain what happened to all the money lobbed at him by corporates with catapults to fight racism.

Boston University is investigating Kendi’s Center for Anti-Racism Research which just laid off over half their staff, and it’s not like no one ever saw this coming. Many at BU raised concerns whether the extent of Kendi’s anti-racism research was producing anything other than fuck-all. Instead, he delivered, while on an ‘extended leave of absence,’ and all of which earned him money, a graphic novel detailing racist ideas, a podcast called Be Antiracist and an embarrassing five-episode TV show for ESPN that went viral when black Olympian athlete Gwendolyn Berry, interviewed by Kendi, remarked that “Athletes are literally the new slaves,” and compared sports contracts to ‘the new slave chains’. Fortunately for her, this iteration of slavery is more voluntary than the last, so she is free to throw off her chains, give the finger to The Man and get an honest job at Wal-Mart.

None of the above was in the Center’s stated objectives.

Kendi finally found his way back to the Center without explaining where he left to or leaving anyone in charge since it seems he’s allergic to delegating authority. It’s important to note he isn’t accused of stealing the money; just squandering the fuck out of it.

What makes this story particularly galling is finding out podcast host and writer Coleman Hughes, famously common sense-y about fighting racism, was invited by TEDx to give a talk on the need for more conscious color-blindness, and which looked suspiciously downranked by TEDx when a small group of woke staffers allergic to ideas that require them to entertain an alternative view, complained it was ‘racist’ and ‘dangerous’.

'Black Lives Matter Chicago told by X to STFU for demonstrating Israeli lives don’t matter'

After the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, the civil rights group formed to protest the killings of a few dozen black men a year tweeted an image of a hang glider as their knee-jerk response to omni-victimized dark people slaughtering 1,300 whiter-skinned people primarily belonging to a religion long unpopular with many Americans, including black Americans.

When the shit hit the terrorist fanboys, they quickly walked it back:

What a wussy ‘We’re not, strictly speaking, sorry for that image,’ response, and while they could be talking about the grieving mothers and rescued babies from one side or the other, I’m going to take a Scientific Wild-Ass Guess and suggest they’re still really only thinking of the side that cheered and danced for Hamas until the IDF and Israeli civilian settler thugs reminded them of Part II of violent terrorist attacks.

I wonder how tolerant Black Lives Matter Chicago would be if the #BlueLivesMatter set tweeted an image of a knee and ‘BACK THE BLUE’.

That is all that is it!

'You guys should go grab a coffee together'

American hard-right conservatives severed their last tenuous ties to common sense and reality when they voted for, and continue to support, Donald Trump. His bottom-feeding fan base still support him, and threaten violence against anyone daring to hold him accountable for anything.

They’ve even invented a new, more humane form of torture: The non-violent molesting ‘like you’ve never imagined’:

The American left could always crow: “We don’t believe sex is real, we do believe economy-sized white supremacy can be purchased at the Bulk Barn for all your systemic oppression baking needs, and we expend way too much energy on pronouns, but at least we’re not violent.”

Excusing violence in others is one step closer to embracing it one’s self, and with the wokies’ new-found terrorist love in the guise of ‘supporting the Palestinians’, they’ve now sunk to the same moral level as their Confed’rut-lovin’ adversaries.

Je ne suis pas Hamas.

If there’s nothing else that screams the left has hit peak woke, it’s hating Jews as much as the right hates Muslims.

It’s no longer hard to imagine left-wing ‘woke’ extremists could, in fact, instigate Nazi-era pogroms, eagerly joined by members of a particular religion famous for its historical hatred of Judaism long pre-dating the creation of Israel.

There’s so much that’s gone wrong with the left; one must wonder where it all went, if you’ll pardon the expression, tits-up. Perhaps it disintegrated along with the poor mental health of young women and girls hailing from progressive-thinking families whose parents couldn’t say no, or the unemployed kids on social media devising endless, evermore divisive labels to suit every quirk, mood or ugly thought that flittered through their fevered over-educated brains.

