Planning Effective Practices

1. Planning Effective Practices Effective practices require planning and management. 6 areas for consideration are: Routines Drills Instruction Feedback Transitions Safety

2. Routines: • develop a practice routine of basic drills for your warm up and main part that the athletes learn and come to expect. It saves time. You call out the name of a drill they know and there is no need for instructions. • For your routine choose and use drills that improve fitness while focusing on skill and team play/mental preparation. You can add to the drills or change them bit by bit to challenge athletes as they improve.

3. Instruction • Less talk and more action, athletes learn by doing and receiving constructive feedback. • Keep explanations brief, specific and use clear language. Be positive and focus on what the athlete can do to improve the skill. • Use demonstrations rather than long explanations. • Teach action instructions and their meaning. Use them ( eg. Move the ball quickly, stay in constant motion, don’t bunch up, block out, ready position to receive), to reinforce actions during the activity.

4. Drills • Challenge Zone – create drills that challenge athletes. Avoid drills too easy (boredom) and drills too difficult (frustration). Picking challenging drills keeps athletes focused and motivated. • Select drills that work on the athletic abilities for your sport (see ref manual for Developing Athletic Abilities for Sport Pp 45 -56) • Basic rule for a drill – does it reflect what happens in games (skills, abilities needed). If it does and is challenging for your athletes ability level it is a good drill.

5. Feedback • Feedback should be constructive and help athlete improve (not tear down the athlete) Focus on the positive not the negative. • Be specific, identify what is being done wrong and how to change it for the better • Give feedback immediately, while the moment is fresh • Ask questions to verify the athletes understanding. Ie – what should you do in this situation, or when preparing for your race what should you be thinking…

6. Transition: This is the time it takes to switch from one drill to another and to get the athletes moving in the next drill. • Develop practice routines that reflect what you want to develop over the season and teach them early so everyone knows. Use the same drills repeatedly in practices changing or emphasizing certain things to focus on particular parts of the execution that day. • Consider location of drills in relation to equipment, lines the last drill etc. • Consider the sequence of drills and how to save transition time in going from one drill to another. • Set up equipment before hand or while athletes are completing an activity. • Keep athletes moving, don’t allow for the pace to drag. Encourage them to hustle from one thing to the next.

7. Safety • Always include proper warm ups before full out activity • Keep a well supplied first aid kit on hand including EAP and medical info. • Anticipate and plan appropriate instruction and supervision to reduce any safety issues for each drill. • Plan drills appropriate to your athlete’s abilities. • Emphasis focus and discipline during practice time

8. Explain a Drill • Select one drill you would use in a practice. Explain/Diagram it out in point form. Explain what sport abilities this drill develops in your sport and why it would be a good drill for your team and age group.