For football programs across the country, the off-season is where the foundation for the next season begins. It’s the time to build strength, develop explosive power, improve conditioning, and prepare athletes to become better football players. But a successful off-season program is about more than simply getting stronger. Coaches also need to keep athletes engaged, create competition, and build buy-in across the team.
So, how can you make your winter football workouts more effective while keeping players invested in the training?
Here are three areas to focus on.
Getting stronger is important, but for football players, the goal isn't strength for the sake of strength. It’s developing strength that can be applied directly on to the field.
Football requires athletes to produce force while maintaining position, leverage, and technique. Training should help athletes develop the strength and movements they need to perform those actions. The FlipSled gives coaches a way to incorporate football-specific strength and power development into their off-season training.
The sled is designed to move when athletes use the right technique. This allows coaches to reinforce powerful leg drive, explosive hip movement, and fully finishing blocks. These are movements that directly relate to the demands of playing on the field.
The FlipSled also supports progressive training throughout an athlete's development. Younger or less developed athletes can work with the sled at its base weight, while stronger athletes can progressively add weight as they develop. That gives coaches a training tool that can challenge athletes at different levels, while keeping the focus on developing strength that can be used on the field.
Strength is only one piece of developing a complete football player. Once athletes build a foundation of strength, they need to learn how to apply that strength quickly and explosively.
That’s where athletic power development comes in.
The FlipSled Clean gives athletes an opportunity to develop explosive power through triple extension. Athletes drive and explode through the movement to produce force quickly while maintaining control and proper body position.
For football players, developing the ability to produce force quickly is critical. Whether it’s exploding off the line, driving through or finishing a block, football demands more than simply being strong. Winter workouts give coaches the opportunity to develop both.
A strong off-season program doesn't just develop better athletes, it builds a team that wants to keep working. That can be difficult when workouts become repetitive. Adding variety to winter football workouts can keep athletes engaged while allowing coaches to train different physical qualities. With The FlipSled, athletes can push, pull, clean, flip, and perform movements designed around football-specific power development. That variety gives coaches more ways to challenge athletes throughout the off-season without relying on the same workout every day.
The off-season is also an opportunity to build camaraderie and competition. Multiple athletes can train on the same football sled, creating opportunities for players to work together or compete against one another. Instead of every athlete working independently, coaches can use the football sled to create an environment where athletes are accountable to the players around them. That competition can become part of the culture you're building throughout the winter.
Winter training should prepare athletes for what comes next. Build foundational strength, develop explosive power, create competition, keep athletes engaged, and most importantly - give them a training program that prepares them for the physical demands of football.
The right strength and conditioning equipment can help coaches accomplish all of those things while giving athletes a reason to keep showing up and putting in the work. The FlipSled gives football programs one training tool for building strength, power, conditioning, competition, and football-specific movements throughout the off-season.
The easiest way to train physical toughness in your players is through The FlipSled. Using this strength and conditioning equipment will help you build better players with its unique focus on powerful leg drive, explosive hips, and violent finishing.
Learn more about FlipSled athletic power development equipment here.