7/27/2019 3 Steps to Getting the Most Out of Your Practices

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3 STEPS TO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF

YOUR PRACTICES Leave a comment

1. BE ORGANIZE!

Some coaches are very organized, and some are not. For some, the idea of having a minute by

minute practice plan in the hands of every coach is a “no brainer” and for some it’s a new idea.

I "#$m%& 'e%#eve t(at #n o$)e$ to *et t(e mo+t o,t o" eve$& +#n*%e -$act#ce &o,/ve *ot to +#t

)o0n an) -%an o,t t(o+e -$act#ce+ m#n,te '& m#n,te.  This should be done with yourcoordinators so that you get their input and buy in for the practice schedules. had a great

mentor in !erry "rosschell who had #ust come from the college level while we wor$ed together

at %infield &hristian in Temecula. 'e was the 'ead &oach there for a few years, and groomedme to ta$e his spot when he moved to owa to start a football program at (nity &hristian in

)range &ity.

&oach "rosschell introduced me to the minute by minute practice plan idea, and ’ve used it ever

since. From your “pre practice time” to your “post practice” time, everything should be plannedout and put on paper and in the hands of your coaches so they $now e*actly what to e*pect and

when to e*pect it. T(e$e #+ not(#n* 0o$+e on t(e -$act#ce "#e%) t(an +ta$t#n* a ne0 )$#%% on%&

to 'e ca%%e) ove$ '& t(e (ea) coac( "o$ team t#me. T(#+ 0on/t (a--en #" &o,$ coac(e+ a$e

o$*an#e) '& t(e -$act#ce +c(e),%e t(e& +(o,%) (ave a(ea) o" t#me.  For Training &amp,

would give all of our practice schedules out to our coaches before the first practice. They would

get + wee$s of practices that myself and the coordinators would have put together duringune-uly. )bviously, some of these will ad#ust as you get going but with putting them on *cel,

they become very easy to ma$e last minute ad#ustments.

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would also try to get these in the hands of the players, so they $now what to e*pect. /t the

very least, would post it in the loc$er room before each practice so they could get a sense ofwhat we were trying to do that day.

0elow is an !ractice !lan for a Spring practice from +112. 3ou will see the detail that we have.

This one is set up by position.

&4&S F))T0/%% !5/&T& !%/6

7ate8 9-:1-12 S!56; <:

Time /ctivity!osition Specifics

%ength

:8+1 =1 >arm (p

:8:1 =1)ffensivendy >-?0-F-@ A )%-3

with &oach Forewith &oach

%ogan-patternswith &oach 7el 0

ntro waggle, flood, w* switch, pass

  B post, post corner, #et, stop

:8C1 =9 D on D with As with >-?0-F-@-3 3 with D on D

Strong !ass Strong !assStrong !ass >A Switch Strong !ass >A Switch

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Strong >aggle Strong >aggle

Strong Flood Strong Flood

 6ew 3or$ 6ew 3or$ 

:899 =1Team

)ffenseall positions together all positions together all positions toge

huddle-cadence huddle-cadence huddle-cadencescript on bac$ script on bac$ script on bac$  

C819 + >/T5 >/T5 >/T5 >/T5  

>-?0-F-@ A )%-3

C81D 9Form

Tac$lingall positions together all positions together all positions toge

C8=+ +17efensive

ndy bloc$ pro and shed with 7%E9 min bloc$ pro and shedE9 min

 bloc$ pro and she

%0E9 min

stance and footwor$E9 min footwor$ drillsE=9 min get offs in chutes

 pass dropsE=1 min

run readsE+1 min

reachG

C8:+ =2!attern5eads

%0s and 70s together %0s and 70s together continue run read

C891 =9Team7efense

formation recognition formation recognition formation recogn

9819 9 Stretch

)FF6S4 S&5!T=0ase 5ight Strong !ass

+0ase 5ight Strong >aggle

:Tight 5ight Sap Strong !ass >ASwitch @ et

C)ver 5ight Strong Flood

9>ing %eft StrongH)ver 5ight Strong "eep

D0ase 5ight et Strong

2)ver 5ight Strong ?uic$ !itchI0ase 5ight Strong Trap

=1>ing %eft Strong )ption

2. BE PREPARE!

)ne of the biggest practice time wasters is when coaches say “)$ay, o line over this way. 6ow,

go get me those bags in the shed.” /ll of a sudden, he is losing C minutes of his +1 minuteindividual time because he wasn’t prepared. !repared coaches need to set their drills up before

 practice begins. This is $ey to getting the most out of your practice time together. ;et your

 bags, cones, balls, sleds prepared ahead of time. (se your $ids to help do this if you aren’tfortunate enough to have managers. ;et your gear to the sidelines nearest to where you will be

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so that you are ready to go as soon as your time starts. This will help you ma$e the most out of

every single snap.

