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Pre-workout calisthenics

A question from Jim:

As a football coach, I hope you can help me out on this one. I am on a part of a fine coaching staff at the PeeWee level (ages 6-9). One of our coaches should be name Mr. Intensity. He cares 100% about the kids, but he also comes from a very tough background (and his son is an all-state wrestler). He expects a lot from our kids and most players respect him immensely, as do I. I like most of what he does. You need intensity to coach and play football.

My question is this: During calisthenics, which he administers, he really takes them through the ringer. After some stretching, he goes into six inches (lie flat on your back, extend your legs straight out six inches off the ground). Which he does until they are nearly in tears. From that he moves to push-ups. Again he pushes them to their limit. Finally, he ends with grass-drills (shuffle, on the whistle, hit the dirt with your chest and quickly get back up to a shuffle). After last year, I was fine with both six inches and push-ups, but I thought grass-drills to his extent was too extreme. Grass-drills in my experience were always used as form of punishment. His justification for being so tough on them is that they need to toughen up! We can't give up in the 4th quarter!

And I must admit after 5 weeks, they are doing these exercises better. But we have had three kids quit the team.

When I talk to the kids before or after practice, of when they are thinking about quitting (which inevitably some players will contemplate during the year) the one thing they say they hate about practice is six inches; more than even getting hit by bigger kids!

I don't believe toughening the kids up a bit is such a bad thing, especially since we do play some very rough and tough teams, but on the other hand, I don't want to cause players to quit or not come back next year because our calisthenics is a torture drill that takes the fun out of it for them.

First, despite your apparent immense respect for Mr. Intensity, I definitely do not support his actions and his approach. We are talking about little kids football, not high school, college or the NFL.

To begin with most six-year-old boys are not ready for the emotional, physical and mental challenges of organized sports, especially tackle football and most especially Mr. Intensity. He sounds like perfect characterization of what a youth football coach should not be.

I really doubt that Mr. Intensity cares 100% about the kids as you say and I doubt that the players respect him. Rather, I believe they fear him. He certainly does not know what is best for 6-, 7-, 8- or 9-year old kids.
If he did then he would know that young children don't respond to exercise the way that adolescents do.

Specifically regarding six inch killers, as that drill is often called, most physical therapists and athletic trainers discourage that exercise for young children because kids do not have the abdominal muscle development required. Lacking the abdominal strength their hip flexors take over which can lead to stress problems in the lumbar spine. It would be better to do crunch type sit-ups keeping the feet on the ground.

Exercising to the point of exhaustion is also counter-productive and could also lead to injury. Mr. Intensity's justification for this kind of treatment ­ so that kids won't give up in the 4th quarter - is absolute hogwash. These are little kids playing a game for fun, not US Marines training for the Bataan Death March.

Football, even kids football, is a strenuous and often a challenging game. Exercise, stretching  and limited calisthenics help to prepare kids for the physical activity and should be a part of a program. The challenge for the coach is to make them effective and tolerable, not  demanding and unbearable.

The one thing that surprised me in your letter is that only three kids have quit so far. Given the treatment by Mr. Intensity you could expect many more to drop out.

Judge the coach by how many players enjoy practice and want to play again next year. That's what little kids sports is all about.