Judgement Day 10th June 2014

Session 12

The time was finally here, my last session, to prove to myself that I have even a slight chance that with more training I could have what it takes to make it in the NFL. To get that multi-million dollar contract, the fame and the woman that all are part of the parcel of being a top level athlete. Through the development of practice, a skill has the ability to become automatic (Anderson, 1981). A reoccurring guideline to skill acquisition is that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. In Gladwells book Outliers, The story of success, quotes neurologist Daniel Levitin:

"The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything" (Gladwell, 2008)

This seems to be a general rule when it comes to how long it takes to master a new skill. However when it comes to motor acquisition there are 3 stages involved

1. Cognitive
This stage is for the new learners who require alot of visual and verbal feedback and help with the gross movements involved. For my learning this was used in my early sessions that involved the 4 stages of pass. Since I recorded my movements this allowed for visual feedback. The cognitive stage is regarded as having alot of gains in short amount of time with little consistency in execution.

2. Associative (Motor)
The associative stage (also known as the motor) is characterized as refinement of the gross movements, with less feedback than the cognitive stage. It is when you start to involve conscious performance, start to include an outcome focus. Once I developed an understanding of the basic throwing movements I started to record my success rate with hitting my targets allowing me to determine if i was improving or not.

3. Autonomous
The last stage of motor acquisition, this stage requires years of practice to reach the autonomous stage. Only top level athletes tend to reach this level, it is when cognitive processing demands are small allowing the athlete to focus on other things rather than the movement. In my learning I do not think I have made it to this stage as I still required a large amount of feedback for each throw and it was not very accurate.
(Huber, 2013)

Session

For my final session I planned to record all my throws (excluding warm up) and see if i have improved over the 12 sessions.

10 throws from knees (warm up)
10 throws standing (warm up)

5 throws to stationary (10 metres)
5 throws to moving (post pattern short)
5 throws wile moving in a back diagonal motion to moving (post pattern short)

5 throws to stationary (20 metres)
5 throws to moving (post pattern deep)
5 throws wile moving in a back diagonal motion to moving (post pattern deep)


In my final session I hit 21/30 throws, this is 70% success rate. I found that during the session I was comfortable with the short throws wile stationary but when I had to move and throw it would take my body out of alignment and cause me to miss my target. I struggled with the deeper throws as I had less confidence throwing further, and this effected my performance.

Moving in a back diagonal motion wile throwing, note I keep my feet underneath me for balance and center of gravity.

Throw to Post pattern (short)

Conclusion

Over all of my planned sessions I only threw the ball approximately 400 times and 6 hours of practice all added up. This is a very small amount of hours (0.06%) of time in Gladwells (2008) concept of 10,000 hours practice. Therefor even though I have completed my 12 sessions I feel am still in the cognitive/ associative stage of learning, now I need lots of repetition if I wish to fulfill my dream of being a star QB in the NFL.


References

Anderson, J. R. (1981). Cognitive Skills and Their Acquisition. Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Gladwell, M. (2008). Outliers: The story of success. New York: Little, Brown and Co.

Huber, J. J. (2013). Applying educational psychology in coaching athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

The End is Near 3rd July 2014

Session 11

 

Now it takes more than a great QB to have a champion team as shown in the video above the QB was left unprotected and had to pay the price of having an unguarded blindside. On the field at any time the offensive team has 11 players and the QB has 6 players whose role is to protect him. They are the tackle, guard, centre and tight end. (Wikipedia, 2014)

An example of the players on the field at any time

A good metaphor to describe a sport like American football is that it is like a chain, in the way that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.  Although the QB has the power to control the tempo and decisions made on the field this does not mean that a team is only as good as its QB. Every player on the team has a job to do and if they do that job correctly they will have a successful, competitive team.

