Here is a mistake that I have made in the past when coaching kids. Look around real good and you might be doing it too. It does not help young people!!
Sometimes its the pressure of the moment. I have coached other sports as well as wrestling and I learned that when it is GO TIME, END OF THE SEASON, PLAY OFFS, DISTRICTS, or STATE that a lot of time coaches get nervous too. We start to stress as well. We think to ourselves "Have I prepared them well enough?" or "Should I show them some new SPECIAL moves (or plays in other sports)". The answer is NO! Keep your routine the same. Anything you wanted to teach them should of been started weeks ago (even longer if they are younger). Don't get them all confused. If you know of a SPECIFIC situation that has POPPED UP (like you know one of the kids they will be facing is a kid from TOHK (this could be any club) and he is probably going to try to throw a hip toss) then it is OK to drill the defense of that move. But new moves, new training routine, NEW STRESS does not help these young people.
We only lost 1 game in football this year. What we were doing was working. It was working REALLY WELL! We get into the bowl games and we are adding plays, moving kids to new positions, changing what had worked for us! This caused confusion, stress, and took all the fun out of what we had been doing for the last 3 months. Needless to say, we didn't do too good at the bowl games. We catch ourselves trying to pack all this EXTRA STUFF in before its too late. It doesn't help. Make this time as stress free as possible. They have enough on their minds already. Most of these kids know what's at stake and how important it is. Don't get me wrong, continue to DEMAND what you have been DEMANDING ALL YEAR LONG! If it is not enough then work that into your plan for next year.
We all make mistakes! We should share them and learn from them. I hope by me sharing my mistake that you won't make the same one!
GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE KIDS (and parents and coaches)