“Football is unconditional love”, proclaimed Tom Brady. He can talk, as he’s a well-paid, much-loved, quarterback in the NFL. But it isn’t just Brady who thrives off this muddy sport and all its thrills. For millions of youngsters, football is a religion, worshipped at many a reverential alter. If you belong to this crowd and feel stumped by a seemingly endless cycle of lockdown blues, here’s some good news for you. Use this time to strengthen your footy skills by practicing with a football play designer.
You see, football is as much a mind game as it is a physical activity. Practice, rinse, repeat – this is the time-tested mantra used by the best international players to condition their muscle memory. In fact, 80% of their time is spent on this rigorous routine, so they’re prepared for that all important 20% – aka game day. For this, coaches use a sequence of football plays, collectively called a playbook, to prepare and mentally condition their players for all possible game day scenarios.
Here are 6 top advantages of using a digital playbook for football.
Learn fast
If you are a footy newbie who’s fond of kicking the ball, you may be overwhelmed by the rules of the game. A digital playbook can accelerate your learning, as the rules are in-built into the plays.
Most playbook apps offer 2 important tools.
- An editor, to create fresh play diagrams based on a set of strategies. This is typically used by coaches.
- A simulator, to animate existing play diagrams. This is typically used by players.
No doubt, the best way to learn football is to play it. But if you’re inbound at present, you can download plays shared by top coaches on a digital playbook, and study them to understand the best ways to play the game.
The fun doesn’t stop there. Playbook apps enable you to cut-copy-paste portions of a play diagram at will, and run them as a video so you can see how it works in real time. In fact, you can even tweak existing plays on a digital playbook (personal version), and become a wannabe coach of your own!
Finally, a good playbook app will also allow you to share your self-designed plays with others – so you can love, learn and celebrate your favorite game in all its unbound ways. What a great way to learn!
Organize your team strategies
To strike or not to strike, that is the thrilling question. With 11 players on a team attacking the ball from all fronts, there is bound to be chaos. And yet, coaches manage to avoid this completely, by assigning role-based strategies based on the play.
For instance, an end rusher may need to defend the ball against an offensive guard or center. A cornerback or halfback is better off defending the ball when faced with an offensive wide receiver. And all this needs to happen in alignment with the various rules of the game, so as to avoid a penalty. So at every point, each player is guided by the coach with a pre-determined strategy, to get the best possible outcome (score/ save goal).
A digital playbook helps to stitch the whole thing together, so it is easily understood by every player.
Study plays to determine hidden weaknesses
By its inherent structure, a digital playbook exposes a team’s underlying strategy. And by studying plays of a particular team – yours or your rival’s, you can discover opportunity areas as you uncover the play’s strengths and weaknesses.
A digital playbook is fantastic for coaches who want to educate their team about new plays. But if you can get your hands on existing plays by a rival team, this is pure gold.
Accessibility on the go
Football playbooks are as fluid as the game itself. Plays can and often do change between games. Now imagine if the entire team had to be summoned to the drawing board, each time there’s a critical update. There’s also the risks associated with losing a precious playbook (version) written on a disposable piece of paper.
Digital playbooks allow you to easily share updates on the go. This is important not just for a coach and his team, but also amongst players. For instance, consider when an offensive wingback tweaks a play. When you go digital, these changes are permanently saved in cloud storage. The updated plays are also accessible to the rest of the running backs in seconds, so they’re all in sync. And the added bonus – all this happens in a green, clean and completely environment friendly backdrop!
Security that’s up in the clouds
Ironically, this is a good thing. With a little bit of programming, cloud-based storage can be made to work like an impenetrable fortress. Each playbook user can also have his own level of login credentials (read-only mode versus edit-mode), so your playbook stays safe on all counts.
(If you’re worried about hackers, be sure to read our article on the best ways to prevent cyber attacks against your business.)
Integration with AI
Digital playbooks are still new in the market. But with all things virtual, these nifty tools can be easily integrated with machine learning technology. Just like chess, the day is not far when an artificially intelligent supercomputer calls the winning shot. And when that happens, football devotees better be prepared to celebrate this rise of the machines.
In closing, a digital playbook is a mighty superior way to draw, study, improve and share football plays, all within the convenience of your hand held smartphone or tablet. Top playbook tools also offer enticing features like printing plays on wristbands/ call sheets/ scout cards, compatibility with American/ Canadian/ English football leagues, etc. Whether you’re an amateur seeking to enhance your experience of football, or a professional coach intending to set up the best plays for your team, a digital playbook is sure to have something extraordinary on offer for you!