Session

As in all my previous sessions my focus has been on the technique involved with throwing the ball as well as improving my efficiency and accuracy. This means that I have had little experience in what a quarterback really has to go through in a typical play. So for this session I chose to finish with a mini game of 3x3 American football

All of the throws besides the warm up involve being put under pressure by a linebacker

10 warm up throws from knees/standing
10 throws to stationary target (10m)
10 throws post pattern (short)
10 throws stationary target (20m)
10 throws post pattern (deep)

10 plays to try and complete a pass (complete 6/10 sacked 1/4 incomplete 3/4)

This session was good because it involved all of the aspects that I have been trying to learn. I had to adapt my throw for both long and short pass and moving and stationary targets, then the game at the end allowed me to integrate all of my throws. It added a decision making element to my session, a new challenge I have not had until this session. I learned that each play is unique and no two throws are ever the same and that the last play, has an immediate impact on the following and so on. Especially after being sacked, that gave me a new factor to think about as I definitely did not want to be sacked a second time and make sure that I got the pass away before that happens.

 The time I got sacked, as you can see I became off balance when put under pressure

References
Wikipedia (2014). American football positions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_positions

Fine Tuneing 29th May 2014

Session 10

Quarterbacks in the NFL make on average $1,970,982 per year (Sports Illustrated, 2014). This is a lot of money to be paid to play a sport that you would happily play for free. Once you receive your first paycheck you become a professional athlete effectively you become paid to train. Therefor it is important that as a student of the game I am constantly trying to improve the technique and confidence of my throw.

One of the greatest coaches of the game sums up what it takes to become a world class player

"If you don't think your a winner, then you don't belong here"

          Vince Lombardi

The Session

 I took to the internet to find a tailored program for improving a QB throw. I found a number of different programs from improving every aspect of the game from correct snap technique to footwork and decision making drills. However I found a one session plan that incorporated all the aspects of the skill I am trying to learn.

1. Two Knee Drill 
2. One Knee Drill
3. Feet Paralell Drill
4. Feet Opposite Drill
5. Normal Foot Follow-through Drill
6. Circle Toss
7. Down the Line
8. Sprint out Drill
9. Set up Drill

(Eteamz, 2014)

Link Below
http://www.active.com/football/articles/9-drills-to-improve-a-quarterback-s-form

I found that the overall program did not take as long as expected and some of the movements felt quite awkward, such as the feet opposite drill. Although I saw the merit in completing the drill as it helped me to learn how to throw off my opposite foot. Also the down the line drill allowed me to experience what it is like to throw wile running, this is something I previously had no experience in until now. It confused me as I had to change my gait in order to have the correct foot position for my kinetic chain.

Two Knee Drill

References

Sports Illustrated (2014). Defensive Tackle - $1,223,925 - NFL's Average Salaries By Position - Photos - SI.com. Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0807/nfl.average.salaries.by.position/content.4.html 

Eteamz (2014). 9 Drills to Improve a Quarterback's Form | ACTIVE. Retrieved from http://www.active.com/football/articles/9-drills-to-improve-a-quarterback-s-form

Going the Distance 26th May 2014

Session 9

Andrew Luck, A 70 yard throw 

Arm strength is a key component of a succesful QB, especially if the coach wants to run a hail mary play. A hail mary is a forward pass,  typicaly thrown out of desperation or if the team is trailing in the final moments of a game. A hail mary travels a long distance from the line of scrimmage and is typically a low percentage play, the QB needs to have a strong arm to make sure they can throw the distance (Sporting Charts, 2014).

Because of my training I currently already do for my own sport I already do 3x weight sessions a week and two of them already involve using my shoulders, chest and back and more importantly my rotator cuff muscles (Smart Football, 2011) . 

