From ankle biters to the pros, most football players have one thing in common:

A strong desire to get out of conditioning drills.

Let’s face it. The No. 1 thing that athletes tend to dislike about practice is conditioning.

Long runs. Short rests. More long runs. Just thinking about it can be as mentally taxing as actually doing it.

I’ve found that players who are having fun tend to try harder without even noticing.

So tell me: Why make defensive linemen run 100-yard sprints or ladders in a set time? What does doing that say about those players?

Does it make them better at their roles and responsibilities?

Does it make them better gap defenders?

No to both.

I realized this years ago, so instead I started to play games and use high intensity drills in gamelike situations to take the place of conditioning.

Playing physical education games at the end of practice went much further than lining everyone up and running sprints. Players compete to win instead of running just fast enough so the coaches don’t yell at them.

These games also improve footwork, hand-eye coordination and stamina while keeping the kids engaged.

But the bottom line is – it’s fun. Instead of shouting their way through conditioning, coaches will find it hard to get the kids off the field, all while accomplishing the same goals.

Now, at the end of practices, kids ask to play the games. We turned routine into fun by changing the dynamic.

So, next time you start conditioning drills, introduce a PE game instead. The end result is the athletes have fun while improving their skills and abilities.

Here’s two games your young players are probably familiar with from PE class that you can use to add some fun and conditioning into the end of practice:

Turtles, Dogs and Elephants

Equipment: Nothing other than a practice field.

• Separate the players into groups. Use a minimum of two groups of four to an unlimited number of groups of six – but keep the groups small if you can – and have them line up like relay races.
• The first player is the turtle. He or she lies flat on the stomach about five yards from the start of the line.
• The second player is the dog. This player steps or carefully leaps over the turtle. About five yards father on, this player lies face down with only hands and feet on the ground, arching the back upward so that another player can crawl under.
• The third person is the elephant. This player steps or leaps over the turtle, crawls under the dog, then five yards later stand stills with an arm up in the air like an elephant’s trunk.
• Everyone else navigates the first two players, runs around the elephant and reforms a line five yards beyond.
• Once everyone in the line has gone through the obstacles, the first person gets up from the turtle position and goes through all the obstacles. Then the dog does the same, then the elephant.

Variations: Mix up the order of the animals, or players can also choose their own animals as long as they fit the criteria.

Capture the Cone

Materials: Big outdoor area, 60 soccer cones, 8 tall cones

The total field yardage is usually 50 yards, and the width is that of a football field.

C = cones

This game is fast-paced and continuous play. The goal is to get all eight cones on your side, standing the cones up (no stacking), 20 yards back from the box finish line.

Prison: If any team crosses the box finish line and get tagged before it gets back to its side or crosses back over the box finish line, then it must go to the other team’s prison. If the players that are getting chased run out of bounds, they also go to prison.

Note: Players can run back and forth over the box finish line. If they cross the line, the other team can tag them, and if they stay on their side then they are the taggers.

To rescue the people who have been captured, free players must run to the prison without getting tagged (they can’t get tagged once in the prison area), then while in the prison, they must take one of their teammates and jog/sprint around the out of bounds,  exit the prison and go out of bounds to go around the long way, then reenter their side once they pass the box finish line. After that, both players are back in.

Capturing cones: Players cannot guard the cones. Taggers must be at least five yards from the cones. After three warnings, a cone is given to the other side.

Players can only pick up one cone at a time. They cannot pass, throw or kick to try and give the cone to another player. You cannot take the cone into the prison area to avoid getting tagged. Players cannot drop the cone to avoid getting tagged. Once they have the cone, they must keep running. If the player gets caught, he or she must put the cone back before going to prison.

Variations: Have students that are sent to prison do an exercise while they wait. Don’t allow any jumping or allowing their feet to leave the ground.

Anthony Stone is a USA Football Regional Master Trainerand a physical education teacher at Gregory Elementary in Rockford, Ill. He has coached football at the youth, middle school, high school, college and indoor professional levels. He also is a coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team program.