

What an NFL Training Camp is Really Like - lukas
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/what-an-n-f-l-training-camp-is-really-like/

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JacobAldridge
The key point I took from the article (and to prevent a possible 'Is this HN?'
comment) was this (my emphasis):

"The players who end up making the team and having a sustained career in the
N.F.L. are the ones _who can process these details and apply them quickly_."

So very relevant to any pursuit. If you can learn and change with agility (pun
somewhat intended) you have a much greater chance of success.

~~~
philwelch
It's surprising how much technique is emphasized. I had no idea these guys
actually spend more time with a projector reviewing technique than they do
training.

Aside from perhaps the boot-camp aspects, the rest seemed vaguely familiar to
how other ambitious, high-performance groups work--constantly pushing to
improve, an emphasis on getting it right to the expense of protecting anyone's
pride, and often very long hours of very hard work.

~~~
gaius
I've heard that Navy pilots do this; every carrier landing is reviewed.

I wonder how the NFL players would fare at elite military training; P Company
or All Arms here in the UK, Ranger School in the US, etc.

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balding_n_tired
Probably it was more common in the days of the peacetime drive (1953-1965?)
but various NFL players had been in the Rangers (Grabowski) or had been jet
jockeys (Max McGee). Rocky Bleier was not in an elite formation, but did have
to recover from wounds received in Vietnam.

~~~
gaius
I'm thinking specifically about how the physical and mental demands of NFL
training camp compare.

F'rinstnace I was reading on Wikipedia just now that at Ranger School soldiers
are fed a very restricted diet that results in weight loss of 20-40lbs, I
imagine the NFL guys would consider that counter productive.

~~~
philwelch
You can definitely push military personnel harder--NFL players are unionized,
service members aren't, and law and society wouldn't look very kindly on any
private enterprise doing some of the harsher things seen in military training.

For an extreme example, consider SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and
Escape) training. This is an extensive course intended to prepare personnel
for everything that can go wrong behind enemy lines--how to survive off the
land when separated from friendly forces (downed aircrews, for instance), how
to evade capture, and what to do when one is actually captured (the
"resistance" and "escape" portions). While the early portions of the course
cover comparatively "fun" subjects, the later portions involve being subjected
to captivity and abuse. The intent is to train people to resist torture and
escape from enemy POW camps.

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jsm386
HBO's Hard Knocks is about as candid a look that you can get about the
experience the writer describes. This season with the Jets was particularly
interesting - management dealing with a holdout of possibly the best defensive
player in the NFL, what to do about a veteran who inspires and mentors the
younger player who will replace him...very soon, if not this season, and the
glimpse of everything the writer experienced. You see week after week players
on that bubble - will they make it, do they ever have a chance, can they prove
themselves. As reality television goes (granted a damn low standard) it is
impressive.

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nkassis
One of my High School coaches loaned me this book by Jerry Kramer:
[http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Replay-Green-Diary-
Kramer/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Replay-Green-Diary-
Kramer/dp/0385517459/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284000553&sr=8-1#reader_0385517459)

It's interesting to see how these players experience such highs and lows
during a season, they often get to the point where they would just quit but
somehow manage to keep going. Great motivational book.

~~~
zackattack
[http://tomrancich.com/resources/articles.php?obj=article&...](http://tomrancich.com/resources/articles.php?obj=article&oid=46&momId=451)

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ahi
There are high school teams that do this too. Crazy, but when you're 16 it's
actually kind of fun since the aches and pains aren't quite as bad. Two
practices and a film meeting every day makes for rapid visible improvement.

~~~
jtbigwoo
> There are high school teams that do this too. Crazy, but when you're 16 it's
> actually kind of fun since the aches and pains aren't quite as bad. Two
> practices and a film meeting every day makes for rapid visible improvement.

I've never heard of a high school team that didn't have two-a-days and film
every day in the pre-season. In fact, judging by this article, my high
school's football team spent a lot more time practicing on the field than the
pro's do. I'm sure those long practices helped with strength and conditioning,
but I wonder if their technique and skills would have improved more quickly
with more recovery time.

~~~
gaius
Probably not much. Anyone playing sports at this level is genetically
predisposed to it; you can see that they're big guys, but what you can't see
is that they recover from training more quickly than the average person too.
The ones that lack this ability already burnt out before getting to this
level.

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ojbyrne
I read a couple of books in my long-distant youth about the training camp
ordeal. It played up the military boot camp aspect of it. This article is
surprisingly intelligent and well written compared to those.

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nailer
Now take away the helmets and pads and imagine what a rugby camp is really
like.

~~~
dgordon
American football is as violent as it is because of the pads. When you can
throw yourself at a guy and not get badly injured yourself, that'll start
happening. It doesn't happen in rugby -- there, you tackle to bring the guy
down, not to knock him senseless. Forward passes encourage that kind of
tackling as well.

