If you’re like me, you take a lot of pride in your practice planning. You spend a lot of time on it and put thought into making sure every moment is purposeful and efficient.

You plan your drills for the number of players you anticipate being at your practice or workout.

But what happens when life throws you a curveball? What do you do when you plan a practice for a certain number of players but due to sickness or circumstances you have fewer players present?

Do you get frustrated or thrown for a loop? I was guilty of that earlier in my career.

Now, I look at those situations as challenges. They happen to all coaches. The best coaches are able to overcome them and still maximize their practice time.

I’ve also discovered a coaching hack that allows me to have a great practice AND stick to my original practice plan. Read on to find out what it is!

Short On Players? Try This Creative Solution With YOU as the Centerpiece

Let’s say I’ve planned a workout for 6 players. The majority of the workout is going to be 3v3 drills.

Then, 2 players text you before the workout starts to tell you they are sick.

Now, instead of having 6 players, you have 4. And your plan is based around 3v3. What should you do?

Lace up your sneakers!

Make yourself a 5th player. You can’t shoot, so the defense doesn’t have to guard you. All you can do is pass and screen.

For instance, let’s say you were playing 3v3 on 1 side of the floor. This is a great drill to work on spacing and screening to get teammates open in tight spaces.

With 6 players, it might look like this:

With 4 players, it could look like this

The coach now acts as an all-time screener and passer. This allows your players to work on the same actions as if you had 6 players.

(If you have 5 players, have the 5th player be the screener/passer)

This applies to any drill you want to do.

For example:

• You could do a 5v5 drill with 8 or 9 players (in fact, here’s a great example of how Don Kelbick plays “5v5” with 9 players to teach motion offense).
• You can do 4v4 drills with 6-7 players.
• You can do 3v3 drills with 4-5 players.
• You can do 2v2 drills with 2-3 players.

How Creative Coaching Causes Better Players

The benefits of this way of doing things are multiple! No longer are you hamstrung by numbers. No longer do you have to go back to the drawing board to recreate a practice plan.

This type of flexibility is especially valuable during the off-season, when numbers fluctuate as kids balance multiple commitments, jobs, and vacations. Being able to adapt on the fly makes you a better coach, which leads to better players and a better team!

If you’re looking for 3v3 drills that will develop your players, click the box below!

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