Mustang football squad working in phases to get ready for 2013
MARBLE FALLS — With its 2012 season over, the Marble Falls High School football program has moved on to 2013.
Head coach Todd Dodge said the Mustangs began their four-phase preparation for next season after their last game Nov. 19. The Mustangs finished the season 4-6 overall and 1-5 in District 25-4A.
To begin their training, players will be running and spending time in the weight room before enjoying the Christmas holiday, Dodge said.
Coaches will test each athlete and develop a plan that helps each player become stronger and faster.
In the weight room, coaches will specifically look at four lifts – the incline bench press, the power cling, the squat and the bench press.
An emphasis was placed on strength training because of what happened during district play. Opponents were able to overpower the Mustangs, something both players and coaches want to change next year.
So coaches will make appropriate adjustments while carefully documenting the progress of players from now until spring football starts May 1.
“You ought to be embarrassed if you get to mid-April and haven’t made any gains,” Dodge said.
Athletes are understanding they must devote more time to improving that goes beyond the normal athletic period, the coach said.
“Players are willing to come in early or stay after school and get extra lifts,” he said.
After the spring semester starts, the Mustangs will spend four days a week in the weight room and will begin running 200 meters to increase speed. Dodge is a big believer in how 200-meter sprints can improve quickness.
Coaches also will implement a base plyometrics program with explosive movements designed to make athletes faster and stronger.
“Really, what my goal is is to get football and track together and get our athletes their offseason preparations for track come February,” Dodge said.
In addition, nutrition also will be a big key, he said, so coaches will help athletes create meal plans that complement the speed and weight workouts.
“We need to make sure our players are improving their diets – protein, hydration, eating mini-meals instead of carbs,” he said. “And they’ll see some muscle growth.”
Phase 2 of the training kicks off in February.
Athletes will still spend four days a week in the weight room, but they also will concentrate on agility, Dodge said.
Players will be asked to perform exercises designed to help them make quick bursts such as using ladders and ropes, while continuing to participate in plyometrics.
And Dodge will start his quarterback school, meeting with them during the athletic period and teaching them more about the position.
March brings Phase 3 during which Dodge will start Mustang Maker, a boot camp that includes an intense form of strength and conditioning as well as mat drills. It’s a program based off what he used at Southlake Carroll that he called Dragon Maker.
“It’s a high-intensity speed, weight, drills, team bonding, toughness-building mentality and physical phase,” the Mustangs skipper said.
After Spring Break, Marble Falls will start Phase 4, during which “anything happening is all football related,” he said.
“We’re not necessarily working on speed work,” he said.
Players will be divided into offensive and defensive units and work on improving technique and foot work for each position with the aim of getting them ready for the start of spring football, Dodge said.
The spring game is set for May 25.