Topic of the Week: Tournament Pregame Routines

[matthewbourland]

Due to the nature of tournament play, it can be challenging to get focused and ready to play multiple times in a day. What type of routines do you and your team undergo to get physically and mentally prepared for the first game of the day at a big tournament? How does that routine differ in between games?

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[alyantis]

At SUNY-Buffalo we would often have trouble getting our legs ready for the first game. What we prefer to do is to get to the tournament earlier than most teams to warm up. We do a light jog followed by high knees, butt kicks etc. We then run a quick end zone drill, and if we have time we will go into scrimmaging. Scrimmaging gets the legs pumping and you into a game like setting.

For the other games we do the end zone drill to warm up as it incorporates the throws we want along with quick movements. It would be advisable to warm up some longer throws as well though.

[torre.hargett]

my personal 1st game warm up(done before my team warm up because i don't get as much out of it):

jog a big lap(2-3 fields) - mental prep time
active stretching(25 yrds for each): high knees(holding each leg 2 secs), but kicks(holding each leg 2 secs), bent over calf stretch (holding teach leg 2 secs), supermans(holding 2 secs), lunge twists, ankle hops (~30 secs), trunk twists, and probably some grapevines in there.

after this, i go throw for a minute or two until our team warm up starts. these currently consist of 1 lap run, then for touches/speed: high knees, butt kicks, high skips, strides, shuffles, grapevines, and sprints. then a mountain cut to/cut away drill.

[bslade]

Pre-game activities should prevent injury via appropriate warmups, get people comfortable throwing game-time throws in whatever wind/weather presents itself that day, and set the tone for problem areas on your team (e.g. marking, red-zone scores, long throws, etc.).

In my experience, about 10-15% of players prefer to do their own warmup/stretching rather than warm up with the team (often do to specific injury issues or habits). If they can do that without hampering the rest of the team, I would let them have that freedom- I was always 'that guy' when I wasn't captaining, but would get frustrated with 'that guy' whenever I was in charge. So don't plan a drill/exercise that requires each and every one of your players to run smoothly.