The muscles involved in the acceleration phase of the throw and pivotal for generating force for a long throw

After doing some research I found some key exercises that are known for improving a QB throwing strength

1. Internal rotation
2. External rotation
3. The Follow through

 These exercises all help generate force and help improve shoulder rotation during the acceleration phase. In doing so will improve distance of my throws (Fischer, 2013)

1. Internal rotation

 2.External rotation

3. The Follow through

Session

This session involved long distance throwing to see how many times I could hit a target at a far distance both stationary and moving, the pass had to be at least over 20 meters

10 warm up throws from knees to partner
15 throws to stationary person
15 throws to moving person running a post pattern

This session was a new challenge as in my previous sessions I had not been throwing as deep as in this session. I found that my warm up was not sufficient enough to go straight into long passing, as you have to throw hard to try and hit the target. This meant that I tweaked my shoulder in one of my early throws but this did not become to much of an issue until the following morning. The targets were hard to hit, I found that the more tired my arm became the more effort I had to but into my throws. This turned into an intensity/quality trade off, the harder I tried to throw, the worse quality of my throws became.

References

Sporting Charts (2014). What is Hail Mary (pass)? Definition from SportingCharts.com. Retrieved from http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nfl/hail-mary-(pass).aspx

Smart Football (2011). Can a quarterback’s throwing motion be improved? | Smart Football. Retrieved from http://smartfootball.com/quarterbacking/can-a-quarterbacks-throwing-motion-be-improved#sthash.TyHPJQEO.dpbs

Fischer, B. (2013, December 6). Three exercises to strengthen your throwing shoulder - NFL.com. Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000292312/article/three-exercises-to-strengthen-your-throwing-shoulder

Beating the Defence 21st May 2014

Ray Lewis, Linebacker, Baltimore Ravens

Session 8

Pressure, there is an old saying that pressure makes diamonds, although this maybe partly true its also makes coal, and these are two very different things. So it is important that all pressure is handled correctly and that a person is practiced in handling pressure. Much like the SAID principle talked about in session 7 a quality QB has processes and systems in place to cope with the pressure involved with their position, also they will practice every possible scenario to ensure that if that situation ever arose in a game they would be prepared for it.

A study on NCAA players and their coping mechanisms for stress found 5 main factors that would affect their stress levels,

1. Meeting their own expectations
2. Grades
3. Pressure to win
4. Life balance
5. Pre match nerves

 The results found that athletes had a number of ways that would help them manage the stress, the similar tools used are

1. Spending time with family members
2. Take a break
3. Exercise
4. Asking friends or family for advice

This suggests that they use both problem focused and emotion focused coping skills (Steiner, 2010). I believe that the all of the stress management processes had one thing in common and that is that they are distractions allowing the player to take time away from the game and that is all an important part of life balance.

Factors affecting a Successful American Football team on the field

General                                                                 

1. Total yards                                                  
2. Amount of possession        
3. Yards per play                       
4. Team effectiveness defense vs offense       
5. Home field advantage                               
6. Passing efficiency
7. Rushing efficiency
8. Turnovers and turnover differentials 
9. Sacks



Peyton Manning

10. Red zone stops

These factors are only a handful of different scenarios that affects how the QB runs his play and the chances of success (Osorio, 2011)

 

 This Session

Throwing under pressure both mental and physical pressure, this is to replicate the SAID principle. Every missed target I had to run a lap of the tree this put me under mental pressure as there was a consequence for my actions.

10 knee and had drills (no pressure)

10 throws to stationary target 15 metres (under pressure)  9/10

10 throws to a moving target post pattern (under pressure)    8/10

This was quite a challenge for me as my throw was not as accurate as I thought, there were a number of incomplete passes this meant that I had to run to the tree 8 times making me rather tired by the time I was at the end of my throws. I had 12 complete passes in the challenge and 8 incomplete, 3 were incomplete with the stationary and 4 incomplete with the moving target. This pressure from the Linebacker was a good learning curve as it taught me to speed up my action and helped me understand the importance of hitting my targets.

Everytime I missed the target I had to run around the tree and back

References

Steiner D. (2010). Coping with the demands of being a collegiate student- athlete: an exploratory investigation coupled with a set of procedural guidelines for athletic department personnel and related services providers. A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the graduate school of applied and professional psychology.

Osorio, G. (2011). A Brief Review of American Football Rules and Statistical Variables. Sportscience , (15), 20-25.

