Your First Basketball Practice: You Must Do This
It's important that you set the tone from the very first minute of the very first practice!
What I'm about to reveal to you will...
Increase practice efficiency
Ramp up intensity and hustle
Instill the right mindset from the beginning
Lead to better shooters, ball handlers, passers, and scorers
Ultimately win more games
It's also super simple to do.
This is a combination of what I learned from Morgan Wootten and Jim Huber. And I've used this at the youth and high school level.
Step 1 - Gather the Players
Start the first practice by gathering the players. You can blow a whistle or verbally call them in.
Most likely, they jogged or walked to you. This is almost always the case, unless you've had this group before and you've already done this with them.
Step 2 - Ask About Effort
I'll immediately ask them, "Was that your best effort? When I called you in, did you sprint?"
Most will reply honestly, "No. It wasn't."
Step 3 - Give Them Another Chance
After that, I'll say, "Let's try this again. I need you to run back to where you came from now."
Then you say, "On 'Go', I want you to come back here."
I can't recall one time where each player didn't sprint back.
To really drive it home, you can even say, "I think you can do better. Let's try it one more time. Sprint to where you came from then immediately sprint back. Go!"
Step 4 - Explain WHY
Now, here could be the most important part. I made the mistake of not doing this early in my coaching career.
When they come back, explain the WHY! You need to tell them why it's important to give full effort. This will create a greater buy-in.
So next you can say,
"Why is it important to sprint to areas when I blow the whistle? When you sprint, does it take less time than if you jogged or walked in?"
"Right. It takes less time. And if we sprint and hustle the entire practice, that creates more time to practice and work on your skills."
"And how do you get better at something?"
"Yeah. You focus on doing it right and you get plenty of reps. You do it lots and lots of times."
"Also, if you're hustling to spots while practicing the skill, you get more reps within the drill. You can get 10 reps in a minute rather than 8."
"Over time, all of these extra reps add up to you getting a lot better over time!"
Wrapping Up
You could certainly re-word it, change it for the audience/age level, and even talk about the importance of going at game speed, developing a habit of hustle, being in better condition than your opponents, etc.
However, you don't want to talk too long either. You can always cover those mini-speeches at opportune break times throughout the season.
What You Need to Do Next!
Next, I'm going to reveal another thing that we immediately do after this that will sharpen focus, reduce behavioral issues, and improve listening and retention...
Related Resources
Coaching Middle School Basketball the Right Way - Fundamentals and Drills for 10 to 14 Year Olds
Developing a Man to Man Defense with Jim Huber
What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
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