The hardest working boys in Western Japan... トレーニング動画 video

Specialized training
Difficult times call for drastic measures

. Johoku Longhorns
 Mr. Urabe and myself in front on the right.
(2009) Hiroshima, Japan

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 Johoku 2009 - 2010 roster
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.Player's grade levels (1年 = 10th grade, 2 年 = 11th grade)

Weights are in kilograms (2.2 pounds = 1 kilogram) and heights in centimeters

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Nothing new or revolutionary here...

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just plain old hard work and the systematic sweating of details towards a goal

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."Weights before dates"

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 .New players (9th Graders) trying to figure out their equipment

Red vs White combined scrimmage

January, 2009

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Going over the day's learning point before practice

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"Big guys over here, little guys over there"...

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At Johoku we didn't usually get big players. Everyone was generally the same size. This was both good and bad. The bad was that I knew we'd have to go up against some monsters in the more competitive Kansai area; the good was I could cross train the "big body" positions along with the smaller skill positions. I realized that to have any chance with these kids I'd have to build the team based on technique, deception, and audacious play calling. We had no choice other than to be unconventional.

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The process for selecting a player's position went something like this...

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"Can you run?" ..."No." 
"Go over there with the line."

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"Do you like contact?" ..."No."
"Stay here with the backs and receivers."

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I told the guys I'd hoped to accommodate their position choices, but the deciding factor would likely be based on the team's needs. It turned out that this was never a problem because of the way our practices allowed for cross training of positions. The players got to try almost everything.

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Doing the little things to the extremes...
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When watching the videos remember eleven out of sixteen of these kids were first year players who couldn't catch or throw a football a few months ago. The five second year players had only played in one scrimmage their entire first year...

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.The "Edge drill" 

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This is the "Edge drill", named as such due to the difficult hook block by the OT on the DE necessary to gain the sought after "edge" of the defense. The point of this drill is to run, hit, and tackle in close quarters; it was done on an intentionally narrow field so the players could desensitize their natural hesitancy towards contact. If they hesitated they'd experienced my wrath; which, to them was worse than the contact. 

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When you watch the video the more aggressive of the two running backs was the same kid who only ten months earlier ran away from contact and cried during his first game. At the time of this video he'd lost all hesitancy for contact; although, he still liked to chase bugs after practice.

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The Edge drill was always done at a quick tempo so there was minimal time to think. I wanted the players to develop situational instinct for every position on offense and defense. When they first joined the team many of them had never even watched a football game. This was also one of my methods for accelerating their development because we were only able to compete once a month. Aside from cross training, we also used this drill for offensive and defensive practices. On defensive days, I often played quarterback so I could expose the guys to new offensive schemes. The goal was to get pads popping, helmets knocking, and bodies in the dirt.



Changing player's "software"...

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As a result of my player's initial lack of understanding of the physical rigors of football I had to be careful about pushing them too hard too fast. It seemed they were under the impression tackle football was just flag football with helmets. Early on, the new first year players would always come up to me after practice and complain about their swollen fingers, scraped knees, and assorted bruises. I'd respond by showing off my own collection of disfigured fingers and former injuries. Then I'd call one of the older players over to "show-off" their injuries; I told them, in football, injury management and rehabilitation was a lifestyle.

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The majority of the new kids were long term projects. Rarely did I ever get a kid with even basic athleticism. That's probably because in Japan the athletes usually go for baseball. Baseball is king by a long shot followed by soccer at a distant number two. Volleyball and tennis are also popular sports in Japan; American football doesn't even make the top ten. The crosstown rival, Sotoku, had twenty-five athletes on the football team while their baseball team had ninety.
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In Japan, whoever can't cut it in baseball, soccer, or volleyball might try something else on a whim; in Japan, football is the "whim" sport. In Japan students aren't allowed to play more than one sport. The kids with less confidence typically drift away from the popular sports like baseball or soccer towards the fringe; in Japan, football is an outlier. What kid wanders onto a football team without understanding what they're getting into? In Japan, apparently lots.
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This presented me the challenge of attempting to morph a handful of non-athletes into something else. There was more to it than just teaching the young guys how to play the game. In some cases the player's basic fitness level was less than zero. Where I grew up it was competitive just to be a member of a team and guys would kill one another to get on the field. Not here. If I pushed these kids they'd disappear. I had expectations, but I'd have to ease them into the difficult aspects of football and I couldn't hammer them over every little detail; in some cases I had to develop a sliding scale. As long as I felt they were giving their all I was satisfied. We had sixteen guys on a good day and we needed everyone.

