Coaches: Creating Meaningful Practices to Achieve Success

One of the topics school leaders should address during every preseason meeting with head coaches is how to create a meaningful experience for student-athletes. In today’s world of high school athletics where transfers are a growing concern at all levels and coaches cite parent complaints as one of their top issues, it becomes easy to point the finger somewhere else when the season is not going as planned. School leaders who consistently support communication to build strong programs and the details involved in making it happen are more likely to find success.

The first detail comes from how coaches have daily interactions with students. There is a simple philosophy that extends into how a team prepares and how coaches should interact with their athletes – always be intentional and instructional. Applying this philosophy to all practices and game preparation means coaches must get to know their athletes, must design structured practice plans and tailor them to the needs of their teams.

Document the Practice Plan
Good athletic programs set meaningful, clear expectations. For athletes to be successful, they need to know coach expectations, reinforced by posted daily practice plans breaking down every segment of practice. Coaches can set the tone of practice by using inspiring quotes of the day, daily announcements or simple reinforcement of offensive and defensive philosophies. It is very similar to a very good teacher having their lesson plans and goals for the day up on the classroom board when their students walk in.

Practices should be broken down into time-based segments ranging from five to 15 minutes. Players can see and monitor station rotations before they start. Listing drills alone will not achieve success, but an approach that allows athletes to experience a wide variety of skill improvement can help both individuals and teams improve.

For example, a baseball practice could include different every day drills such as infielder-throwing routines in baseball; transition to game situations, such as runners on different bases; bunt scenarios; pickoff play calls; and a variety of game scenarios which involve different types of throws for outfielders.

Athletes learn in different ways and with different exposure to a variety of settings, and sharing practice plans with students, parents and coaches may create a more unified understanding. Emailing weekly practice plans to all athletes, parents and coaches keeps everyone on the same page and excited for the week ahead, while also knowing how to mentally prepare for each day. From there, the small details can be added and sent out prior to each practice. Plans can then be posted in the locker room or at the practice facility, with a focus for the day.

Preparation for Game Scenarios
Every team practice is different depending on the sport, but emphasis should be devoted to preparing for scenarios students may encounter in games. For example, most football coaches are not going to spend a large percentage of practice time working on two-point plays when the team is only going to use them a handful of times the entire season. Nevertheless, there are different nuances in every game that students need to be prepared for if they are going to find success. If coaches do not devote any time to such preparation for a two-point play they may find themselves unprepared for the eventuality. A quick insertion of these scenarios to make sure athletes understand what may happen in a game can go a long way in understanding how to be successful.

These “sudden change” events that occur in a practice can help students respond quickly without panic and increase the likelihood of success. Coaches may even take a group of players to plan out an action such as a dropped ball in baseball, a missed pass in basketball, and then use the situation and response as an experience to promote learning where everyone supports each other even in stressful situations.

Going together with this type of scenario preparation is enabling players to self-scout their games to participate in practice plan design. With time, athletes will get better at recognizing situations they may experience during games and identify plays, or skill sets they are most comfortable utilizing to achieve success.

Making Time for Reflection
All coaches should ultimately be teachers first. This means that the mental side of all sports must be taught and reinforced. In football, for example, meetings with the quarterback group can help determine a call sheet for the week, and in baseball, meetings with pitchers and catchers can help determine pitch strategy for different batters and different counts. Reflective meetings can also help coaches determine how to build confidence in their athletes. If athletes are encouraged to share their experiences, coaches may learn where students feel unprepared and then coaches can game plan accordingly to build confidence.

The Big Picture
There are many ways to achieve success in athletics and when coaches focus on designing practices that are multifaceted, they are more likely to find success. In addition, such planning shows athletes that coaches care, and are fully invested in team experience. This process also gives a voice to student-athletes, with the opportunity to provide feedback on practice and game plans, and make it their own. After all, it is their experience, and it should feel meaningful to anyone who steps between the lines and makes the commitment.

Nate Smith is in his eighth year as the athletic director at Heritage High School in Brentwood, California, after serving in various coaching and leadership capacities during his 25 years in interscholastic athletics. He is also currently the president- elect for the North Coast Section Athletic Directors Association.