Other suspects include universities who sought to retain spoiled children who’d never been challenged by critical thought before and weren’t about to start now, who therefore decided they were customers rather than students, and the customer is always right.

Let’s not forget those who treat ‘intersectionality’ as a bottomless grievance well, and who feign endless victimhood while bullying others into submission; while others squat under the bodhi tree aspiring to ‘marginalization’ rather than spiritual enlightenment. The anti-Buddhas.

I know the Israelis aren’t pure-hearted themselves. They’ve inflicted many heinous crimes against the Palestinians for generations. They HAVE stolen their land. They HAVEN’T made as good-faith efforts as they could to bring lasting peace. They HAVE inflicted many atrocities and human rights abuses against them. I don’t believe they’re willing to make the sacrifices to accomplish that, nor will the Palestinians. It’s all for nothing for both of them. The Palestinians hail from a violent culture and religion. To pull an anti-Trump, “There are bad people on both sides.”

But when you jump on the social media terrorist train to blame families for their own slaughter and proclaim your allegiance to a filthy, specifically genocidal terrorist group and cheer their heinous brutalities against civilians, however you feel about their righteous cause, you have jumped the shark. You have met the enemy and he is you. Shake hands with your compatriots in MAGAland and Canada’s emerging right-wing extremists, the Freedom Convoy. Maybe you guys should all go grab a coffee.

Yeah, there are some real Nazis in those groups. Look in the mirror, ‘progressives’; you’ll find plenty there, too.

Nicole Chardenet fights the neverending battle against MAGAism and wokeness from her artist's hovel in a Canadian skyrise. Her websiite, https://growsomelabia.com, helps women and others reclaim their power. You can subscribe to her Substack newsletter too at https://growsomelabia.substack.com/.

Saturday, February 8, 2025

US Sports Lacrosse. How To Perfect Your Skill In Playing Lacrosse and US Sports Lacrosse Feat. Syracuse vs Vermont Lacrosse Highlights 2025 College Lacrosse

 

  • Author Noel Guntan

Lacrosse is a fast moving sport, and it is also fast growing. If you or someone you know yearns to learn how to play lacrosse, the following procedures briefs you on the basics of this sport. But first, let us take a good short look about lacrosse.

Each opposing teams on a lacrosse field is composed of 10 players, so a field has a total of 20 players. Each team is composed of 3 attackmen, 3 middies, 3 defensemen and 1 goalie.

A game is divided into 4 quarters like basketball, and like all other games, the team scoring the most points at the end of the game emerge as winner.

A player earns a score by shooting the ball from their stick’s pocket into the opponent team’s goal.

The lacrosse ball is a solid rubber ball about the size of a baseball.

An opponent team can dispossess you of your ball either by hitting you with their stick or with their body. A player has to cradle to prevent the ball from falling out.

It is important that a middie make an outside shooting. The defense can shift their game completely if threatened by a good outside shooting.

A player who has the ball can get past the defenseman by using different dodges such as face doge, split dodge, and bull dodge.

The procedures below outlines step by step the proper way of playing lacrosse.

CHOOSING YOUR STICK. A branded lacrosse stick is quite expensive. If you just want to learn how to play, go to your local sports store, where a basic stick won’t cost you as much as a branded stick. There are three main components of a stick. The Head- this is the piece at the top of the stick used for controlling the ball. The Mesh- this is the rope suff inside the head, also known as the stringing. Finally, The Shaft- it was traditionally made out of wood, but nowadays they are made of strong metal alloys and have varying weights and strength. If your right hand is your good hand, put your left hand on the bottom and right hand on top. Switch for your left hand.

LEARN HOW TO CRADLE. A necessary skill that is important to lacrosse is cradling, which is the equivalent of dribbling in basketball. Cradling is the technique of getting past the defense man without him taking the ball out of your stick. Use centripetal force to keep your ball in place by a curling motion with your wrist. This is best done in front of a mirror while starting. Place the ball in your pocket (the area where the ball sits in your mesh) and hold your dominant hand a few inches below the head. Begin with the head facing the mirror so you can see the ball. Now bring the head across your face while curling the wrist. Keep practicing until you are get used to it. If you find it hard to get the hang of it, try watching some lacrosse dvds until you are familiar with all the game’s moves and techniques.