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The "backpedal, jump, catch, and run" drill

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The "backpedal, jump, catch, and run" drill was just another way to integrate many different things into one drill. Also, since there was only one coach (me) and sixteen hyperactive players it enabled me to keep an eye on all of them. Whenever I had different groups working in different areas of the field some of the players would slack off when I went to the opposite side of the field.

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The drills I put the guys through were somewhat dynamic; it was my intention to show the kids that was expected of them during competition. I taught the kids big plays were the only plays by making them to leap for interceptions, tightrope the sidelines, and break tackles on the way to the goal line. Running out of bounds was not an option unless we were doing two minute drills; I made them seek the end zone or the extra yard. The drills were a little difficult, but that's where we set the bar. I put just enough pressure on them to get their best efforts.
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Perhaps you're wondering why we didn't schedule pre season contests, or just let the players gain experience over time. In Japan there is no season, nor is there a league. There are two bi-annual national high school tournaments, one in the spring, and the other in the fall. Johoku is one of only two high schools in Western Japan that play American football. Other than crosstown rival Sotoku, the next closest team is a five and a half hour bus ride to the east in the Kansai area.
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Johoku plays their lone "rival" Sotoku twice a year; the winner of either of those contests advances to the national tournament where they inevitably go against a highly seeded team from Kansai (Osaka area). In Kansai there are a hundred or so high school teams and its a much more competitive environment. Prior to facing a Hiroshima team the Kansai teams have had to battle through multiple rounds of stiff competition. Historically, the Hiroshima teams are blown out by seventy or more points, always, in the first round of the American Football Tournament. 

Positional cross training.....

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The complications brought on by the rigorous academic environment at Johoku necessitated that I structure the team's daily itinerary to accommodate. Despite having only sixteen players on a good day we kept four trained quarterbacks. That's because it was possible for two quarterbacks to be absent on any given day because of academic activities and we needed at least two quarterbacks to get through the day's drills.

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Each of the four quarterbacks also played another position; the two younger quarterbacks were both starters at other offensive positions. We kept two quarterbacks at both grade levels (10th and 11th grades); this was necessary because it took longer for them to learn the position. One of the reasons we were always shorthanded is the local culture of competitive academic placement testing in Japan; at Johoku, seniors are forbidden to play sports because they have to prepare for college entrance exams. Typically, new players join the football team as sophomores and finish their careers just one month into their senior year. 

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As a result of my belief that in order to practice offense you need the pressure of a defense we had to be creative. We'd divide the sixteen member team into two (including myself) and scrimmage a half offense against a half defense. Every player gets at ten minutes playing time at two positions on both offense and defense. We did this twice a week anywhere from forty minutes to an hour. This helped the young guys with their understanding the game and developing instincts within the flow, and more importantly, they enjoyed it. Having fun was important because the player's were young and the games were so infrequent.

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At Johoku everyone who touched the football in it's course from snap to end zone practiced as a unit. In the background of the above video there are quarterbacks, receivers, a center, and defensive backs doing a drill. The receivers are practicing routes against defensive pressure. The centers is snapping and the (right handed) quarterback is practicing footwork rolling left, timing, and ball placement; the receivers are supposed to be catching, evading, and running to the pylons. Because we often used the shotgun we integrated shotgun snaps into almost every drill.

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Another aspect in the young player's development was expanding their horizons mentally. In Japan, only one or two football games are broadcast a year and almost nobody watches. The games are usually shown in December and only Japanese college or X-League teams are involved. After watching a couple of these games, I decided to use American NCAA games because the style of play is more dynamic and athletic.
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To the average American, football in Japan may seem undeveloped. American football isn't popular in Japan and probably never will be.  
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..Rice Bowl 2010

Japan X League Champions (blue) VS Japanese College National Champions (white)

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Televised NCAA college football games are a top notch production. The use of multiple camera angles and instant replay has a huge affect on young learners. I thought watching them might help the young guys understand some of what we were doing so I recorded some so we could watch them together. As the students watched the NCAA games they behaved just as my young friends and I had long ago; they jabbered excitedly, and then they went out on the field and copied everything.   

