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ball down the field and score, then continue this pattern throughout the game. You will have had control of the ball for forty minutes, while your opponent will have had the ball a total of eight minutes. Thus you have given your opponent very little chance to score points.
Second, establish, and maintain a points cushion. Do this by putting enough points on the board that if your opponent does score it will not endanger your teams chance of winning the game. This is not accomplished through wild gambles at the beginning of each game, but by quickly finding and exploiting the weakness of your opposition before he has a chance to make adjustments to his game plan.
As their coach your team expects you to have trained them well enough that little pre-game reorientation is necessary. Never throw your team a curve by making too many changes prior to any one game. The key here is flexibility. Train your team to expect the unexpected, and to think for themselves. If you do so your job will be easier, because the team will be able to adjust their play to differing situations without your having to tell them what to do. You have to train your team captains to think and act intelligently enough take charge on the field, and make good decisions.
In many cases a coach will receive a scouting report prior to a game, and immediately make several changes to his game plan in preparation. After the game gets under way the coach finds that the opposition is playing a greatly different game than was indicated by the scouting report.
This often leaves the coach in a predicament where his team is playing according to a game plan they are not entirely familiar with, against opposition they are unprepared for.
You have to train your players to recognize what their opposition is doing, and allow them the flexibility to act on what they see. This is especially true concerning defense. If every player is sufficiently trained in his positional requirements, and confident in his ability. You will find that he will be able to act, and react to almost any situation.
Your team captains must have a full understanding of your game plan. They should know it as well as the coaching staff. This is important, because they will not be capable of doing their job's without such knowledge. Too many coaches lack the confidence in their team to expect the players to take on such responsibility, but if you do your players will seldom let you down.
The most important thing your team must do in any given game is to take the opposing team out of its game plan, while strictly adhering to their own. In order to do this, your team has to have total confidence in their ability to execute the requirements of their own game plan, and do so with enough proficiency to intimidate the opposition. Make sure your team never enters a game worrying about what the opposition is going to do to them. Their only thought should be of what they are going to do to the opposition.
In other words keep your team focused on playing their game, and defeating the opponent. Train all players to thoroughly understand the game plan and their part in making it work. If your players know what is expected of them they will easily be able to comply.
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