North Carolina State University Athletics
Mats entertainment
2/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 28, 2005
Photo Gallery of NC State Football Mat Drills
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- There's a smile on Dantonio Burnette's face that is hard to figure. Is he so happy because he's simply not doing the mat drills, or is it because he has done them before and is relishing his role as the torturer instead of the tortured?
"Sometimes they think they are going hard, but they really aren't," said the former linebacker who is now a strength and conditioning graduate assistant with the Wolfpack. "I just have to tell them to go look at themselves on film."
That might be the worst part about going through the winter conditioning exercises known simply as "mat drills": having to relive the entire experience on videotape, to make corrections on style, technique, and most importantly, effort.
The latter is inspired by Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, who watches with a mean eye for players who are loafing or not trying their best during these early-morning workouts in the weight room of the Murphy Center. Mats usually start at 6:45 a.m., and being on time and ready to go is much more important than eating.
In all, there are a total of 12 workouts, one for every game - Amato hopes - the Wolfpack will play next year.
The thing you take from watching the 90-minute workout is not so much the sights of burly offensive linemen and speedy wide receivers doing the handful of agility exercises. It's more the rapid-fire sounds of what's happening in various parts of the room.
For instance, there's ...
• The constant "Whump!" of players running full speed into brick walls and steel guard rails, cushioned only by eight-inch thick foam mats.
• The "slap-slap-slap" of sneakers on the hard floor mats, and an occasional squeak of rubber on rubber.
• The moaning and groaning, huffing and puffing, and the outright pleas for relief. "Are you going to write about how much hell this is?" sat a mat-weary quarterback when the workout was over.
• The shrill sound of Amato's voice, that early in the morning, telling laggards to push themselves. "If you are going to quit on me," he tells a player in a moment aside, "then go get your stuff out of your locker right now and get out of here." The player stayed.
• "Don't make me take a break because you have to do extra work," said a senior to the rest of his group. Finding leaders is one of the primary goals of mat drills.
• The sometimes violent frustration of the players who are called to repeat a drill, because a teammate wasn't meeting a coach's expectation. Heated confrontations are not unusual.
• Finally, at the end, when everyone has gathered back in the primary mat room, the coaches call out the names of those who have performed well, those who didn't flinch when called back to repeat a drill. "Let's have three for them," Amato says. "And three for them." He is answered with a quick "clap-clap-clap."
• The session ends with the players huddling by positions. In one group, the leader yells "Hard work," and is given the quick response "Pays off."
The day begins with four five-minute warm-up stations. Players are divided into groups by position.
One consists of simply slapping a row of mats hanging on the wall as fast as possible. Another consists of players lying on their back doing a bicycle kick. Another is standing with arms on the wall doing an exaggerated run. And the final has players standing upright on their knees, wearing pads, which they slap on a coaches command.
The real workout, however, comes in the 15-minute sessions at the other five stations. The first is in the hallway, which is covered by a mesh of bungee cords placed about four feet off the ground. Players run through the narrow opening, stepping over long pads.
At another station, players go three at a time, in a straight line, running between pieces of tape on either side of them at a coach's command. At the end, they run to another piece of tape and run in place until Burnette motions for them to dive head-first onto a mat.
At another station, the players do the tried-and-true football drill, high-stepping through a grid of ropes. After they finish, however, they run the length of the hallway and run face-first into a pad propped against the wall.
At another station, there are more agility exercises, followed by another face-first plunge into a mat propped against a metal railing.
The final, and worst, station is in the mat room. Players line up, three at a time, and are called out by the coach in charge. They start in a two-point stance, dive straight out onto the mat, get into a four-point stance, then do seat rolls at the coach's command. There's more running in place, a forward roll, then a full-out sprint into some mats propped against a wall.
"It's easily the worst of the drills," said strength and conditioning coach Pat Meyer. "It's where we can push them the most. And that's the point, to push them to a certain point and make them get through it."
Amato, who came up with the format for these exercises as an assistant at Florida State, seems to be everywhere. But if you really need to get him, go where the linemen are.
"You can usually find him where ever the big men are," said assistant equipment manager Wayne "Smoke" Hubert.
Besides the 100 or so scholarship players and walk-ons, there are at least three dozen support personnel on hand, including every assistant coach, every student manager and every trainer.
It's an intense, physically demanding workout that emphasizes agility, proper technique and discipline.
"Everything is real specific and real detailed," Meyer said. "If the toes are pointed out the wrong way, it needs to be corrected. If the knees aren't bent the right way and the right depth, then it needs to be corrected. If the foot-fire is not fast and rapid and they don't have air coming underneath their feet, it needs to be corrected. If they don't dive out and land on their chest and get back up with the right foot fire, it needs to be corrected.
"It's paying attention to details, the little things."
But, to be honest, those are not the real benefit.
"The thing that Coach Amato preaches is that this is more mental than physical," Meyer said. "It's physical and it's hard and it's early in the morning. The average person couldn't do it, but then these kids aren't average.
"And that's why these kids are here."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