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. (Part - 2) Offensive Practice (Scrimmage)

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Coaching in this particular situation was kind of a balancing act; I had to keep the guys interested in football and yet put them through physical and mental difficulty. I had to suit-up and compete along side them, and yet, keep a coach's distance. I had to hit them and drive them into the dirt, and yet, advise them on rehabilitation. Somehow, it felt the young guys were my bosses and they'd hired me to explore their potential.  
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I didn't care about the game of football itself. My hope was to teach the young guys useful things for later in life. Although, as a team, if we prepared to the best of our collective abilities we'd have a chance for success.

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.Pass Offense (7 on 7) and two minute drill

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Was all this effort overkill for sixteen kids at an academic school in Western Japan? Absolutely not. It was just a long, intensive, lesson in planning and preparation. There was much that needed to be addressed. At first, the kids and I had to go round and round over every little thing; it took more patience than I ever knew I had. Some of the kids didn't know how to dress to train outside in the elements. None of them knew how to use weights, and most didn't know how to manage or rehabilitate a basic injury. I recall one kid who used a coat hanger to wrap his sprained foot. Some of the young guys didn't acknowledge or greet adults properly. We had to cover all of those things.
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Regarding football, when the young guys first joined the team most couldn't throw or catch a football. Within the existing constraints it took about two months of training to get them into basic shape; half of them could have been considered below average fitness wise for a non-athlete. Initially, they were resistant to the difficult training. After getting beat up once or twice by physically stronger teams I had their full attention. Football isn't popular in Japan so for the majority of the guys I was their only learning resource. My approach to doing things was probably unlike anything they'd ever experienced. Like most knuckleheads they learned things the long and hard way so it was a slow and deliberate process.

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The game clock added tension to practice

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With guys scattered all over the field we had to be mindful of the time so we used a game clock for everything; it also allowed us to set a target number of drill repetitions per minute. We also used it to prepare for minimal time game situations. To simulate the mental pressure of a close game we'd pit the offense against the defense with the penalty of extra conditioning for the losers. The guys would really up their level of play to avoid that extra conditioning; this also allowed them to experience winning or losing a couple times a week.

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Every offensive lineman on the team rotated to center for snaps during the passing drills; every lineman on the team cross trained at every offensive and defensive line position. All of the offensive and defensive skill position players also got equal time at all skill positions in every drill. Three of the four quarterbacks got ten minutes apiece daily in assorted quarterback drills while the team captain (the starter) got fifteen minutes. As a result, every player was interchangeable position wise with virtually no drop-off in performance.

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I always filled in whenever an extra body was needed for drills or scrimmages. Of course this put the added pressure on me of being able to do everything at an equal or higher level than the players. That was the best part of the whole deal. I love being in the dirt. About two weeks before competition I'd remove myself from most drills so I could observe more carefully.

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The players seemed to enjoy scrimmaging quite a bit; it helped them to develop instincts for running the ball and understanding pursuit angles on defense. Instincts are usually the last things a beginner develops if they ever do. When I first started playing football I developed instincts from playing a lot. I wanted the young guys to feel and enjoy the game as I had so I showed them everything I could during the brief time I spent with them.

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I taught the receivers that their second most important job started after making the catch and that a running back's job starts at first contact with a defender. Initially, they lacked the hostility and aggression needed so I tried everything to motivate defenders to chase down ball carriers and to fly to the end zone with the ball. Ultimately, a mix of threats, real and imagined, did the trick. My solution was to set the end zone up at extreme distances for ball carriers offensive drills; with each carry the ball carrier had to sprint all the way to the goal line. Of course, there was extra conditioning for the defense if they allowed a ball carrier to score. 
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Due to only having thirteen to sixteen players on a given day we had to be creative to scrimmage; as a result, we did "half unit scrimmages." That entails a full offensive backfield with a half offensive line and one or two receivers to one side of the field; the opposing defensive unit would be similarly configured. The width of the field was adjusted to be narrower and the ball was placed somewhere between where the hash marks would be. Running plays could only executed straight ahead or to one side and passing plays were executed in the same manner. Every ten minutes or so we'd flip the field to work the other side of our offense.

