3 Quick Tips to Keep Your Players Motivated, Focused, and Working Hard!

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This is an excerpt from our FREE report called The Ultimate Guide to Motivating Players. These are some good tips and reminders that will help you keep your players working hard...

Motivation Tip #1 - Do NOT Run at the End of Practice

If you save your conditioning for the very end of practice, many times kids don't play 100% throughout the body of practice because they know, "I'm gonna run 10, 15, 20 sprints at the end and I need to save myself for that."

If players know they have to run at the end of practice, they will pace themselves throughout your drills because they know RUNNING is coming.

Instead, you should include conditioning as part of your regular drills and practice. This way they go HARD the entire practice and it just becomes a habit.

Plus, running is not much fun for players and that's what they'll be talking about in the locker room. They'll be moaning and groaning about Coach making them run - or if it's a youth team, they're getting in the car with Mom and Dad talking negatively about practice.

You want your players to be excited about basketball and feel good about it. That's why it's so important to end on a positive note!

Now that I've had the opportunity to talk with countless successful coaches all over the country, I have discovered that almost all of them include conditioning as part of their regular drills. They run fast paced drills that both condition and improve skill at the same time. Not only does this save time and make your practice more efficient, but it improves motivation too. Players don't even know you're conditioning them.

Motivation Tip #2 - Be a Teacher

This is perhaps the most important and most powerful concept for you to embrace.

Coaching is teaching. What is the priority and overriding concern of a teacher? It's the progress of the student, not wins and losses.

This is a simple and profound concept that you need to embrace. When the coach treats the player as a student, players and the team show tremendous improvement.

The harsh reality is that players do in games exactly what they do in practice. Don't fool yourself. A remarkable pre-game speech isn't going to suddenly light a fire that lasts the entire game. This is not the answer.

The easiest way to motivate players is easy. Teach them. Players will respond if you teach them. And when they notice that they have improved, this will yield even more motivation.

John Wooden Food for Thought

This is from the book called The Talent Code. In 1974, two educational psychologists named Ron Gallimore and Roland Tharp studied John Wooden during every one of his practices throughout the season. They recorded each teaching act that Wooden instructed that year.

"There were 2,326 discrete acts of teaching. Of them, a mere 6.9 percent were compliments. Only 6.6 percent were expressions of displeasure. But 75 percent were pure information on what to do, how to do it, when to intensify an activity.

One of Wooden's most frequent forms of teaching was a 3-part method when he modeled the right way to do something, showed the incorrect way, and then remodeled the right way to do something. His actions rarely took longer than 3 seconds."

Motivation Tip #3 - Explain the Reason Why

A good teacher (and sales person for that matter) explains the "reason why". Many times coaches need to put their sales hat on (in addition to teaching) because you need to make sure players believe.

Quite often players don't understand why they are doing a certain drill, and frankly they lose motivation. They don't truly believe the drill is helping them.

This is why you need to explain the "reason why" the fundamentals and drills you run are important. Don't assume the players know, because I promise that they don't.

Explaining the "reason why" is a proven psychological trigger that causes people to take a desired action. At a psychological level, humans by nature want to know the reason why they are doing something.

Let's take man-to-man defense as an example...

If your players don't understand the reason you want them to keep their knees bent, always be ready to help, see man and ball, and apply ball pressure, then they will NOT give 100%!

If you want them to give 100%, you need to teach the reason why you're doing something.

Teach them why you're quicker if you are in an athletic stance.

Teach them why you're not supposed to leave your feet and get out of position.

Teach them why they are sagging away from their man when they are one pass away or why they are in the passing lane denying the pass.

The more your players understand the science behind your defense, the more they will buy into it and perform!

This concept works. Don't slow you're practice to a halt. But work the explanations into certain places where players might not appreciate what you're doing. Give it a try.

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

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Pete says:
8/28/2012 at 5:47:28 PM

Great article. I try to make sure I end my practices with "puzzle games". I buy cheap 24 or 30 piece puzzles (usually Disney ones) at Wal-Mart or the like and we play shooting games that involve running and ball handling. Each time they score a layup they get one puzzle piece, a shot from outside the key is worth two puzzle pieces and a three point shot is worth 3 puzzle pieces. I've been doing it for years and the age of the kid does not diminish the fun they have with this. I break my team into 3 or 4 smaller teams so they need to work toether to get pieces and get their puzzle finished first. The kids really enjoy this. Just my small share with the basketball world - Happy Hoops!

Anthony Augustine says:
11/22/2010 at 3:14:52 AM

Yes all the mension points really effect your teaching skills. even i belive in same...i also try and use it in my regular PE class. its makes your student pay attension to the instructions given as that will help them perform well.

mike says:
11/12/2010 at 9:35:02 PM

I always tell my kids the why for every drill , game or exercise we do. It makes them more interested to know why they have to slide on defense or why they have to pass and move.Teach them, they will get it

Coach Darrough says:
11/8/2010 at 11:15:42 AM

Teaching is essential and this article hits the nail on the head! If you explain it to the kids, they will buy in. My teams run throughout practice and have bought in to my philosophy. I am looking forward to adding trying to achieve the same percentage as Mr. Wooden, only 25% was good or bad. 75% was TEACHING!

