Patriot's Footbal Training Camp

I love watching athletes almost as much as I love dancers. Their movement is fascinating. When combined with a professional work ethic, it is amazing. I recently watch the Patriot's football team work out for a couple hours. The experience was riveting for me and the fans in attendance; but I know I looked at what was happening very differently than most.

While spectators cross referenced the roster of players with their practice jersey's, talked about potential signings and cuts, applauded the glamorous maneuvers, I remained steeped in the way in which the session was run, the workings of the staff, the work ethic of the players, and their body mechanics. I study and analyze movement in a flash. I delighted in the build up of short drills into more complex patterns. I was happily surprised to be right at home with the format. It mirrors a dance rehearsal.

Dancers, and athletes alike, build their physical skills, discipline their time, and train their mind to accomplish unearthly feats beginning in childhood. After years, those who persevere, are healthy, and learn the ins and outs of working with like-minded people take their training to a court, field, or to the studio and stage.

Before pros bring their work to the public, the practice or rehearsal time is key. These highly skilled people come to their training session or rehearsal previously warmed-up with years of skills in place only to unite it with team mates or cast members. In dance or athletics, the method is the same; the terminology is different.

I watched the aspiring football players, already drafted and considered pros, work together like a well choreographed production. By the definition of some, they have already 'made it.' because they are now in the NFL. But these players worked to improve, and earn higher ranking on the team as dancers do in a company. These football players worked in small groups on basic drills: scrambles, punting, hand-offs, catch and roll, passing and receiving like dancers working on sequences of choreography. The only music to keep these athletes in time was the whistle of the coach who kept them moving from drill to drill until they came together by offense, defense, special teams. First and second teams ran plays for some time, then at the coaches whistle, the players broke off into smaller groups again for practicing jump and roll, dive and slide, running patterns and more. There was little time spent on real tackles due to the new safety rules for the players, but is was fun when muscles memory of the experienced players caused accidental take-downs...all in good humor.

The only major difference between a training session and a dance rehearsal that caught my eye was the extensive support staff tracking every move, calculating every statistic on these players. The success of a dancer is not in the statistics, but in the unmeasurable depth by which they grab the audience by their heart strings.