Getting The Most Out of Your Footbal Players

I like to read books that chronicle how great things are accomplished. As a kid I loved biographies and to this day I love watching them on the Biography or History channel. So much can be learned by just understanding how others have succeeded.

It isn’t very often that you read or see something that is both inspiring and instructional at the same time. The Team Films Production of "Perfect Effort" does just that, it chronicles the 2000 De La Salle High School football season that led to a National Championship. This is De La Salle of the 151 game winning streak. I get these books and films for free all the time from these companies to review and most are pretty average or even poorly done. That was not the case with this DVD.

On this DVD, you get to see what happens behind the scenes as coach Bob Ladouceur struggles to keep his team together, focused and motivated during this championship season. What struck me most is his ability to get his kids to recognize that they are playing every game versus not only an opponent, but against themselves. He stresses playing to the teams and individuals full potential, which according to him is often set artificially low. It was keenly evident that his players had bought into this when a player commented after a 60 point playoff victory, that they needed to work on their offsides penalties and that they left several scoring opportunities on the field, that the team, "needed work".

It was impressive to view Coach Ladouceur using "teachable moments", events that transpire in the course of a practice or meeting that trigger him to teach his players life lessons. This is a great film for any youth football coach or football player that wants to know what it takes to have a championship level team. Even for the casual observer, it is entertaining and engaging. It is a film I will watch several times and again before each season as well as lend it out to my assistant youth football coaches. Beware that there is some bad language, so it would not be appropriate for youth football viewers.

Coach stresses that he can not require perfection on every play, but what he does require is perfect effort on every play and every repetition in practice. That is the essence of "Perfect Effort" and when you see this team practice and play, it’s evident they are committed believers.

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