A Comment on Practice: Make things Competetive

I've often sat back and wondered about basketball.  I really love the game and during most days I find myself thinking about various elements of the sport.  Today I was wondering about what a coach can do in order to make players work hard in practice.  It is a belief of mine that the harder a player works, the greater the chances are that the player will improve and this is what you want as a coach. Your goal at the start of every year (especially when coaching at the youth levels) is that each player you coach is better at the end of the season than they were at the start.  How do you do this?  The answer to this question deals with competition.  You need to make sure that every practice is competitive and that the players on the team have the opportunity to leave everything they have on the floor at practice as well as in games.


It seems pretty straight forward at first glance but it's not always so obvious.  Some of the things a coach can do in order to add more competition to a practice are:
  • Run drills with team goals and make these goals attainable but difficult to reach.
  • Run drills which will pit player vs player.
  • Run drills which will pit team vs team.
  • Challenge your best players by placing them on a team with less talented teammates.
Everything in practice should be competitive.  Nobody likes to lose, so this competition will keep everyone working hard.  The one thing that you as a coach need to pay attention to is confidence.  In your effort to keep things competitive, make sure that there is not a player or group of players that is always on the losing side.  Make sure everyone gets a chance to compete and reap the benefits of working hard.

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