Lee says:
11/7/2010 at 12:48:11 AM

...posted comment too soon. I need to finish by saying that you putting this into context with being a teacher and communicator, means that I will TELL them that they will NOT run at the end of practices! That way, there's no looking ahead to an undesirable activity, and they can commit to fully engaging themselves when it matters the most.

Lee says:
11/7/2010 at 12:40:02 AM

Sometimes the simplest things hit like a ton of bricks! I was pondering over how to get more effort out of my rec youth girl's teams. Most of them in our community seem to play more for social reasons. I use a fair number of full court drills, so they move up and down the floor. But, I run them at the end of practices, and for sure, they start dogging it during practice because they're pace themselves! I have to say "Thanks" for the wake-up call!

Jenna says:
11/2/2010 at 11:00:25 AM

This is so inspirational and extremely helpful! That's for posting this!

coachk says:
10/30/2010 at 9:42:49 AM

This continues to be one of the best coaching resource sites. Judging from the number of responses others agree. Basketball is a skill game..running without a purpose develops no skill. Be creative and condition with the ball - full court speed layups, full court passing drills, full court footwork / agility work ..plenty of live action work on press and press break, competitve drills - losers run some .. on and on .. leaving on a fun note keeps them energized - full court scrimmaging with a purpose - I like to finish with competitive shooting drills when they are a bit tired. Great job Haefner''''s!!

Derick Bulley says:
10/27/2010 at 2:24:21 PM

If you want to condition player AND have them run at the end of the practice, have them scrimmage at an unusally high tempo at the end of practice. I simulate late game situations and have them play full out for 4-5 minutes with full court pressure...They love it and over time, their conditioning improves dramatically.

Greg Dressler says:
10/26/2010 at 8:42:38 PM

Being a father and a youth coach I see alot of coaches that set a player down after making a mistake. It seems they don't know how to teach the player, so they put them on the bench. It frustrates, me so hopefully they are reading this.

coach D says:
10/23/2010 at 4:25:08 PM

Wow --- I happen to agree with #1 BUT

#2 and #3 are something every coach (especially youth) should adhere to and always fall back on..... Most youth players are like sponges and they will improve IF you actually show them and explain... Sounds simple but you have to stop telling them what they are doing wrong and focus and SHOW them how to do it right..... Great article...

Dr. Dion says:
10/22/2010 at 10:21:53 PM

I actually use a fast break drill every practice to get all the running we need. Its a 2 pass fast break drill where the ball never hits the ground even after a made layup. The goal early in the year is to make 20 in a row. Every time the ball hits the ground we subtract 2. If they miss we start over. I typically run this drill 5-10 mins. every practice. More time early in the year. Once your kids have made 20 in a row, challenge them to keep going until they miss. They love this. After 20 makes in a row we now have to make 30 in a row. Tell them our goal is to make 100 in a row. This will condition your players, train players to look up on the fast break and finish layup and teach your kids to sprint wide and full speed at all times on the break.

C. Velasquez says:
10/22/2010 at 5:02:48 PM

I like most all the other coaches/teachers on here agree with these tips, I know that implementing these tips into our practices will surely have a great impact on this season. My girls have asked me before, "Coach what is this drill for?" I simply said, "Well you tell me waht you think this drill is for?" Now I know that I have to be a "saleswoman", and get them to "buy" the drill. Thank you once again for the great tips, and keep them coming!!
Best regards,
Coach V.

Carlos Lopez says:
10/22/2010 at 4:16:26 PM

Timoteo - I dont agree with your comment. You are wasting time on running sprints. By using fundamental skills as condtioning saves time and its a great motivator. Using transitions offense and defense drills is a great example of how you can use these drills for conditioning. Though there is a time and place for sprints I too believe running them after practice is not a good motivator.

Ben M says:
10/22/2010 at 6:35:24 AM

I agree that running for the sake of running is for track or cross-country. But Jason said he had to have a little running. Jason you could run full court weave drills and make sure players get enough reps or a progression defense/offense drill full court. I guarantee you they will get conditioned and learn basketball skills at the same time. We believe in our program that time is precious and everything we do in practice should be done with a ball as much as possible.
God Bless
Ben

Oz says:
10/22/2010 at 1:06:10 AM

Thanks guys!! Really good information and food for thought. Great reading for young coaches! We do have to go through lots of losing before we how to really win!
Phelps story is very relieving.

Good luck to all this upcoming season!!!!