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We usually practiced running and passing offense separately, unless we were scrimmaging. I always thought it was important to practice offense and defense with opposing pressure. The downside of our offensive "7 on 7" passing drill was the players we used in the defensive secondary were actually linemen and myself. The artificially slow secondary hindered our pass offense's speed and timing development.

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.Pass Defense - Goal line situation (7 on 7)

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.Lateral tackle drill

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One can easily spot the disparities in tackling and running technique in the video above. In Japan, I've found that bad technique is often rooted in fear of injury or the perception that contact causes pain. This phenomena is not unique to this team. I've witnessed it all over Japan; I've seen referees blow the whistle during official games when ball carriers were "grabbed" by defenders. In the videos you may hear me yell "tackle made @%#* (expletive)!!" That's my subtle reminder to put the ball carrier on the ground. 

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Training Doing difficult stuff on purpose...

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Temple of the dumbbell gods

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We didn't have state of the art equipment, but the weights were hard, round, and heavy all the same. It appears that weight training as a discipline isn't as developed in Japan as what I was accustomed to seeing. I had to establish a new weightlifting culture with the young guys. In the videos you'll notice that I'm always hollering and growling around them in the weight room and on the field. Soon they began to growl on their own.
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The weight training helped the tackling situation to a small degree by improving some of the players confidence. A couple a of them appeared to have become "iron addicts" reveling in their newfound masculinity having pose offs in the weight room.
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I imagine most of the kids had never been exposed to a sport where raw aggression is imposed on others. What I saw as low aggression was probably more of a cultural nuance between Japanese and American culture. My former teammates and I reveled in knocking an opponent's helmet off and cursed if we missed. If you listen to the video carefully you'll hear the young players growling and hollering a bit. ...Some would say that's a good thing.

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Uphill stamina training

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Johoku's campus is in a mountainous area so we used the mountains in numerous creative ways. After finishing our weight training we'd always run from Johoku's campus up a long, steep road to the starting point of our mountain course. The distance from the campus to the mountain was about a half mile; from there we had a steep mountain trail to look forward to. For starters, the mountain had a steep one hundred and fifty meter long staircase carved into it. We used those stairs to develop power, leg lift, and stamina. Every so often we'd head off into the hills on a mountainous cross country run just for a change of pace.

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One of the benefits of using the mountain's staircase for training was that players couldn't stop when they were tired because we always ran in a single line. That trail was narrow so there was nowhere to pass without making a big deal of it; because of this the fatigued athletes gutted it out.

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.Up the mountain

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Western Japan's climate is tropical so the heat and humidity was an additional factor we had to to prepare for. Because we only had sixteen players on a good day we didn't have the luxury of rotating in fresh players like many of our opponents. The intensity of our training was gradually raised towards game days so we could safely adjust ourselves to game day conditions. During summer training I actually watered the young players during breaks with a hose. 

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down the mountain

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push-ups

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leg lifts

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up the mountain again

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"Big Oklahoma" run defense (no DBs)
(misdirection reads, positional assignments and pursuit)

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"Big Oklahoma" (above video) was the defense's chance to use me for target practice; it was also my chance to have some fun. My secondary purpose in playing quarterback was to get the defenders used to seeing weird plays and formations they weren't familiar with. Since we never had scouting reports on our opponents I always ran lots of misdirection plays out of multiple formations just to keep them on their toes.

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For the Big Oklahoma drill we didn't use DBs because we didn't have enough players. On defensive days I set the line of scrimmage fifty yards from the end zone on a regulation width field. The long wide field with no defensive backs forced the defense to work harder at their responsibilities putting an exaggerated emphasis on angles, tackling and pursuit.

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For an offensive "running game"oriented practice the field parameters were the opposite; we'd make the field narrower so blocking, contact, and power could be emphasized. If I wanted ball carriers to emphasize finishing runs after contact we'd start 20 yards out from the goal line; for emphasizing speed and open field running the goal line was moved to a longer distance. If the players didn't run hard or at full speed to the end zone they experienced the wrath. 

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."7 on 7" pass offense practice
(quarterback ball positioning and check downs)

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The young guys endured pretty much everything their opponents and I put them through. Playing football in Hiroshima is a unique experience that isn't for the meek. 

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 The Johoku Longhorns
Class of 2012

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