Creating Your Team's Perfect Practice Plan

There are different approaches to creating a master practice plan. The plan is generally broken down into three phases: (1) Preseason (2) Mid-season and (3) Conference and Postseason. It is important to remember that what you cover will vary from one phase to another. The following is a suggested procedure for creating a master practice plan:

A.   Playbook- This is where it all starts. You must have a specific system of offense and defense in place before beginning any kind of practice planning. It should include the type of team offense and defense you are going to employ, special set plays, or special situations, etc.

Using a simple Word document will allow you to create a playbook that you can edit, update, and store in a file in your computer for easy access. Word processing programs make it very easy to create a format that will make your playbook look truly professional. You can insert charts to help you create categories or topics to help you organize your system of play. You can even make multiple copies from your computer to give to your coaching staff and players.

 

Here is an example of a basic playbook that you can create using an Excel spreadsheet:

Offense	Half-court	Set Plays	Full-court Pressbreak	Half-court Pressbreak
Man to Man	Motion UCLA Hi Post Delay	#1 Fist #2 Lob #3 Cross #4 Clear	4 Across Drifter-Gap	21 32
Zone	Runner Rover Spread	Split Stack Diagonal	50 54	21 32
Defense	Man to Man	Zone 1-2-2
	10- 1/4 Ct. 20- 1/2 Ct. 30- 3/4 Ct. 40- Full Ct.	12- 1/4 Ct. 22- 1/2 Ct. 32- 3/4 Ct. 42- Full Ct.

B.   List of Fundamentals: Once you have your system of play in place, it is important to identify all the necessary fundamentals that your players will need to know to execute that system in a game. Both team and individual fundamentals need to be taken into account. If your offense against man-to-man defense requires a screen-and-roll to be executed, then that involves two players. This would be considered a team fundamental. You should also consider physical conditioning such as weight training. Your ability to break your system down to its component parts and identify the necessary fundamentals is crucial in determining what you will eventually cover in practice.

C.   Drill Directory: Earlier it was mentioned that having the right tool for the right job is important when it comes to the use of drills. Identifying the type of drill you are going to use to teach the specific fundamentals to your players is crucial to your success. There are a number of factors to consider in choosing which drills to use such as the number of players it will involve at one time, the number of baskets necessary, etc. Once you decide on your list of drills, you can then organize them into meaningful ways much as you did with the fundamentals list.

D.    Practice Calendar: The practice calendar will provide important information to you in determining your overall master practice plan. The amount of practice you have before your first game, stretches where you will be playing a number of games with very little practice time, and the amount of practice before your conference opener are all important factors to be considered. You also need to take into account practice time during holidays, mid-term exams, etc.

Putting It All Together

With these 4 steps, you can now begin to lay out a general plan of what you want to cover in your practices throughout the season. Using your list of fundamentals, drill directory, and practice calendar as references, you will have a much better idea of what you want to do and when. Some coaches will put down the specific fundamentals to be taught along with a few of the drills to be used.

An important point to consider when you are allocating time for different aspects of your system is to decide what percentage of time during a game you will use the things you are trying to teach. In other words, it is important to spend the majority of time on the areas that are used a majority of time in a ball game. At "Practice Planner Live" you can create your own customized practice plans for your teams in just a few minutes using the 4 steps previously mentioned.

Coaches: What do you do to organize, create, and keep track of your team's practice plans?

Remember, (for all you old-school coaches out there like me) computers and technology are there for our benefit. It is very easy to database your drill directory, practice calendar, etc. You are just a click of the mouse away to keeping your program organized and on track--if it were only that easy with our players!

Maximizing Your Coaching “Net Worth”: Online Resources

With the ever-increasing use of technology in sports and the explosion of social media, it is no surprise that the number of coaches using the internet is growing at a rapid rate. Exchanging ideas on philosophy, strategies, teaching techniques, etc., which previously took place in off-season clinics and conferences, is now taking place on a daily basis. It is not uncommon to find a high school coach from Minnesota sharing information on how to break a full court press with a club coach from Spain through e-mail or a LinkedIn discussion group. A coach’s ability to access information about his or her profession has never been greater in the history of the game than it is today. And with every new sports web site popping up daily on the Internet, we could be just scratching the surface.

