"Becoming is better than being."- Carol S. Dweck, "Mindset"
I love practice. It's my favorite part of basketball by a lot. Practice allows us to develop our philosophy, culture, and identity. Practice defines who we are and what we do.
What elements belong in practice? There's no easy answer, but we need:
1) Bring daily clarity on practice intent.
2) Translate practice into games.
3) Communicate and connect...greet every player every day, early in practice. Be warm AND demanding.
4) Our job is finding solutions.
5) Practice informs our tempo. "We play fast."
I want every evolution in practice to transition into games.
General thoughts.
1) Every player should believe they're better after every practice.
2) Players need to know why for every evolution. Each practice is your clinic.
3) Every drill or practice segment should add value.
4) Special situations (e.g. BOB, SLOB, late and close) demand daily attention. Include them via scrimmages (e.g. offense-defense-offense).
5) The coach and point guards must energize practice every day.
6) For maximum efficiency, condition within drills (e.g. transition).
7) It's a game. Share joy. You have to PLAY basketball, not WORK basketball.
8) Whenever possible, teach in sound bytes, not speeches. "Eyes make layups."
9) Give and get feedback. What they know is not what you think they know.
10) There's always a lesson to be taught and learned by all of us.
Special considerations.
1) Consider the 80/20 rule. We can't always invest eighty percent of our time on the twenty percent most important. But we can emphasize what we believe is most important.
2) It's one thing to lose a game; it's another to lose your team.
3) "Never be a child's last coach."
4) Write it down. Players need notebooks, too.
5) Feel gratitude. Show appreciation. Everyone needs to feel valued.