What a great time of year! College practices have started, with the high Schools soon to follow. Everyone is excited to be in the gym sweating, learning, and getting better. But no matter what the level, practices can seem to go on forever before that first game rolls around. So what makes some teams able to get more out of their pre-season practices than others? I’ve thought about this one a lot.
Doc has a great statement about the pre-season that is so simple, yet it hits home with our staff and our team. He says, “Guys, this time of year is about getting it right.” It’s about coming in everyday and working to make things better, make things right, make things even more right.
We want our players to “get from” practice not just “get through” practice. Losing teams come in with no energy, no enthusiasm, and no commitment to improve. They just want to come in and get the practice over with. We want no part of that!
We want them to learn what we need to do. That’s our responsibility as coaches. Then we want them to “get it right,” which is their responsibility. They need to listen to what we want done and how we want it done. Then they need to have a commitment to executing this to perfection in each and every practice session we have. That’s how they “get from” practice.
The key piece to the puzzle is that they collectively understand this and hold each other accountable for doing it. That’s what separates the great teams from the rest. They understand the importance of practice and the importance of repetition and how it relates to success. They make sure they attack each day with tremendous focus so they know that each day they’ve made an investment in their future success. They got something “from” the practice!