LEARN TO PASS. In lacrosse, passing is one of the most critical skills to succeed in the game. Passing is used to move the ball up field, catch your opponent out of position while hitting your teammate for an assist, or get yourself out of pressure. Make the head next to your ear and ruffle your wrist of your top while pulling your bottom hand towards you. Don't let it hook around your neck. Be sure to go through with the motion. Eventually, you will get used to how your stick throws and can then adjust the way you throw to be more accurate. You can imp[rove your skills in lacrosse by is getting to a brick wall and playing "wall ball." stand a few feet from the wall and throw the ball against it. Practice catching as the ball bounces back towards you.

BE A GOOD CATCHER. Catching is about hand-eye coordination. Catch the ball in your stick and make sure you don't cradle as it enters your stick. This is called cradle catching and is done by beginners. Instead of cradling, just release your grip on your top hand and as the ball enters the stick give and ease the ball into the stick. Again, wall ball practice is recommended.

GAMES ARE WON AND LOST IN GROUND BALLS, that's a fact. While approaching the ball step to it place your foot near the ball. Sink your hips and put your head parallel to the ground. The butt of your stick have to get down low as well. Scoop through and bring the head to your face. Immediately look for an outlet to a team mate.

PASS, CATCH. AND CRADLE USING BOTH HANDS. Using both hands requires patience, and you have to practice over and over again to learn this skill. A good way to improve your off-hand skills is to look at what your dominant hand is doing. Mirror the way you are passing. Go through the same motions. After doing this, spend a week of practice using nothing but your non-dominant hand. During line drills, 6v6, fast break, only use your off-hand. This will be very frustrating, but keep doing it. It will go a long way in improving your skills.

Noel Guntan is a write for Mondex Professionals US. His current area of interest is in sports supplies and sporting goods

Friday, February 7, 2025

US Sports Basketball: Four Zone Defense Drills to Strengthen Your Team and DeMatha vs Bishop McNamara HIGHLIGHTS 1/28/25

 

Four Zone Defense Drills to Strengthen Your Team

  • By Grant Young


Zone defenses can be a game-changer in basketball, providing teams with strategic advantages that can significantly impact the outcome. 

By effectively covering key areas, a zone can force offenses into taking lower-percentage shots and making precarious passes, leading to turnovers and contested attempts. This is especially valuable against teams that favor isolation plays, making them less comfortable and more prone to errors when faced with a well-organized zone. 

However, for this strategy to truly shine, zone defense drills must be implemented that emphasize communication, positioning, and rotation. 

Drills are essential for zone defenses as they help players develop the necessary skills and understanding for success. Repetition builds muscle memory, enabling players to confidently execute these actions under pressure. Simulating game-like scenarios through drills prepares players for real-world challenges, helping them recognize offensive patterns and adapt quickly. 

All of this is to say that by honing skills and fostering unity among players, a zone defense can become an unstoppable force on the basketball court. This is why we’ve pulled four fantastic zone defense drills from three great basketball coaches that you can use to great effect, depending on which zone defense you’d like to use. 

Guy Shavers - Five Trips Drill

Guy Shavers spent 17 seasons as a high school basketball coach. He had the #1 ranked team in North Carolina in 2019 and finished #76 in the country, but #2 in the state of NC in 2017 finishing with a record of 28-3. 

Guy’s accomplishments read as follows: Conference Coach of the Year 5 times, District 7 Coach of the Year 5 times, All-Northwest Coach of the Year 3 times, 7 Conference Championships in his last 9 seasons including 5 outright titles, 2 Western North Carolina Region Championships, 2 North Carolina State Championships (4A 2016-2017 season, 3A 2018-19 season) going undefeated with a 32-0 record in 2019.