Using the Internet to Benefit Your Program

As stated earlier, you can find just about anything about your sport on the Internet. It is helpful to search the web with a particular purpose; other wise it is easy to get sidetracked and wind up reading the latest standings in the Malaysian Professional League. The following list is an example of some of the uses that can be helpful:

1.     Exchanging ideas with other coaches: To improve your understanding of the game, there are a number of web sites that offer discussion groups, questions and answers, articles, and a number of other resources that can help you increase your knowledge of the game and how to teach it. Learn how other coaches teach your particular system of play or implement your coaching philosophy. You can find information on every topic from strength training to knowing what to say at half time to your team. It is a great opportunity to share ideas and possibly gain a different perspective on the way you already do things in your own program.

2.     Accessing resource information on offensive and defensive systems of play: From the motion offense in basketball to the 3-4 defense in football, you can find information on any system of play. This includes how to teach it, the necessary drills, the strengths and weakness of the system, the type of personnel needed, etc.

3.     Finding out the latest information on clinics, purchasing resource materials, etc: You can access a list of every book, video, software program, etc., related to your sport and order it right over the Internet. Find out when the Nike clinic is in town or where the next coach’s association convention will be held just by staying up to date on specific Facebook pages.

4.     Find a job, scheduling games and tournaments, etc.: Maybe the most important resource of them all is the coaching vacancy list! You can also find information on tournament openings, games wanted, summer camps and summer tournaments. If you are interested in taking a team to a foreign country, you can find out information on companies specializing in setting up tours. Connect with coaches on LinkedIn that have played in similar regions or against common opponents and build your coaching network!

5.     Accessing information on scouting and recruiting: There are a number of web sites that provide comprehensive and up-to-date statistical reports on one of your possible upcoming opponents. You can always stay current with high school players and college signing days via Twitter. Many high schools are beginning to post their own home pages, which can be a source of added information to your scouting report if you are an opponent or recruiting profile if you are a college coach.

You cannot afford to be a step behind the competition! In this day and age where the little things really do make a difference, you cannot allow your opponents any advantage, especially in an area where you can utilize the same resources.

Practice Competition is the Key

During practice, coaches face a tremendous challenge in getting players to execute all drills to the best of their ability in terms of intensity, performance, etc. in practice. The ability to effectively accomplish this can be related directly back to a coach's style of coaching and personality. Some coaches demand intensity and focus because they are intense and focused in their approach and demeanor. Other coaches are more laid back in their personalities and, therefore, may struggle in getting players to perform up to their potential.

One of the most effective ways to motivate players to perform the fundamentals within a particular drill at a high level of efficiency is through competition. Here is a simple little experiment you can try in practice:

Choose a particular drill that you like to do in practice. Let’s say you are a basketball coach and you are going to run a 3-player weave. Divide up your team and tell them, “OK team, we are going to run our weave drill and I want you to run it as hard as you can and with no mistakes.” Let them run the drill and take note of how well and how intense they run the drill. Now run the drill again with the following instructions, “OK team, we are going to run a 3-player weave with the following rules:

1.     Each 3-player group is a team competing against all other 3-player teams.

2.     The object is to the win the drill by accumulating points as a team competing in rounds against the other teams.

3.     A round is completed when all team have had a chance to run the drill. Your team is awarded a point by completing a 3-man weave and converting the lay-up going up and back in the fastest time.

4.     3 seconds will be added to a team’s time for every missed lay-up or ball-handling mistake.

