“Victory requires payment in advance.”

You may have heard that football slogan before. If you’ve ever coached a football team, or any sports team, you know it’s hard to disagree. How a coach leads a practice and how players prepare for games have huge impacts on outcomes.

Smart football coaches are smart practice coaches. They take time to prepare. They understand the balance between needing repetition so that players learn and needing variation so players don’t get bored. They know the importance of working on their teaching skills.

As a coach’s primary role is teaching, let’s recognize some of the teaching approaches that occur during practices. Here are four:

1. Big group learning. Football coaches might address the whole team about topics such as conditioning, player expectations and football fundamentals. One-to-many presentations are most effective when coaches come prepared, pick the right time and keep it short. What players want to kick off practice listening to a 10-minute monologue? Smarter coaches let the players get into activities right away before talking to the large group.
2. Small group training. Given the varying skills needed for different positional assignments in football, small group training can make up a big part of practice time. Your offensive line might focus on blocking techniques while receivers and backs focus on ball protection. Break down learning into small groups to improve the coach-to-player ratio into manageable numbers. Having several stations during practice requires the head coach to assemble a good group of assistant coaches.
3. Individual instruction. Players might need some extra instruction or encouragement to help move them to mastering a skill. Or, there position might require some specific knowledge, e.g. field goal kicker. Throughout the course of a season, all players should receive some one-on-one instruction from coaches – both at practices and at games. Don’t just save your individual instructions for the QB or the skilled positions. Get all of your players involved.
4. Peer-to-peer knowledge share. Players learn in different ways. Watching teammates perform a technique correctly and having those players talk about their approach might help them.

OK, nothing too earth shattering there. With the possible exception of peer-to-peer knowledge share, most football coaches are teaching big groups, small groups and via individual instruction on a regular basis. So, let’s address how we can use these approaches together in a sequential way so players learn more effectively.

It’s called progressive coaching.

It starts with zeroing in on an important concept: If you try to teach your players too many concepts at one practice, retention typically is poor. Focus on an important fundamental and make that the feature throughout practice.

Blocking is a critical fundamental that we’ll use for this example. After a warm-up session, the coach can address the entire team (big group learning). The coach provides an overview of what’s to be covered, describes the drive block technique, demonstrates the technique with help from others, addresses important concepts of the technique – head up and shoulders square – and covers any questions.

After big group learning, coaches direct players via individual instruction. In the case of teaching drive blocking, it works best to break the team into pairs, with one working on blocking and the other playing the defensive role. The players have heard the instruction; now is their time to try it out. Have players go half-speed at first while they grasp the basics. Adding variations keeps it fresh. Have the defender make a hard move to the right one time, then a hard move to the left the next. Coaches can offer instructions to individual players immediately after seeing them perform. Make sure that each player’s technique is reviewed and feedback is given.

From individual instruction, move the team to small group training. You might find five blockers and five defenders works well. Work through the same drills, beginning at half-speed in this small group setting. Having five blockers provides the opportunity to coach double-team blocking. The coach should demonstrate this technique then have players execute the technique while alternating defenders so that the offense has the two-to-one advantage.

From the small group training, it’s fun to bring the group full circle back to the big group. Going 11-on-11 where the offensive focus is on block technique is a good way of doing that. Coaches can watch the blocking closely and highlight players who are doing well. At the end of the scrimmage, coaches can help orchestrate a peer-to-peer knowledge share by asking players what’s working for them, what’s the biggest challenge and what are the important points to remember. Other coaches might choose to incorporate the peer-to-peer share during each stage of the progression.

The progressive coaching approach keeps things focused on one important concept. Players are less likely to be bored because the teaching environment changes by group size and with variations. And given the multiple repetitions throughout the process, players are more likely to remember the techniques they’re called on to perform.

Fundamentals need to be reinforced and practiced again and again during the season. But think of the possibilities if you use the progressive coaching approach and focus on blocking for one practice and tackling for another. Concepts that are learned well stay with players.

“Championships are won at practice.”

You may have heard that line, too. The smart football coach’s translation: Take the time to teach important fundamentals in an effective way.

Michael O’Halloran is founder and editor of Sports Feel Good Stories.com - a resource for football quotes, football slogans and football award certificate templates.