In Coach Shavers’ ‘Modified Amoeba Defense’ Course, he discusses a key drill for his Amoeba zone defense that’s called the Five Trips drill. 

This drill starts with a free throw shooter taking a shot with two players on the defensive blocks. After the shot, the players on the blocks will initiate a 2 on 1 full court transition with the free throw shooter on offense. 

After that possession, two more players will join the original free throw shooter and conduct a 3 on 2. This eventually continues until it becomes a 5 on 5 for both sides. 

This is an effective zone defense drill because it provides players an understanding of where they must position themselves in a fastbreak depending on how many attackers there are and how many defenders. 

Frank Fogg - Cut Throat Drill

Coach Frank Fogg, with 10-plus years of coaching experience, loves to share his championship-winning knowledge. Working as a high school coach at the highest level in Texas, Coach Fogg is a go-to resource for coaches across the nation.

Coach Fogg’s ‘The 1-3-1 Defensive System’ course discloses a ‘Cut Throat’ drill that starts with three teams of five on one half court and two balls. 

One team will be on offense, one on defense, and another at half court. If the team on offense scores then the defense goes off and if the defense gets a stop then the offense goes off. 

Coaches should be aware of switching players often forcing the defense to adapt and get used to communicating and working with teammates.

Frank Fogg - Scramble Drill

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Another 1-3-1 zone defensive drill Coach Fogg is fond of is the Scramble drill, which begins with a Shell 5 formation that emphasizes moving the ball. 

A coach will then call a player’s name, and that player has to sprint and touch the opposite side’s free throw line. The play then becomes live, with the offense trying to execute a play and score before that vacating defender returns. 

Coach Fogg notes that it’s important to coach the vacating defender communicating where he’s going upon his return by yelling to his teammates. The coach also wants to ensure that his defense isn’t fouling in order to give them an extra advantage on top of the one given to them by the defender leaving. 

Donnie Jones - 7 on 5 Drill

Donnie Jones is currently the men's head basketball coach at Stetson University. Prior to Stetson, Jones served as the head coach of the UCF Knights men's basketball team from 2010 to 2016 and at Marshall from 2007–2010.

Coach Jones led Stetson to their first ASUN Championship and first NCAA Tournament appearance in Stetson’s 53rd season at the Division 1 level.

In his ‘Zone Defensive Strategies’ course, Coach Jones explains that he likes to do a 7 vs. 5 drill with 7 players on offense and 5 in his zone defense. 

Overloading the offense (especially adding players on the wings) and sending them to crash the boards will demand the defenders get a body on their man and box out (which is a common problem with zone defenses) because it’s the only they’ll be able to secure a rebound while being at such a disadvantage. 

The same thing can be done by adding an eighth offensive player in the post to get repetitions of crashing down on that player when they get the ball and then closing out when they kick it out to the perimeter.

Thursday, February 6, 2025

US Sports Football: Sprint Out Passing: Move the Pocket for Success and Kansas City Chiefs Top Plays from the 2024 Playoffs

 


  • By Keith Grabowski

Why Sprint Out?

The sprint out game provides a diverse package that builds upon other components of the passing game.  Overall, the concepts used in an offense can be adapted to fit the quarterback on the move.

Sprint out fits into any offense and any type of personnel grouping.  It’s simple to teach and it gives an offense efficiency in moving the ball down the field.

Kevin Kelley, who spent the 2021 season as the head coach of FCS passing leader Presbyterian,  starts by pointing out a flaw in the thought process that many coaches mention as why to not sprint out...that it “takes away half of the field.” His answer is simple. You aren't taking away half of the field because they have to cover the other half of the field.

The ability to move the pocket and the launch point of the quarterback can help create and attack holes in defensive coverage. 

Moving the launch point certainly is a way to alleviate pressure and get the quarterback cleaner looks.  For the offensive line, the movement will help them as well.

Protection

As mentioned, changing the launch point to deter pressure is a big benefit offered by the sprint out passing game.  The protection is relatively simple and doesn’t require the refined technique of the dropback game.  Where the dropback game protection forces an offensive lineman to deal with two-way go’s as well as having to be sound in twists and stunts, the movement of the pocket simplifies both technique and scheme.

