A Very High Level Look Into Database Performance Tuning

A Perspective on Database Performance Tuning

By Julian Stuhler

Fundamentally, database performance tuning is done for two basic reasons, to reduce response time and to reduce resource usage, both of which can apply for any given situation. Julian Stuhler looks at database performance tuning, and why it remains one of the most important topics for any DBA, developer or systems administrator.

http://www.databasejournal.com/features/db2/article.php/3876521/A-Perspective-on-Database-Performance-Tuning.htm

Practice Recap - Wednesday July 31 2008

Well last night Coach Frank, our head coach, returned to practice from taking a short vacation. Overall, i think he was really pleased with the progress the rest of us made with the team.

After our normal warm-up, we proceeded to get into a tackling drill progression.

I'll call the first one- Hip Explosions...

One player stands with his arms raised in front of another player, the "down" player. The down player should be on one knee with the other foot right next to the down knee, arms by their sides. You could actually say that the down player is heel-to-knee. On a whistle, the down player shoots his arms around the up player and explodes his hips towards the up player. When done correctly, the down player should be grabbing numbers on the backside and be in a belly-to-belly position with the standing player. Do 3-5 reps and switch sides.

The second part of the progression I'll call, Up/Down Hip Explosions...

We start with the same concept as above, two players, however this time both players are standing to start with. In this exercise, the active participant upon a whistle shall take a step forward, bounce the knee off the ground, striking the up player on the rise. The same coaching points go for this drill as above; "grabbing numbers" and "belly-to-belly" finishing alignment. If your players are not finishing belly-to-belly than i promise you you are not getting a hip explosion.

To finish off the practice we did an open-field hitting drill. We marked off a box about 5-7 yards wide and 10 yards long. One side carries and the other hits. In drills like this you must be patient with your players because they rarely get the point at first.
Coaching Points
Close the distance quickly...
Body under control...
Arms wide open....
Tackler must focus on the belly and NOTHING ELSE...
Proper form tackling...

My Thoughts
I love the hitting drills, personally. I was always a defensive player anyway. I really like the progression drills to start off practice and was really pleased with the results of the open-field tackling drill.

One change that I would make myself is to progress to a third level in the tackling drill. I would start out as in level two, but in level three the active player would actually lift the ball carrier off the ground and drive him for three yards.

Practice Recap - Tuesday July 15 2008

Well, where did all that rain come from??? It was really wet. There was no lightning around so we went forth with practice.

I changed up the warm-up routine as Frank does not seem to care about the breakdown stuff. We all agree that our players need better legs. As a result of this i substituted the breakdown with a set of squats. After practice, speaking with Tony, it was decided that we should do at least two sets of these.

We took the entire team down to the sled area today. We ran the entire team through the same drills we did yesterday. It was a good opportunity to see some of the others that i had not seen recently. For instance, i have only seen Seth practicing i think twice. Some the kids really got into it and are starting to pull from within to hit harder. It is coming but it is slow. As i mentioned we did the same drills, this included running the chute.

While doing the chute it is noteworthy to mention that Joseph knocked Coach Tony down to the ground. It was riot and got everyone laughing. Tony said that it was emotional support. Yeah, right. It was very good for the group as more tried to do the same.

After about an hour the team headed back up front. At this point we separated into our groups to do individual drills. In the OL/DL group we did one on one blocking drills.

My Thoughts
It was really nice to work with the skill players. I think the drills we are completing are great for getting out the aggressive side. This is definitely something that we need, as a team.

I do think though that we should break the entire team into two groups at two different stations. This allows the players to get more reps.

In the individual session, i saw some good work and some bad work. The players do seem to be coming off the ball they just are not explosive. They don't have the bad intentions that we are looking for. I need someone to step up to the plate.

Ranking the Lineman

1. Andrew Kirkland
2. Peter Makerides
3. Jordan Holder
4. Kristian Santana
5. Dallas Veale
   
6. Sage Larson
   
7. Kyle Norris
8. Tony Alvarez
9. Wyatt Brimner
10. Joshua Cardinal
11. Nicholas Yeagley
12. Ihram Cabellero
13. Todd Woodmansee
14. Tyler Lumpkin

I am also seeing that our OL do not have the footwork needed to remain square in front of the defender.

Defensive line speaking, without any instruction at all there is a good portion of the guys that already know how to bull and jerk....

Practice Recap - Monday July 15 2008

A fine, fine day for practice. The weather was great. Dad and I spent a few hours this weekend putting together a new chute for the organization to use.

The players are falling into place better, physically and mentally. You can see it getting better. I do anyway.

