Best way to practice offensive plays

[jolson88]

Hey all. For those of you that like to practice plays in order to get better at them in-game, I have a question for you. I've never done this before (always just "winged it" in-game). What's the best way to get good results? Do you practice against all sets, all plays. Do you practice against only a few types of sets? Do you focus on man or zone? Etc.

Also, is there a way to just tell the computer "choose random defensive play" to put my offensive play against?

Any tips and tricks would be MUCH appreciated .

[PowerofRed25]

You can have it select a random defensive play out of a formation. So you can go to like 4-3 Normal and hit select and it will randomly select plays out of that formation. So in practice, I'll usually just pick the defensive set that matches my personnel and randomize the play and do about 10-15 reps just to get a few different looks and see how things develop.

I use practice more to see what plays/routes just don't work so I can take them out of my custom playbook. The plays that are in my playbooks are plays I have been running for years and know the ins and outs of. The other plays I practice are timing plays like read option and under center triple option. I run those over and over and over against various sets so I can see the read and get better at making it quickly and correctly.

People on these boards seem to swear by the fact that practice and games play much differently and even that play now plays different from dynasty. I don't necessarily agree with that, but wouldn't be surprised.

In terms of what defenses I practice against. I usually pick the upcoming team I am playing in my dynasty, OR I just pick the defense of the team I am practicing as it would be in a regular practice. I focus on the fronts I will face rather than secondary. So I usually just practice against a 4 man front or a 3 man front and then let the CPU pick plays and get a good mix of man/zone/blitz.

Just use it to get the timing down and see how plays develop, the rest you can learn on the fly in game.

[ggsimmonds]

I would say don't bother. The game plays drastically different in practice mode than it does in game modes. I don't know why this is, but you can go into practice mode and really think you got in done and then get to a game...and the defense is all over you.

Maybe the difficulty setting does not carry over or the sliders are not active but there is a noticeable difference in gameplay.

[PowerofRed25]

Quote: Originally Posted by ggsimmonds

I would say don't bother. The game plays drastically different in practice mode than it does in game modes. I don't know why this is, but you can go into practice mode and really think you got in done and then get to a game...and the defense is all over you. Maybe the difficulty setting does not carry over or the sliders are not active but there is a noticeable difference in gameplay.

It shouldn't matter though. You use practice to get better at making your reads or to get the timing on pass routes, none of that is dependent on the sliders.

[ggsimmonds]

Quote: Originally Posted by PowerofRed25

It shouldn't matter though. You use practice to get better at making your reads or to get the timing on pass routes, none of that is dependent on the sliders.

Agreed. Just take the outcomes of practice with a grain of salt.

[novadolla]

You are better off just practicing by playing a play now gm against the cpu on heisman.