| #417 |
Practice |
Q. |
How important is work ethic - in other words, how much will guys improve with practice? Do they stay the same or can a guy who is rated low in some categories become good with a strong work ethic and well used practice time/game experience? |
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A. |
While in general, a player with a high work ethic will tend to improve at a slightly faster pace than an equivalent player with a low work ethic, there are always exceptions. A player may not like the playing time he's receiving and not work as hard in practice - players may not work as hard if the team is struggling, etc. Also, some players have already reached their full potential while in high school and will not improve much during their college playind days. |
| #418 |
Practice |
Q. |
How do attributes change - for instance, I presume that blocking drills in the practice session improves blocking, but do athleticism and work ethic change and if so, how? |
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A. |
Practicing certain areas of a player's game will help him improve his skills. See the following table for a general (not position specific) list of how each area may impact a player's game:
| Practicing... |
Improves... |
| Conditioning |
Athleticism, Speed, Durability, Stamina |
| Blocking |
Blocking, Technique |
| Tackling |
Tackling, Technique |
| Pass Routes |
Elusiveness, Technique |
| Hands |
Hands, Technique |
| Strength |
Strength, Athleticism, Durability |
| Agility |
Elusivness, Athleticism, Speed |
| Kicking |
Technique |
| Punting |
Technique |
| Study Film |
Game Instinct, Technique |
| Passing |
Technique |
Generally, happy players (getting starts/playing time) will work harder during practice (work ethic improvements). With regards to the offenses and defenses, the more practice and playing time a player receives under each set, the better the offense will function in terms of efficiency. |
| #420 |
Practice |
Q. |
What's the minimum time I need to practice an area so a player's rating won't go down? |
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A. |
It really varies based on the player's work ethic, potential, and how much playing time he's getting. Normally somewhere between 7 and 10 minutes would be a good minimum. |
| #428 |
Practice |
Q. |
If my player is not healthy enough to play in a game, does he still practice? |
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A. |
No. Players who are not healthy enough to participate in a game are held out of practice. |
| #823 |
Practice |
Q. |
How much time should I put in Formation practice? |
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A. |
This is up to you and there is no right answer. Formation practice will improve your players' Formation IQ ratings which will help them play better while using the associated formation. Since this time takes away from the players' positional practice time, it is a balance that you will have to find. Keep in mind that 0 minutes in the Formation practice will keep your players where they are, while 1 minute or greater will improve them. Since the improvement may be fractional, you may not see the improvement when you look at their Formation IQ ratings. |
| #824 |
Practice |
Q. |
Why do my offensive players need to practice defensive formations? |
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A. |
The practice time is just set up to split 180 minutes total. It does not actually represent all of your players practicing every formation.
We are aware that it seems strange that you have a total of 180 minutes and can distribute that amongst all of your position players, but when it comes to Formation practice, it seems to assign the minutes across all the players - offense, defense, and special teams. This is really just a balancing mechanic and not really meant to represent how your team practices those formation. So if you did have 0 minutes for your offensive formations and 30 minutes in your defensive formations, you might be wondering what your offensive players are doing during those extra 30 minutes. We would ideally like to improve this so it made more sense, but currently all of your practice times comes out of the same pool whether your Formation practice applies to every player or not. |