We took the lineman back to the rear of the park. Back there is where the sled and chute are located. We spent both training periods back there. During the first period we spent time on the sled. We asked the players to do the "Quick Hands" drill.

Quick Hands





X X X X


Setup

In front of sled, players get on both knees. They cross their feet and then sit back on heels. There hands should be at their sides, right by their hips.

Execution
On the whistle players should explode up and deliver a proper ball punch to the padded sled. They should quickly sit back, assuming the starting position.

Coaching Points

• EXPLODE - Players have to blow out of there
• Exhale - When striking they should blow out
• Hip Roll - Get players to place their hips next to opponents
• Hit On The Rise - DO NOT STRIKE OUT, STRIKE UP
• Elbows In - No chicken-wings
• Arms - Eliminate the wind-up
  

After a number of reps, we changed to what I'll call the "Strike and Shuffle" drill. At a later time, i will incorporate Seat Rolls instead of the shuffle.

Strike and Shuffle

Setup

Need a sled like below..







X sssss X sssss X sssss X
X
X
X
X

Execution
This is another hand-striking drill. The difference here is that the players are all standing. The player at the beginning of the line steps in front of first pad, chopping his feet. On the whistle, the player should break-down and ball-punch the pad. This is followed by a quick shuffle to the next pad on the sled in the desired direction. The player should continue to chop feet and repeat this process, on the whistle, all the way down the sled.

Coaching Points

• Breakdown - Players must drop their bottom so they can hit on the rise...
• Hit On The Rise - DO NOT STRIKE OUT, STRIKE UP
• Elbows In - No chicken-wings
• Arms - Eliminate the wind-up
• Exhale - When striking they should blow out
• Hip Roll - Get players to place their hips next to opponents
• Crossover - Do not crossover

This drill should be executed to both sides, left and right.

After water we moved on to our next session. The session consisted of making use of the chute that we built over the weekend. I was really excited for this session. Because of the time put into building the chute i was really interested to see how it helps out. We used it to execute the "Chute and Drive" drill. We are still early in the season so we are doing things that ensure we get proper technique.

Chute and Drive

Setup

X

Coach

Execution
This drill is all about proper form while executing a block. Players should line up, single file, behind the short side if the chute. When chute is vacant the next player steps into the chute and gets into his three point stance. On cadence, the player explodes through the chute. The chute will naturally help keep the player low. If they do not stay low, the player will bust his head on the chute. The round pad at the "out-end" of the chute forces the player to maintain the spacing between the player's legs. This is essential to a good "drive". A coach or player should stand at the "out-end" with a blocking shield and provide a target/resistance to the executing player.

Coaching Points

• Explode - Players must be forceful
• Stay Low - Or get your head knocked off
• Hit On The Rise - When exiting the chute, hit up not out..
• Arms and Elbows - Strike up keeping elbows in
• Footwork - Ensure that player is straddling the bag lying on the ground
• Steps - six to eight inch steps

My Thoughts
A very productive day for the lineman. We got quite a few repetitions in on the sled. I want more in the chute though. The drills executed today are the FUNDAMENTALS and should be executed at least once a week.

First Week of Practice - July 7 - July 11 2008

Welcome to the new season everyone. I hope to document our trials and tribulations as well as our progressions towards a championship. Winning is important to us, i cannot deny that, however the steady progression of skill is our real goal.

In our league, WCYFC, we have a mandatory eight hours of no contact that each player must go through at the beginning of the season. This generally gives us the first week to really emphasize conditioning and basic skills.

This year we went T-Shirts and shorts on Monday and Tuesday, adding helmets for Wednesday and Thursday. Finally, Friday we began working out in full pads. Friday was also the first day we COULD go full-contact.

Our staff conducted three or four different meetings, trying to get on the same page as a staff. I thought we were pretty close at the beginning of it all. At this point, i would say things are not far from normal. With coaching, you cannot be rigid. It is important for a good coach to remain flexible and open to new ideas. We are doing this and still maintaining a decent schedule. This does interpret to a little time wasted but as we learn each other this will get better.

It's probably worth noting the staff;
Head Coach - Frank Johnson
Asst Head Coach - Anthony Smith "Smitty"
Asst Coach - John Boone
Asst Coach - Tim Carr
Asst Coach - Tony Alvarez
Asst Coach - Me Brian Hollister


Smitty is the Offensive Coordinator
Tim - WRs, TEs
Tony - RBs FBs

Frank is the Defensive Coordinator
Boone - OL/DL/DE
Me - OL/DL/DE
Tony - LBs
Tim - DBs

Frank, Boone, and Smitty have all worked together as a staff for six years. Tim joined them last year, making this his second with them. Tony and I are brand new to the crew.

