Practice is when kids have the opportunity to learn. Once game time arrives they get to put what they practiced into action. The game is not the time to be teaching kids new skills.
Anyone participating in a sport that doesn’t like to practice will not continue with the sport. As coaches it is our job to make practice fun, so kids learn to enjoy the activity and stay involved.
How do we keep kids entertained and excited about a sport, while also keeping them on task and learning? It isn’t easy, but a well run practice is the first big step in the right direction.
Have a Plan
Take 20 minutes before practice to come up with a game plan. Pick a few drills you want to run with the kids that day. Make sure you time box activities. The plan needs to be in place to ensure you provide time for kids to get a few reps at each drill while maintaining a fair balance for each kid at each drill.
Stations, Stations are Key
A line of kids several deep is a sure way to derail your practice and lose kids attention span. Break them up into the smallest groups you have adult support for. Have the groups go with different adults to run different drills. Delegating work to each coach engages as many kids as possible for the most amount of time possible.
Many parents will also enjoy getting out there, especially at the younger age groups. Parent’s want to help, but often don’t want to over step. Engage them first. Ask if they are willing to run a simple station. Rolling a ball on the ground to the kids, or tossing a gentle pass is all it takes to stand up a station.
Come Together as a Team
The last drill of a practice should have the whole team involved. The selected drill needs to be fast paced, to avoid idle time, as well as allowing for multiple kids to participate at the same time.
For a baseball example, have the kids line up at home. On the coaches signal run to first, watching the coach. They may indicated to go to second, or run through first. As soon as the kid settles on a base you can have the next kid go. 3 or 4 kids can be running at once, and the whole team is working together.
Practice Is Not a School Lesson
Athletes learn by doing. Keep what the goal of the drill is to a short description and get going. The younger the athlete the shorter the description.
Remember, sports are supposed to be fun.
In Summary Don’t Waste Time
Getting reps in is the key to a successful practice. The more time spent working on muscle memory and repetitions the faster basics will start to develop.
Keep kids engaged, ignore mistakes, and keep drills moving.
From my years of coaching a well run, highly engaged, practice will be more fun than the game for a young athlete. The kids get reps, they get adult interaction, and they get to have fun with their friends. If you can have a plan, keep kids from being idle, and reinforce the basics you will be amazed at how fast an entire team of athletes improves!