The Los Angeles Chargers are taking a different and quite interesting approach to remedy their consistent issues with penalties and blown assignments. Implemented by Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, the concept of “focus training,” a practice intended to improve a player’s ability to concentrate and stay responsible during practices, was used. This smart new initiative is a reaction to and correction for the team’s lousy performance. Since going on their current run, they are now tied for the 12th-most penalties in the league this season, quite the switch from last season when they had the seventh-least penalties in the NFL.
A typical day of focus training involves some serious stuff, like four sets of plank holds. You’ll execute position-specific deep horse stances, holding each for 30-60 seconds. To say that Ben Herbert, Michigan’s executive director of player performance, runs those workouts is an understatement. He takes players through challenging workouts following their regular practices. After every practice, Harbaugh identified the players who incurred flags or committed critical errors. He then sends them back to Herbert for a period of concentrated training to help them round into form.
Now in his 12th year veteran linebacker Bud Dupree has played on four different teams. He told us he was amazed by the idea of focus training. He called it “really a punishment,” noting that unsparing physical training was part of the experience. Dupree said that that kind of approach was novel to him in his career.
“We were kind of anticipating that it was going to be some wild sh
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