I have long been a proponent of a no huddle approach, especially because it allows us to practice at a pace where we can be on the field for two hours and 15 minutes at an absolute maximum.
While it seems to be rarer and rarer, I know there are still programs out there that are grinding out at practice for three hours at a time, which is why I found this info interesting.
A study done during the 2014-15 school year, and shared by Lee Weber today on Twitter states that half a million injuries happen to high school athletes yearly.
Of those, a stunning 70% of them happen in between the second and third hours of practice, causing over two-thirds of them to miss 2-3 days of practice.
The numbers are for all sports, but it brings up a few interesting thoughts for me.
I can't help but wonder if those numbers are because a vast majority of football practices (at least in my experience as a coach and player) end with some type of live work at the end, like a team session, or 1's on 1's.
Also, a lot of high school programs have gone away from the traditional two-a-day practices with one in the morning and breaking to have kids come back in the afternoon or evening, and instead have decided to go to two one-and-a-half hour sessions with an hour break to eat and hydrate together as a team in between to account for four hours total. With so many injuries happening at the tail end of long practices, I also wonder if alternative options are worth exploring for "two-a-days: as well.
The topic of proper rest has been at the forefront of a lot of training conversations and rule changes the past few years, and with this data now in mind, you've got some great information on hand to drive decisions on practice and training length and the benefits of shorter and efficient ove the long, grind it out practices.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.