Basic Schedule
630 - 655 Warm-up
655 - 700 Water
700 - 730 Conditioning or Session 1
730 - 735 Water
735 - 805 Conditioning or Session 2
805 - 810 Water
810 - 825 FUN STUFF
825 - 830 Coaches time...


Monday
Focus on conditioning and as a staff evaluating players athleticism. Per Frank, we broke out into three different groups, WRs and QBs, RB's, and Linemen, and took the time to teach some basic skill. For our lineman, we taught them the three-point stance. There was little to no focus on blasting out of the stance. WRs were examined for route-running and ability to catch with hands. While obviously QBs we watched for throwing abilities and basic footwork. RBs were looked over for speed and agility.

Frank wanted us to make sure that each child was given the chance to try out for anything they wanted even if they had no chance of getting that position.

My Thoughts
I liked the first day alot, even though i was nervous. We were a little disorganized but quickly got on track. A nice emphasis on hussle and other basic principles. I do however wish that we had done a combine right off the bat.


Tuesday
Two hours of no-contact out of the way....
Again our focus is on conditioning and basic tactics ie. stance and start and so on. In fact, the session for lineman was essentially about that. Boone and I introduced, "splits". Splits are referred to as the distance between the feet of lineman as they come together in formation. A huge emphasis we put on them was breaking the huddle and running to the line.
On this day we also did a 25 yard dash, timed. We asked the team to run it twice and examined the average of the two times. This helped us to get a better idea of our fastest players. The skill-players again focused on their individual position skill-set, i.e. catching, running, and other various things.

My Thoughts
Another good day for the team but things were not as excited as the day before. I think the initial shock is gone for 75% of the team. With the 8 hour no-contact rule the things we are doing are about all we can do. I liked the idea of taking the lineman through a progression. On this day we did a 12-minute run. This is a real ball-buster that seperates the well trained from the not so well. The players that stand out here are ones to keep an eye on, for sure.

Wednesday
Helmets on....Another conditioning day well spent, conditioning. Running, bear crawls, the works...

Our offensive line work now contains the idea of the holes. We helped the new kids learn the holes and reminded the older players. I would say that most of them knew them and presented a good understanding of what to do when we run a play. I told them the easiest way to teach this in my opinion was to "point your butt to the hole". If you do this you will always be in the correct place.

My Thoughts
Glad to see progression in the lineman. On paper i see it but on the field i struggled to see how we were going forward. One step at a time and reps, reps, reps....

Thursday
Conditioning again....We took our lineman and did Seat Rolls as an additional drill.

My Thoughts
mmmmm....Not the best day we have had so far. The energy level is down. I assume the players are sore at this point.

Friday
Another day spent going over the things we have all week long. For our line that was a complete review. Before the season we talked about this being the day we went live tackling. However, we decided to tackle the dummies. Our hope was that tackling the dummy would provide enough of a refresher for our veteran players and enough of a primer for the new ones. We took about three or four minutes to talk and demonstrate to players the proper methods of tackling.

1. Break-down - Bend at the knees and hips, with arms wide
2. Step - This is power step
3. Shoot - Throw both arms around ball carrier and grab numbers on the back
4. Drive - Explode from the hips, in an upward manner and take ball carrier three yards

My Thoughts
Thank goodness the no-contact stuff is over. I hate that period, although it is probably highly needed. The tackling drill we did showed us that we need to build aggression into our guys. Most players are very timid at this point and don't know how to "bring it".

Steelers Football

I want to try to use this blog as a means of tracking the things that are accomplished during the 2008 Steeler Super-midget football team. As i am an assistant coach with my AOR being the offensive and defensive lineman i may or not be able to indicate what other coaches are doing on particular nights. I will outline what i can.

Temp Table Naming In Stored Procedures

Just found a quirk in T-SQL that i did not know existed before.

You cannot use the same Temp Table name twice in the same stored procedure, even if the declaration of the temp table is in two separate logical blocks of code.

For example;

create proc dbo.Test
@inParam int
as

If @inParam <= 0
begin
Create table #Foo(
id int
)
end
else
begin
Create table #Foo(
dx int
)
end
go

The above will not compile successfully in SMS!!! So watch out for this and adjust your coding style.

You must use a different name for the second declaration, like this;

create proc dbo.Test
@inParam int
as

If @inParam <= 0
begin
Create table #Foo(
id int
)
end
else
begin
Create table #Foo2(
dx int
)
end
go


Notice the second temp table is now called Foo2.

I know this is an unimportant disclosure but maybe bringing this to the forefront someone can save a little time.