 

Shock Treatment 15th May 2014

Session 7

Traditional Ball Trajectory

Fatigue

This will affect every sportsperson sooner or later if they play a top level competitive sport. It is defined as -

Fatigue:

"Physical or mental weariness resulting from exertion.  Something, such as tiring effort or activity, that causes weariness" (The Free Dictionary, 2014).

An average game of football in the NFL lasts for approximately 3 hours and the QB can make upwards of 40 passes per game (Team Rankings, 2014). This high frequency of throws can create fatigue for the QB both mental and physical fatigue. The graph below shows the types of stress (factors) that can affect the QB that can further result in more fatigue.

(Stuart, 2013)

Key:
Total plays run, blue
Rushing plays,  green
Completions, black
Incomplete passes, orange
Sacks, purple 

The Session

Today I decided to try something different and attempt my throws wile fatigued, Hargrove states that to perform a skill under fatigue can be a skill in itself. For the session I decided to try the impliment SAID principle, The SAID principle is an acronym for specific adaption for imposed demand. this means that when the body is put under stress it adapts so it can have a better chance at withstanding the stress, if it is put under it in the future (Hargrove, 2012).

10 throws to partner (with specific focus on the four stages of the throw)

10 throws at a stationary target (80%)

15 100% throws at target stationary 10 metres away

10 press ups

10 20 meter shuttles  (x3 with a minute rest in between sets and record throws on last set)

This was by far the hardest session I had performed as it put stress on aerobic and anaerobic energy systems as I was allowed very little rest and had a high number of repetitions in the throws. I found that the more throws I completed the worse my technique became, as my technique worsened so did my success rate. I only hit the target 5/10 on the last set, showing that as I became tired my technique worsened.

References
 
The Free Dictionary (2014, June 9). fatigue - definition of fatigue by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fatigue

Team Rankings (2014, June 9). NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Pass Attempts per Game on TeamRankings.com. Retrieved from http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/pass-attempts-per-game

Stuart, C. (2013, June 8). NFL Average Plays per Team Since 1950 — FootballPerspective.com. Retrieved from http://www.footballperspective.com/nfl-average-plays-per-team-since-1950/

Hargrove, T. (26, February 9). The SAID Principle | Better Movement. Retrieved from http://www.bettermovement.org/2009/0110111/

Halfway There 6th May 2014

An example of a post pattern

      Session 6

There are a number of variables that effect the outcome of a complete pass in American Football, one of the more significant factors is the receiver. The receiver's key  role is to catch passes from the QB. On most plays, the receiver attempts to avoid, outmaneuver, or simply outrun defenders, in the area of the pass route.

One of the more typically run plays for a wide receiver is a post pattern. The idea is for the receiver to run as  straight as possible to put the defensive back onto itself and off balance. Once this happens then they break diagonally towards the centre (post) of the field to create distance from the defender. Once separation has occurred for the defender and the receiver, the QB should then throw the ball into space in front of the receiver. By throwing it in front of the receiver it will then to allow him to make a play on the ball. (Sporting Charts, 2014)

The Plan

Looking to improve accuracy to move onto moving targets key points

10 warm up throw from knees

20 throws at target 10 metres at 80%

20 throws at a moving target running a post pattern approx 15 metres 

 Video of the throws to target at 10 metres

Once again I put a criteria on how many times I should hit the target. I decided that over the 40 throws I should be hitting the targets at a rate of over 50%,  over the 40 throws I hit the targets 29/40 this is a 72% percent success rate. I feel that I am becoming more accurate with my passing and beginning to develop a routine and flow with my actions, these improvements are also helping my kinetic chain. I found that throwing to a receiver was a new challenge as I had to adjust my throw depending on the position and how fast the receiver was running as I was trying to throw ahead of the receiver.

References 

Wide receiver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved June 6, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_receiver 

Sporting Charts (2014, June 6). What is Post Pattern? Definition. Retrieved from http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nfl/post-pattern.aspx