It’s all about Grassroots Coaching / Chapter 5 - Coaching Practice

Clipboard Notes

The Practice Mode: You learn new skills and mechanics and sharpen up the ones you have already learned.

The Game Mode: When you have learned a new skill in the Practice Mode, you must trust yourself and use it without fear in the Game Mode.

Acknowledgment: Praise and Encouragement together are a great team for moving your players along.

The Natural Way: It is necessary to have your players kick, swing, pass, etc., as naturally for them as possible.

Games-Based Approach: A better and alternative approach to the mindless drills during practice. 

Comments on the Clipboard Notes

Learning is much more than changing what we do. In order to really learn something, we must change our feelings, thoughts, and perceptions about what we are learning. When we teach our players something new or are installing different habits, we’re changing a number of things and we have to be patient while the changes are taking place.

The Practice Mode:

This is the time for an individual player to improve on a skill to the point that   she will be able to perform it when the time comes for the use of that skill in the game. Standing on the 12th tee, a par 4 hole with a dogleg to the left is simply not the time and place for Gloria to think about changing to her new grip. Or Danny standing at the free throw line in the big game is not the time to adjust his new shooting rhythm. That kind of experimenting and learning must be done in practice.

The Game Mode:

You have to trust what you have learned in Practice Mode and then do it. The key word is trust - no second guessing. You have debated between hitting a 7 iron and an 8 iron to the green and you just selected the 8 iron. The 7 iron has just disappeared from your conscious mind; your entire focus is on hitting that 8 iron as well as you can.

Acknowledgment:

Praise and Encouragement Often you will hear coaches say, “We don't praise our kids enough.” Shawna has just done a good job of practice passing the soccer ball to a teammate. So you say, “Great, that's the way to do it.” That's Praise. You add, “Next time you will want to give Debbie a little more lead because she’s very fast.” That's Encouragement – You have covered both bases. You have told Shawna that she did something well and you have also told her how to improve on this skill. Do not confuse this with the Parental message, “You never do it right.”

The Natural Way:

My friend, Fran, the star pitcher on a semi-pro baseball team, had a natural sidearm delivery that was very effective for him and bad news for the opposing batters. He was picked up by a traveling squad in a larger city and his new coach thought that Fran would be faster and more consistent if he threw three quarters. Well, you know what happened – Fran not only was less effective but he started to have some pains in his pitching arm. This story has a happy ending. Fran got back home and went back to his natural rhythm and his pains left and his fastball and curve came back. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Games-Based Approach: 

Create situations and circumstances that mirror what your players experience during the game.  This supports the player's learning.  A games-based approach permits perceiving, making decisions and executing based on cues and triggers from the game.  

Players sign up to play the game; not stand in lines waiting to do a drill.  Let them play games, even during practice. 

You have not taught until they’ve learned. – John Wooden