1. Forget the Past
For most of the past forty plus years, the scene prior to a football game was the same almost everywhere. There would be lines of players stretching, doing jumping jacks, windmills, and knee raises among other exercises. While this may have appealed to the control freak side of coaches because it looked orderly and team oriented, these traditional football warm-up activities are now shown to detract from performance on the field, not enhance it.
2. Positional Warm-ups
Build a football warm-up around the movements and activities of the sport. Warm-ups should put the players through short but intense movements that start with low intensity and gradually increase throughout the warm-up. For instance, if the player is a receiver, then have him or her warm-up by catching passes, and so on down the player position list. Finally, stretching is still an integral part of the football warm-ups and should remain a constant from the past.
3. Tone it Down
Football is a contact sport played by aggressive players. While aggressive play is an asset on the field, too much intensity in warm-up is a negative. So make sure during the warm-up players prepare but do not tire them out before seeing any game action. If the players become too intense during the football warm-up, they can take some time to regain proper energy during the games, if they do at all. Understand that you will not win a football game in the warm-ups but you sure can be lose it.
4. Be Vigilant
Football is a sport built on toughness and taking one for the team. However, sometimes players take this too much to heart and try to play through injuries that can cause serious bodily harm. So pay attention to players during the warm-ups and notice if they show any signs of injury. If so, quietly pull them aside and ask them if they are feeling alright. If they refuse to admit any injury, continue to observe them and withhold them from competition if necessary. Sometimes it is the job of the coach to protect a player from himself.
5. Overall Goals
Understand that the overall goal of football warm-ups is to prevent injury by properly warming up the players prior to competition. This above all else is paramount, so keep this in mind when constructing any pre-game warm-up routine. While it is great to go over plays and get the players fired up to play the game, the goal is player safety.
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