Matt Drinkall, TE Coach at Army, begins with the understanding of protection being full-gap 7- man protection.  He doesn’t like to call it turnback. He sets it up so there are two protecting the front side edge.  His version of sprint out allows the QB to get on the move but be set up to throw which he feels gives a higher completion percentage, especially when moving to the opposite side of his throwing arm.  Here’s how he does it.

With a spread set, the protection can be adapted to six-man with the single running back utilized to protect the front side edge.

Like Coach Drinkall, Eric Marty, now the offensive coordinator for the USFL Michigan Panthers doesn’t teach the protection as a turnback, and he never asks a lineman to reach a frontside defender.  This philosophy makes it much easier for the offensive line.  He explains how they protect against an even front with the single running back assigned to the frontside edge.

Concepts

The concepts for sprint out can be very simple and build off of each other.  Coupled with some compliments, this is a segment of an offense that defensive coordinators will have to spend time planning to stop. 

To start with, sprint out can be used from any type of formation 3x1, 2x2, 3x2, and 4x1. For Coach Kelley, it starts with something simple like a one-on-one to the single WR side.  The safety is slid over and not in a great position to help.  The WR will run and out-and-up but come back if he doesn’t beat the corner as illustrated below.

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In this example, Coach Kelley moves the running back into empty to put him in a position to help on the edge.  The same out-and-up with comeback rule is run.

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He illustrates the multiplicity of the concept and when run against looks that he shows is unstoppable when executed properly, Coach Kelley breaks down all of these examples in this video

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Once more receivers are added to the sprint out, the possibilities of how to attack the defense expand.  Coach Drinkall likes to incorporate some form of smash with one route attacking vertically and another route attacking the flat.  He explains his outside concept in this video.

Many offenses utilize the Snag concept which allows for a quicker timing from dropback as well as multiplicity from the types of 3-man surface formations and personnel groups. Coach Marty loves the concept as part of his sprint-out attack.  Like Drinkall mentions, it does create a type of smash concept with a high-low to stretch the defense and attack zone coverage.  It also creates some natural traffic for defenders to negotiate which makes it a great man-beater as well.  He explains it here.

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Those are just a few examples of how concepts can be adapted to sprint out.  The idea is to be efficient in teaching so that dropback and sprintout concepts do not need to be exclusive to one category.  The carry-over will cut down teaching and allow for route technique to be perfected.

Using Sprint Out Situationally

It fits into any field zone and virtually any down and distance.  Bill Walsh made a living on Sprint Right Option with his Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young.  Sprint right option is still a play that can be seen at every level of football. Many times it is a play reserved for the goal line area because it creates rubs and allows receivers to get open in an area with reduced vertical space. (see diagram below):

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Coach Kelley carries an entire menu for this area of the field.  He shares his variations in this video.

Complimentary plays

In general, any effective concept in an offense warrants the use of complimentary plays.  Defenses work hard to take away effective plays thus opening opportunities to use other plays to exploit the weaknesses the defense creates to stop a concept.

Coach Drinkall thinks about how movement affects a defensive back who has to stop the sprint out and he creates concepts to take advantage of that.  

His first idea is to tag a double move which takes advantage of an overplay by the defensive back.  When the defender is jumping a corner route, utilizing a corner-post allows for a big play opportunity.  Remember, in his version of the sprint out, the QB sets his feet to throw, thus making this a viable option.  It would be much more difficult on the run for the QB. He illustrates it in this diagram.

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Compliments don’t have to be shot plays all of the time.  Simply attacking the linebacker movement to the sprint out side creates opportunities for a short pass and run after catch with a drag or shallow. 

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In addition, throwback screens, sprint draws, and even trick plays can be built off of the sprint out concept.

Conclusion

Changing the launch point is a smart way to take away the effectiveness of pressure. Because it can incorporate the concepts used in dropback, it’s an efficient way to provide the offense multiplicity.  With a little thought, even a small package can be developed for an offense to realize these benefits.


