How to Run Better Practices: A 7-Step Guide

Hi Coach,

Before you dive in, two quick notes:

In today’s issue…

Practice planning and execution are some the most important things we do as coaches.

Here are 7 tips to run better practices.

Go into every practice with a clear objective for what you want your team to get better at.

Clear intentions are critical for learning and growth.

As you plan the practice activities, ensure that they connect back to your objective for that practice.

For example, if I want my basketball team to improve our spacing when we are in transition offense, then my activities should be built around that.

Sometimes, you might have multiple objectives for a practice, which is totally fine. I just try to limit mine to 2-3 objective so that I don’t start chasing a bunch of rabbits.

Effective practices start with effective plans.

I’ve used various practice plan templates throughout my coaching. There isn’t a right or wrong template to use.

Find one that works for you, then modify and adjust it as needed!

For our NIKE Sports Camps, we have a court/field plan template that we use.

You can view our template HERE. If you’d like to use it, hit file, then make a copy.

You can also view an example of an complete court plan for one of our NIKE Basketball Camps HERE.

Be intentional with the types of activities you’re including in your plan.

I’ve found the T.L.C. framework to be very helpful when planning practices.

Canada Basketball Coach Mike MacKay shared this framework with me on the podcast several years back.

T.L.C. stands for…

Using a framework like this on your practice plan and during your practices is a great way to align your coaching staff.

One of the most counterproductive things that can happen in practices is when coaches are not on the same page and the focus changes.

Using a framework like T.L.C. clearly communicates with the coaching staff what the focus is and what coaches are and aren’t allowed to do during various segments of the practice.

In general, limit practice activities to 10-15 minutes.

This tends to keep the pace of practice flowing nicely and prevents boredom from setting in for athletes.

In a 60-minute practice, I typically plan 4-5 activities.

In a 90-minute practice, I typically plan 6-8 activities.

I talked about this concept in-depth with MU wrestling HC Brian Smith on episode 128 of the podcast.

Using the final three tips below will help you get the most out of the minutes you have.

Pre-planning your teams and groups for activities and games is a great way to maximize the time you have in practice.

It also allows you to strategically group your athletes to find the right level of challenge for each of them.

If this doesn’t work for your situation, I’d recommend at least planning the numbers needed for each activity.

Effective practices maximize time and space.

I like to say, “As many as possible, as active as possible, for as long as possible.”

Using small-sided games is the most effective way to maximize the number or reps and decisions your players get each practice.

Instead of having your whole team at one basket, net, or goal, split them between multiple.

Instead of having half the team standing on the sideline waiting for a rep, try to split into smaller groups and games so that there is a maximum of 1 team or group that is waiting to come on.

For example, in a basketball practice, I might split my team of 10 into 2 different groups and have both groups playing a 3v2 game at a hoop, or I might split them into 5 groups of 2 and have them compete in a 1v1 activity, having 2-3 groups at each hoop.

I went and observed a coaching colleague’s practice recently.

His team of 15 athletes was all at one basket playing a 4v3 advantage game.

It was a good activity and players were getting better, but only half the players were active and they were getting half the reps they could have been getting.

I asked him after why he kept everyone at one basket for that.

He told me that if he splits them up, the energy and effort dips when he’s not at the basket running and coaching the game.

His solution, like many coaches, was to sacrifice the number of reps and time on task for a perceived higher quality of reps.

But there’s another way.

Clear define the standard of effort and competition in practice, then when an individual or group isn’t meeting it, enforce your standards.

I do this by first getting curious and asking them what’s going on and telling them what I’m noticing.

“It seems like you’re effort is slipping. Is something going on?”

Then, I reminder them of the standard and they go back to competing.

If they can’t meet the standard after that individually or as group, they simply lose the privilege of getting better during that activity.

I will just say, “You/you guys have lost the opportunity to get better during this activity. Grab a seat and you can rejoin practice when this activity is over.”

Holding a high standard of effort and focus during small-sided games is critical for development.

Make as many activities and games as possible competitive!

It’s more fun for athletes and creates a higher level of competition.

Even with the youngest athletes I coach (6-7 year olds), I’m always looking for a way to turn what we’re doing into a competition.

Keep score and have winners and losers.

Athletes need to learn in practice how to deal with the emotions of winning and losing. It’s just another way to mentally prepare them for real competition.

At the middle school and up ages, I’ve used a competitive cauldron to raise the level of effort and competition on my team. It’s a system to track winners and losers in practices and rank players by winning percentage.

An added benefit of using a system like this is that it prompts the coach to plan more competitive activities for practices.

Anson Dorrance developed the system while he was the Head Coach of UNC Women’s Soccer, and J.P. Nerbun has a great online course and spreadsheet on it that I’ve used.

More competition. More fun. More development.

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Thanks for reading, I hope this serves you on your journey.

To your growth,

Luke Gromer, RYG Athletics | A NIKE Sports Camp Provider

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