Albert Ruschmann, being a veteran of the game, has tons of experience under his belt and thus is the perfect candidate to teach a training camp for kids interested in playing professional football when they're older. The first thing Albert would stress would be the off-the-field things, like having a balanced diet, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and having people to talk to for your emotional well being. However, on the field, Albert would impart the keys to being a successful cornerback: speed, quickness, and smarts. Speed obviously to keep up with the guys that you are covering, quickness to be able to keep your backpedal, keep your hips loose, and change direction with receivers, and smarts to be able to read plays and know where the ball is going to be before it gets there. Most importantly, however, Albert would teach the kids how to tackle properly; head up, hit with the shoulder, and wrap up. Avoiding injury is obviously the most important thing and Albert wants to make sure the stars of the future stay healthy.
Tugg Speedman of the New York Silverbacks decided to hold a camp on how to be a star wide receiver and player in the International Simulation Football League for a wide range of kids. The camp was held in his hometown of Cleveland Ohio which was important to Tugg as the previous camps were held in and around New York City. The camp went over preparation, the importance of hard work, and many drills that helped with explosiveness, speed, agility, strength, and cardio - all of which are important aspects of being not only a great wide receiver but a great player in general. One of the things Tugg harped on more than anything is that nothing is given and you have to work for everything you have and stay motivated which in of itself is a challenge. During the camp Tugg stressed teamwork and respect to promote good attitudes and to help the camp run more smoothly.
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The first thing I'm doing is having every kid partner up. If there's an odd number of children, then I'm kicking the one kid who's not chosen out of camp, because it's obvious he just isn't a good teammate, and bad teammates have no room in the sport. After this we head out to the parking lot to do oklahoma drills, not only do these build character, but they also weed out the weak minded and the losers, as if a kid refuses to do the drill, or doesn't win against their opponent, then they obviously don't have the mindset to be a champion at any level of the sport, and if you're not trying to win, then what are you playing the game for? After I've weeded out the bottom of the barrel players, we can finally test out their in game skills, you know the usual positional drills, and since the player field is so small at this point, it should be easy to get to every position group that's there.
Bender would love the opportunity to teach some future stars the dirty tricks of being successful in the ISFL. He explains to the kids that the most fundamental job of a linebacker is to tackle the ball carrier. It is much easier to tackle them if they have injured knees. So, the first opportunity that you get you should twist their knees. That way they run slower and it's easier for you to get more tackles. The player is usually not expecting this so it's best to practice on unsuspecting people. Bender had each of the kids go to the nearby market, tackle a random person, and twist their knee Now, you always have to be on the lookout for a fumble. So to reinforce this point, Bender told the kids to be on the lookout for anything in these people's pockets. If there is a wallet or something take it and bring it back to him for safekeeping.
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Well I think the team would regret choosing a defensive tackle to host a special training camp in order to share his skills, but Absolute Unit is here to please and deliver. The most important part of being a defensive tackle is to take up space, so the morning drills will focus on this. While you think it would be about fighting off blocks or maybe standing your ground, that is boring and not worth the honor of being the opening drill of the official Portland Python Absolute Unit Camp. Instead, empty door frames would be put into the field, held up by various volunteers. One person waits in the door frame, while the other tries to get through the door. The object is to stop the other person without leaving the door frame itself. Pretty tricky, but teaches valuable lessons. Then, during lunch, the focus is on trying to figure out how to cram as much healthy calories into you in a single day as possible, the key being to try and make roast chicken taste good when you have it every single day.
Jean-Ralphio hosting a camp? What could go wrong! First off, he is a kid at heat. It's actually likely he would just end up losing himself and participating in the drills as if he were a participant and not running the whole thing. That said, keeping the peace would be quite tricky, as he tends to run a hot temper for these sorts of competitive things. They'd start off with some speed rushing drills, showing them how to get off the line quickly and beat your lineman to destroy the opposing team's quarterback. Next, they'd do some strength practicing, when speed won't work strength will do just as well. Maybe not for Jean-Ralphio, but surely for other defensive ends. And the kids would need a balanced approach, as not all can be expected to be as fast as Jean-Ralphio. At the conclusion of the camp, snacks would of course be provided, along with more than enough swag from Jean-Ralphio. All in all a successful camp would be quite easy for him.
As one of the premier defensive ends in the history of the International Football Simulation League, I have tons of experience to share with all of these youngins. Plenty of life experience, football knowledge, and fun to be had by everyone attending, as well as free merch and autographs for everyone that attends. To keep it fun and light we can work on exploding off the line by doing races for each camper. We have them try to react to the ball and get to the tackling dummy as quickly as possible. After that we can work on our hand placement and work through dummies and trying to slap them down. Almost like an obstacle course. That way they can work on getting past offensive lineman and when they get to the quarterback dummy they can slap the football out of it's hand. Lastly, just to end camp, we will do a big obstacle course just for fun. Running through dummies, and trying to stay low under a tarp, and then working through cones for agility.
While having the athletic ability to make it in football and sports in general, that is small equation in becoming a star. At the ISFL level everyone is a freak athlete and you aren't going to make it just by being a better athlete. It takes a mindset and the motivation put in the time and energy into training, studying, and using that training and apply it in game. Jamarcus Russell washed out of the NFL due to his lack of work ethic with training and his health. The story of him being giving blank tapes is known and frequently an anecdote, and his inability to keep shape torpedoed his career further. You need to balance humility/coachability with confidence as a passive or permissive personality will make you lose confidence in your talents, while having too much confidence leads to hubris. The entire Antonio Brown saga that lasted over four years with four different teams is a testament to what ego and hubris can do to a career, even if one has the skills and talents to otherwise excel in the league.
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