5.     A total of 5 rounds will be performed.

6.     Team with the most points after 5 rounds wins the drill.

You will see a tremendous increase in the level of intensity, concentration, enthusiasm, and desire to execute the drill properly from the first scenario to the second one. Competition is one of the greatest motivation factors that can be used to improve overall player performance. There are also a number of other benefits by making drills competitive:

1.     Players are trained to perform under game-like conditions.

2.     You are able to identify players who perform well under pressure.

3.     Players who are real competitors and have a strong desire to win will quickly be identified.

Important Points to Consider When Planning a Basketball Practice

By Michael May

When you think about it, is there anything more important in your coaching responsibilities and duties than planning an effective practice session? John Wooden once said, "Failure to prepare is preparing for failure." Obviously the level of player talent you have in your program will be one of the strongest determining factors in the level of success you will achieve. But where the rubber really meets the road in utilizing that talent to its fullest potential is your ability as a coach to create the most effective practice plan possible. Of course you can create the greatest practice plans ever devised but they must be carried out with great discipline and execution on the practice floor on a consistent basis.

Quite a bit of information has been written on how to structure a daily practice plan. Keeping drills short, making drills competitive, and having players move quickly from one drill to another are some of the important points that can help maintain intensity and productivity on the practice floor. However, when you look at the big picture, how do you determine what to practice and when? This requires some serious thought and analysis because there are a number of factors to be considered. From where do you draw your information in determining what your weekly practice outline is going to be? And what about the daily practice plan?

The Master Practice Plan

You are one step ahead if you have a general idea of what fundamentals you are going to teach your team as well as when you are going to teach them in practice. It begins with the first day of practice and ends with the last. A master practice plan is a schedule of all your practice sessions and an outline of what is going to be covered in each of those practices for the entire season. Practice time is precious as you all know, and it is every coach's goal to make the most of it. A master practice plan will provide a foundation for the season. It will provide you a reference point in creating monthly, weekly, and daily practice plans. The master practice plan by itself is too broad and general to provide the basis for creating a daily practice schedule. It is not set in stone, but rather it is flexible because coaches have to be flexible. Here are some benefits of having a master practice plan:

1.     Creating a specific playbook--It allows you to be organized in terms of defining your system of play for the season.

2.     Having a better understanding of your own system--It helps you to analyze and identify all the individual component fundamentals that you want your players to learn.

3.     Using the right tool for the right job--It causes you to evaluate and update your list of drills that will enable you to effectively teach those fundamentals that you have identified.

4.      Preparing for the big game won't sneak up on you--It gives you a better perspective of your whole season as it unfolds.

5.     If you are prepared, you shall not fear--It provides the organization and preparation necessary to promote confidence in the program to everyone, from the coaching staff to the players.

"I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach." John Wooden

Bringing Technology Into the Picture

It may sound a bit overwhelming to think about what you are going to practice in February but February will come around all too soon. For those coaches who have created a master practice plan and are using it consistently, you will probably agree that the most difficult part of the whole thing is creating the first one. But it generally does not change much from season to season.

Using computer technology can make creating a master practice plan easier. Using a word processor, calendar-maker, database, or spreadsheet program can definitely help save time in a number of ways. It is easy to make changes and modifications to your plan because it is stored as a file in your computer's hard drive. All you do is open the file and go to work. You can also make multiple copies of the plan at any time.

Creating a Master Practice Plan

There are different approaches to creating a master practice plan. The plan is generally broken down into three phases: (1) Preseason (2) Midseason and (3) Conference and Postseason. It is important to remember that what you cover will vary from one phase to another. The following is a suggested procedure for creating a master practice plan:

A.   Playbook- This is where it all starts. You must have a specific system of offense and defense in place before beginning any kind of practice planning. It should include the type of team offense and defense you are going to employ, special set plays, or special situations, etc.

Using a simple word processor will allow you to create a playbook that you can edit, update, and store in a file in your computer for easy access. Word processing programs make it very easy to create a format that will make your playbook look truly professional. You can insert charts to help you create categories or topics to help you organize your system of play. You can even make multiple copies from your computer to give to your coaching staff and players.