Wednesday, February 5, 2025

US Sports Football: Unlocking the Power of Gap Manipulation to Limit Explosive Plays and Eagles 'BEAST MODE' Defensive Highlights 2024 🦅🔥 BEST DEFENSE IN THE NFL 🦅🔥

 

Unlocking the Power of Gap Manipulation to Limit Explosive Plays

  • By Keith Grabowski


Are offense having their way with your defenders they put in conflict? At the 3rd Annual Lauren’s First and Goal Clinicusers/johnloose"> Lauren’s First and Goal Clinic Shane Direking, Defensive Coordinator at D3 National Champion North Central College, shared his insight on gap manipulation and limiting explosive plays as well as the knowledge and strategies to elevate the performance of your defense. He covered everything from understanding the importance of a tight top-down defense to mastering the art of manipulating gaps.

Defensive Structure and the 30% Rule

Coach Dierking believes the aim of the defense is to make the offense earn their yards by implementing a tight top-down defense while ensuring it never gives up explosive plays. By manipulating gaps, the defense can confuse the quarterback with stems in the secondary, forcing the O-line to adjust tracks, and throw off pass pro communication.

Coach Dierking als wants to avoid giving the quarterback easy access throwsl. By constantly self-scouting throughout a season and implementing a 30% rule. His 30% rule is, when they have an offensive formation and thy’re higher than 30% with a coverage variation against that offensive formation, they look to break the tendency. The 30% rule ensures that they remain multiple in coverage and keep the quarterback guessing.

Gap Manipulation in Football

Coach Dierking utilizes four main techniques to manipulate gaps: gap cancellation, gap call, stunts, and bumping. These tools are crucial for linebackers, Nickel, Mike, and Qill to communicate with the defensive line, and can be based on offense tendencies or game plan by formation.

By mastering these techniques, a defense can effectively manipulate gap fits in the run game and gap cancel tools, allowing them to be more multiple in coverage and keep the offense on their toes.

Here’s Coach Dierking discussing “Why Gap Manipulation?” in his clinic talk:

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The Power of Limiting Explosive Plays

Explosive plays can be a game-changer in football. The chances of scoring in any single drive increase significantly with a single explosive play. By ensuring that the defense never gives up explosive plays, it forces the offense to work harder and increases the chances of the defense creating havoc plays like TFLs, tackles, interceptions, and fumble recoveries.

By making the offense earn every yard, the defense can increase the team’s win-loss percentage and maintain a strong defensive presence on the field.

Let’s take a look at some of the gap manipulations that Coach Dierking explained in his clinic.

2x2 Gap Cancellation

Coach Dierking gives his Will “gap cancelling tools” which allow him to give a call to the defensive line in order to keep himself out of conflict.  These tools are critical in today’s RPO world where the obejective is to put a defender in conflict.  He shares an example of this in this game clip:

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Bump

Come formations can give a defense issues. Bumping gaps can allow a defense to keep players out of conflict and create better run fits.  Here Coach Dierking shares an example of “Bump” on game film and how they are able to take away the run and defend the stick and almost take it the other way by giving an appearance of a void in the defense.

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Conclusion

Coach Direking’s clinic provided invaluable insights into putting defenders in a better position through the power of gap manipulation. This is a tremendous resource to gain the insight and examples to evolve your own defense to optimize your run fits and remove conflict.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

US Sports Baseball: Three Offseason Baseball Drills to Simulate Competition and DAY IN THE LIFE of a USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Player

 


  • By Grant Young

The baseball offseason is a crucial period for players to enhance their skills and develop their game. This time away from the rigors of the regular season allows athletes to focus on their individual strengths and weaknesses without the pressure of games. It’s the perfect opportunity to implement baseball drills that can help improve specific aspects of their performance. 

Players can tailor their training regimens to address areas that need attention during the offseason. Whether it’s working on swing mechanics, improving fielding footwork, or increasing arm strength, the emphasis is on refining skills in a controlled environment. This focused practice can lead to significant improvements by the time spring training arrives. 

