Coach -

Dr. Erik Korem on scripting practices that replicate the game

How many times have you walked off the field in Week One thinking:

“We’ve got to get into better shape”?

It’s a common problem—and one that usually stems from practice plans that don’t actually prepare players for what game day demands.

For some, planning practice becomes a copy-paste routine. Templates get recycled. Periods stay the same. But preparing a team to perform at peak levels—physically and mentally—requires more than tradition.

Dr. Erik Korem, now Director of Performance for the New York Jets, breaks it down with clarity:

“The purpose of practice is to prepare players for the game. That includes how long they’ll be working, how often they rest, and even how they transition between plays and drives.”

The First Game Conundrum

Korem calls it out: most teams aren’t conditioned for the demands of a real game.

• FBS games average 3 hours, 24 minutes
• High school games go 2 to 2.5 hours
• Yet, practices rarely replicate that full timeline.

You don’t need a high-speed tempo for 3+ hours, but you do need to study the rhythm of your game day:

• How many snaps per drive?
• How long between plays?
• What does sideline adjustment time look like?

Design practice to mimic that.

Make Practice Replicate the Game

Whether it’s individual, group, or team periods, the work/rest intervals must match the demands of your system. For an uptempo team:

• 6–8 seconds of exertion per play
• 22 seconds until the next snap

Are you actually scripting it that way?

Korem recommends studying your own season to build a practice script that reflects your true average:

• Mix in 3-play drives
• Include 7-play sequences
• Simulate timeouts, halftime, and sideline adjustments

This is where performance science meets coaching reality—and it’s how you get your team ready to play four quarters in Week One.

Video: Requirement of the Game

Practice Scripting to Optimize Performance

Want to dive deeper into Korem’s approach?

The full presentation is just $10—Practice Scripting to Optimize Performance

Let’s eliminate the first game conundrum—before it hits.

-The Coaches Clinic Team

P.S.

In this presentation you will learn: 

1. How to create the right framework to solve our problem
2. Determine what practice really is
3. Learn how to utilize practice scripting to enhance skill acquisition, stress inoculation, and game specific fitness
4. Understand how to utilize training load to enhance performance and mitigate injury