3ou will see in my Spring practice plan above that we have ten offensive plays scripted out./gain, believe this is $ey to an effective practice. I" &o, "a#% to -,t to*et(e$ a +c$#-t "o$

'ot( &o,$ o""en+#ve an) )e"en+#ve team t#me &o, $ea%%& a$e +(oot#n* #n t(e )a$ 0#t( 0(at

nee)+ to 'e )one.  /gain, your coordinators should put these scripts together and they should beon the practice plan so that everyone is on the same page, and you can move through thingsJuic$ly.

/lso, this will help you avoid doing some plays too many times, and some plays not enoughK

'ave your play list right there with you as you put your practice scripts together. /nother thingthis script will do is give your plays numbers. >hat is more frustrating as an assistant coach,

let’s say you are the running bac$s coach, and you are teaching a $id off to the side, and you

don’t hear the play called. So, there goes the offense to the %)S and they run a play and you

don’t $now what you are loo$ing for. /s the '&, once we got off the script, would always yellout the play number a few times so that my coaches $new what we were doing. This is all a part

of being preparedK

3. BE ENTHUSIASTIC!

This is $ey to getting the most out of your players /67 coaches. t’s the biggest challenge forme to be honest. ’m not naturally enthusiastic as some guys are. ’m more of a pessimist than

an optimist. Lore of an “all business all the time” type of guy. ’ve had to wor$ at being

enthusiastic as the 'ead &oach. Let/+ "ace #t #" &o, a$en/t %ea)#n* "$om t(e "$ont 0#t(

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ent(,+#a+m &o, e#t(e$ 'ette$ *et +ome *$eat a++#+tant+ 0(o a$e )o#n* t(#+ o$ "#n) a 0a& to

4"ae #t t#%% &o, "ee% #t!5

/bout my second or third year as a 'ead &oach, some of the guys who had played 4 for me,and were now on my varsity team told me that wasn’t as much fun anymore. That $ind of hurt

me. They didn’t understand that was now the 4arsity 'ead &oach, not the 4 'ead &oach buddy old palK 0ut in one way, they were right. wasn’t having as much fun as the 4arsity '&.

was putting too much pressure on myself, and not letting loose a little, and not being nearly asenthusiastic as was. This was a $ey mista$e that had to fi* in order to get the most out of my

 players.

!ete &arroll is a great motivator, one reason is because of his enthusiasm at practice.

f you aren’t being enthusiastic, are $ids going to be e*cited about playing in your programM /rethey and your coaches for that matterG going to en#oy coming to practiceM believe they need to

en#oy it to a certain e*tent in order for you to ma*imize your time with them. nthusiasm on the

 practice field spreads li$e wild fire. 6,m- a$o,n) a %#tt%e '#t &e%% -o+#t#ve t(#n*+! See 0(at

t(#+ )oe+ "o$ &o,$ #)+! I" &o, a$e not nat,$a%%& an ent(,+#a+t#c -e$+on t(e& 0#%% %ove to +ee

#t an) &o, 0#%% '$#n* a ne0 ene$*& to t(e -$act#ce "#e%)!

Find $ids to praise, find $ids to pump up, find $ids to high five, find $ids to encourage. So many

times as coaches we are correcting and teaching and training. Ima*#ne #" &o,$ 'o++ neve$ *ave&o, -$a#+e neve$ *ave &o, +ome ent(,+#a+t#c 4atta 'o&+!5  For some of you, this isn’t hard to

imagine is itMKG 5emember what it was li$e as a player. The grind of practice can be hard. 0e

enthusiastic in your praise of the $ids efforts and attitudes if they are deserved that isKG and itwill ma$e practice much more en#oyable for your $ids. >hether or not you agree with this idea

that it’s got to be en#oyable, loo$ for some ways to notch up the enthusiasm this /ugustK