However, one challenge that arises during offseason training is finding drills that effectively simulate the experience of actual game competition. 

While many drills are beneficial for skill development, they often lack the dynamic nature and decision-making elements present during a live game. For instance, while batting practice can help hone swing mechanics, it doesn’t replicate the pressure of facing a pitcher with varying speeds and styles, nor does it mimic game situations where players must quickly react to unpredictable plays. 

Fielding drills might focus on catching and throwing mechanics, but they do not fully emulate the fast-paced actions of a game where players must anticipate plays and communicate with teammates under pressure. Base running drills, while essential, may not capture the strategic decision-making involved in reading pitchers or reacting to game situations. 

The offseason provides a valuable chance for players to implement focused drills — but the challenge lies in finding effective ways to mimic the competitive nature of actual games. 

This is why we’ve taken three drills from veteran baseball coaches that they used specifically in the offseason to give their players a feel for competing when the meaningful games are still months away. 

Jake Davis - 21 Outs Drill

Jake Davis is the head coach of Ponder High School’s baseball team in Ponder, Texas. Before becoming head coach at Ponder High School, Jake Davis created a dynasty during his seven-season tenure at Celina High School. His ball clubs were constantly winning their district championship, and proved to be an extremely difficult team to beat both at home and on the field. 

Coach Davis’ ‘High Intensity Practice: Why and How’ course, he explains a unique twist he used on one of the most common competitive baseball drills there is: 21 outs. 

21 Outs (or 27 outs for a team that plays nine innings games) is simple. You have a team of players in the field, pitchers rotation on the mound, and another group of players as baserunners. You’ll then run through various game scenarios with a coach hitting fungo, with the goal being that you want to get 21 consecutive outs without making an error. 

What makes this drill so effective is that the added pressure to keep executing and making plays as the outs increase adds a level of stress and intensity for the players on the field, because they know one mistake will start the entire team back at zero. 

Coach Davis likes to pull the game scenarios at random using a deck of cards to add a level of intrigue to this drill. For example, one suit could mean the number of outs, the number could indicate what innings it is, etc. 

Howard Stein - Outfield Communication Drill

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Howard Stein is the head baseball coach at Broward High School, which is located in Broward County, Florida. Before becoming Broward’s coach, Coach Stein was a coach at Flanagan High School, where he earned a reputation as an excellent hitting instructor. Being part of two state championship teams and offenses that regularly are ranked near the top of the conference is a testament to Coach Stein’s methods and teachings.

Coach Stein’s ‘Howard Stein - Outfield Play’ course explains some of the details he employs to help his outfielders get game-like reps with each other during the offseason.

The most important part here is that the outfielders have an accurate amount of space to work with, and the coach is far enough away that they actually have to hit the ball. Ideally, the coach should be standing at some plate and hitting fly balls with a fungo to outfielders who are positioned in their natural spots. This is the best way for coaches to replicate game-like scenarios for outfielders and will force outfielders to move and communicate the way they would actually need to during games. 

Steve Nicollerat - Reading Lefties Drill

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Steve Nicollerat is the Founder of Coach Baseball Right, Which provides baseball organizations with dozens of resources available to grow and elevate their current programs and deepen their kids' experiences. 

In addition, Coach Nicollerat has about 40 years of experience coaching varsity baseball at St. Louis University High School, as well as playing collegiate ball at St. Louis University.

In his ‘The 10 Baserunning Drills Every Coach Needs’ course, Coach Nicollerat discusses a drill he used to help train baserunners on how to deal with lefties who read. 

Coach Nicollerat will either stand on the mound or stand in between it and first base while a line about three or four players deep will take their leads. He will then mimic a lefty who’s reading, having players either steal if the pitcher is going home or diving back to first base if they’re picking off. 

The key here to making this game-like is by actually having players sliding back into first base, and having some consequence on the line if they don’t make the correct call. There are consequences for misreading a lefty during a game, so there should be consequences during practices as well.