Here is an example of a basic playbook that you can create using a spread sheet program:

Offense	Half-court	Set Plays	Full-court Pressbreak	Half-court Pressbreak
Man to Man	Motion UCLA Hi Post Delay	#1 Fist #2 Lob #3 Cross #4 Clear	4 Across Drifter-Gap	21 32
Zone	Runner Rover Spread	Split Stack Diagonal	50 54	21 32
Defense	Man to Man	Zone 1-2-2
	10- 1/4 Ct. 20- 1/2 Ct. 30- 3/4 Ct. 40- Full Ct.	12- 1/4 Ct. 22- 1/2 Ct. 32- 3/4 Ct. 42- Full Ct.

B.    List of Fundamentals: Once you have your system of play in place, it is important to identify all the necessary fundamentals that your players will need to know to execute that system in a game. Both team and individual fundamentals need to be taken into account. If your offense against man-to-man defense requires a screen-and-roll to be executed, then that involves two players. This would be considered a team fundamental. You should also consider physical conditioning such as weight training. Your ability to break your system down to its component parts and identify the necessary fundamentals is crucial in determining what you will eventually cover in practice.

You can compile your list using a word processor. It is just a question of organizing topics and sub-topics for categorizing the fundamentals. Using a database program is an even better way to do it. A database allows you to create fields or categories to specifically organize information. You could break the list down into individual fundamentals and team fundamentals. Within the individual fundamentals category you could create post and perimeter categories, etc. This provides you an easy way to be highly organized and very specific in identifying the fundamentals of your system.

C.    Drill Directory: Earlier it was mentioned that having the right tool for the right job is important when it comes to the use of drills. Identifying the type of drill you are going to use to teach the specific fundamentals to your players is crucial to your success. There are a number of factors to consider in choosing which drills to use such as the number of players it will involve at one time, the number of baskets necessary, etc. Once you decide on your list of drills, you can then organize them into meaningful ways much as you did with the fundamentals list.

Again a database program will allow you to create categories such as two-man, three-man, four-man, and five-man drills. You can categorize your defensive drills into zone and man-to-man. Within the man-to-man drills you can create sub-categories such as "on ball" and "off ball" defense.

D.   Practice Calendar: The practice calendar will provide important information to you in determining your overall master practice plan. The amount of practice you have before your first game, stretches where you will be playing a number of games with very little practice time, and the amount of practice before your conference opener are all important factors to be considered. You also need to take into account practice time during holidays, mid-term exams, etc.

A calendar-maker software program is a valuable tool in laying out the entire season's schedule. You could actually do it on a word processor but you would not get the same visual effect as seeing the months, weeks, and days in a calendar format. The program allows you to enter text in any specific day to indicate practice times, game times, etc. After entering all your available practice times, you will then have a better idea of what needs to be done in terms of covering specific thing in practice.

Putting It All Together

Using the calendar maker program, you can now begin to lay out a general plan of what you want to cover in your practices throughout the season. Using your list of fundamentals, drill directory, and practice calendar as references, you will have a much better idea of what you want to do and when. Some coaches will put down the specific fundamentals to be taught along with a few of the drills to be used. For example, December 12^th- On Ball Defense: Zig Zag Drill, Around the World One on One, etc.

An important point to consider when you are allocating time for different aspects of your system is to decide what percentage of time during a game you will use the things you are trying to teach. In other words, it is important to spend the majority of time on the areas that are used a majority of time in a ball game.

It is also important to remember that the master practice plan is a general outline of things and can be and will be updated and modified as the season goes on. That is the advantage of using computer technology in your planning. It is very easy to update your drill directory, practice calendar, etc. You are just a click of the mouse away to keeping your program organized and on track. If it were only that easy with our players!

 

Michael May has been a highly successful basketball coach for 28 years on the international, junior college and high school levels. Currently he is president of "Practice Planner Live Software," a new cutting edge web-based practice planning solution for coaches at any level. Please visit www.practiceplannerlive.com to register for a free 30-day trial or e-mail him at sports@practiceplannerlive.com