I'm interested in the opinion of the forum about the possible negative, and maybe positive, effects of Stanford's limited team contact sessions during spring.
Football is a violent sport and it's the argument of many people (coaches, players and fans) that you need physical practices to prepare. It's always a challenge to find the right balance of how much contact should occur away from the actual games. My understanding is that David Shaw prefers physical practices and it's debatable whether that's always a good thing. Certainly last season injuries suffered during games or practices combined to severely limit the team at certain positions. The effect of those injuries carried over into the spring and fewer than 40 players suited up for each of the first six practices.
Stanford held only a few full team sessions and had to use Tucker Fisk at right tackle because offensive guard Dylan Powell was not cleared for full-contact. (I expect he will be in the second session.)
Shaw and the staff adjusted practices to focus on individual and position group drills. There was an increase in one-on-one full contact drills to try to compensate for much fewer 11 versus 11 learning opportunities.
I've heard that the generally the players see the benefit of the extra individual work but there is some frustration about the team periods.
My questions to the forum:
What effect do you predict this spring's modified practices will have on training camp and the season?
What benefit(s), if any, do you think the team will experience because of the focus of spring practices on individual development?
Would your opinion of significantly less full-contact team periods be different if it was not because of almost 20 players held out, or limited, due to injury? If Stanford had a typical number of players available and chose to focus on individual drills to limit the wear and tear of year round football would that decision generate different responses from fans?
Football is a violent sport and it's the argument of many people (coaches, players and fans) that you need physical practices to prepare. It's always a challenge to find the right balance of how much contact should occur away from the actual games. My understanding is that David Shaw prefers physical practices and it's debatable whether that's always a good thing. Certainly last season injuries suffered during games or practices combined to severely limit the team at certain positions. The effect of those injuries carried over into the spring and fewer than 40 players suited up for each of the first six practices.
Stanford held only a few full team sessions and had to use Tucker Fisk at right tackle because offensive guard Dylan Powell was not cleared for full-contact. (I expect he will be in the second session.)
Shaw and the staff adjusted practices to focus on individual and position group drills. There was an increase in one-on-one full contact drills to try to compensate for much fewer 11 versus 11 learning opportunities.
I've heard that the generally the players see the benefit of the extra individual work but there is some frustration about the team periods.
My questions to the forum:
What effect do you predict this spring's modified practices will have on training camp and the season?
What benefit(s), if any, do you think the team will experience because of the focus of spring practices on individual development?
Would your opinion of significantly less full-contact team periods be different if it was not because of almost 20 players held out, or limited, due to injury? If Stanford had a typical number of players available and chose to focus on individual drills to limit the wear and tear of year round football would that decision generate different responses from fans?
