Section 3: Setting Up a Training Program
When deciding on training, the most important questions are how many positions to train, who to train there, and what to train. To develop an U21 player, for future Canadian teams, it is likely that heavy single position training will be needed (for the skills that have this option).
I won't say much here about selecting trainees (although the above sections have some thoughts about trainees in general). One point I will make is that it is good to work with trainees that benefit from the same training programs. For example, you might select 3 players that all could use heavy IS training at C for a whole season, and then balanced IS, ID, RB training after that.
I also won't say much here about deciding what to train, other than that I think it is a good idea to strive for some balance. If a player is really low in a main skill, it is usually a good idea to work on that first. One reason for this is that players train faster in skills that are low (relative to their other skills), and train more slowly in a skill that is relatively high. For pure team training (stamina, free throws), it is usually best to only do these in weeks with fewer games (2 game weeks).
Managing Minutes
I would like to spend a little more time on managing minutes, for your trainees. Let's say that you have 3 trainees, and you would like to single position train them at C. To receive full training each week, they are going to need 48 minutes. In other words, they each need to play one full game. For game shape reasons, it can also work well to use each trainee as a backup in one game a week (say, at PF), but this is optional.
To force 48 minutes at a position, for a single game, it helps to set your lineup so that it is impossible for your trainee to be substituted out (under normal conditions). If your team is leading by 21 or more points in the 4th quarter, your coach will try to take out all of your starters, regardless of your instructions. With this in mind, for single position training, it is often a good idea to not let your coach have this option. You can stop him by not dressing any extra players for him to put in for your trainee. If you want to force 48 minutes, at just one position, the following lineup works well (Example names, trainee = Blenkinsop):
C: Blenkinsop Blenkinsop Blenkinsop
PF: Someguy Jimmy Jimmy
SF: Chuckd Ripp Ripp
SG: Jabir Paulo Paulo
PG: Congyou Muggsy Muggsy
Only 9 players are dressed, total
Coach: Strictly Follow Depth Chart
Fouls: Let Them Play
If you do that, your trainee will play the whole game. The only things that will take him out are an injury, fouling out, or annoying randomness at the end of quarters (which I've only seen extremely rarely, and you basically don't need to worry about this).
I'll also add, that for game shape purposes, it tends to work best if you can get your trainee near the 60-65 minutes range. More broadly, 48-75 minutes per week tends to be pretty good.
Bonus Strategy: Secondary Trainees
Some training types, such as rebounding and jump shot, can only be trained at 2 positions. One thing that can work well, for some teams, is to have 3 main trainees (single position trained each week) and 2 somewhat trainable other guys. Let's say your trainees are being trained at PG. For the first two games in a week, you could aim for single position training at PG for your main trainees, with the other guys getting minutes at SG. However, if something goes wrong (say, a main trainee fouls out), you can adjust for the 3rd game, and get all 5 guys full jump shot training (which is a 2 position type of training anyway). This is something to think about, at least. If my memory is right, I think that Superfly Guy (a world class manager) has said some positive things about this setup.
Last edited by The Mogul at 04/22/2010 04:00:52