CP KIM says:
10/21/2010 at 2:06:20 PM

Somehow I believe that a teacher can be a better coach. Teachers are dealing with kids/younger players in their professions. They are experienced and trained to teach their students theoretically and psychologically as well. That will make their coaching/teaching more effective when the correct method is introduced to enable their players to understand and perform.
I am agree to have the conditioning in between the training session. Sometimes I make my players doing the conditioning in the form of punishment. 10 push-ups, a full-court sprint or 10 star-jumps for each mistake they have made. Thus will make my players more allert and concentrate during the training.

Bill Baumann says:
10/21/2010 at 1:50:53 PM

In my 35+ years of coaching I have never been a big fan of conditioning for the sake of conditioning at the end of practice (I hated it as a player).
We run fast break drills and full court shooting drills at the beginning of practice. At the end of practice we end practice with what we call "10 minute hockey".
We play 10 minutes of full court 4 on 4 basketball utilizing our fastbreak, press and traps. We usually have 5-6 players on a team. It is running time and they sub on their own (like hockey)...they must touch hands to sub.
They have to communicate when they sub. If the ball goes out of play a coach throws another in and it continues.
By the end the players are tired and we have worked on our full court game.
The players ask everyday if they can do the drill!!!

Chuck Franklin says:
10/21/2010 at 12:12:21 PM

Joe, This is great stuff. I am coaching 5th graders and I feel the more they know and understand the why, the better equipped they will be when their bodies mature to be able to execute.
Thanks

Jeff R says:
10/21/2010 at 10:47:44 AM

I agree running has to be made a positive and should not be used as a punishment.
When you run at the end of practice not only do your players save themselves, they think of running as a negative.
At our first practice I tell my players that If they really love to play Basketball then they have to learn to love to run. Because Basketball is running, You can't be good at one without being good at the other.
I then tell the girls we will not run as punishment. We do our heavy running in fullcourt drills at the beginning of Practice.

Jeremy Kurutz says:
10/21/2010 at 10:46:11 AM

The timing of conditioning so practice does not end with it is fine but I fell into the the trap once that if you do more drills that implement conditioning you don''t need to run as much without a ball wich is "no fun". I tried this approach and my team was dead in the second half of the first game. There is nothing better than flat out running without a ball to condition. As close as you can run to "game speed levels" during practice. When a drill involves even the smallest skill you cannot run at your highest speed and condition to the highest level a player is willing to go.

Rizgar says:
10/21/2010 at 10:42:47 AM

This is really great, I am in the Kurdistan league season. I am going to explain those tips to my players!
Being motivated all the time is hard for anyone...everywhere!!

Joe Haefner says:
10/21/2010 at 10:20:30 AM

Great ideas, coaches.

Bob & Kristine, that's the kind of drills and games that we believe you should end practice with. They are getting conditioned while working on their game and having fun.

Bob Johnson says:
10/21/2010 at 10:00:03 AM

I always have my kids run at the end of practice! But it is always some sort of fun relay, whether it is a two man passing or dribbling drill or a weave of some kind, it always ends with the kids cheering, smiling and/or laughing when they finally catch their breath! No whining that I know about. They also run during practice, but there is always some down time when "teaching" so it is imperative that they get prolonged periods of conditioning. I find that the kids actually look forward to the end of practice and the running/conditioning.

Kristine says:
10/21/2010 at 9:46:01 AM

Another thought on the conditioning..... I coach grades 3-6 and I do run at the end of practice but I make it relay races. We do shuffles, dribbling(even 2 ball dribble), passing, butt kicks and even killers! The kids love it and it"s their favorite part of the program. They are cheering and excited and leave with smiles on their faces.

John Spezia says:
10/21/2010 at 9:38:48 AM

Very good article! We never ran at the end of practice we might have done our 2 minute drill that was like a 5 man fast-break where the ball never touches the floor and they have to score 30 points in that time frame! We counted and it was approximately 15 down and backs when done! we always circled up at the end of practice and said something good about what each other did in practice!Always tried to end on a positive note!

Alton Sutton says:
10/21/2010 at 9:29:10 AM

Excellent tips especially for new coaches. Probably all they have witnessed from others is screaming. Absolutely, a coach is a teacher. If your players understand what they are doing and why they are expected to do it a certain way, they will begin to accept it and improve. I had a coach in high school who was very much a father figure. He didn't say much but he had the "superman stare". When he was upset he could stare a hole through you. But we knew he loved us and cared for us. He didn't need to yell.

Jason says:
10/21/2010 at 9:22:07 AM

On the conditioning thoughts...I try to have some straigt running early in the practice, along with during the drills, so that the players are conditioned to having to try to concentrate and perform under a little fatigue, just like in a game condition...that way, they are used to running the offense, or working on defense, with a little sweat already, and this helps them to remember that in the game, we're not stopping to run later. The running is all the time...

Joe Haefner says:
10/21/2010 at 8:35:41 AM

Timoteo, I can respect if you disagree. However, why do you like to end with a conditioning drill?

Why not implement the conditioning throughout the practice? Why not schedule the practice, so they are being conditioning through drills that they are accustomed to? Dribbling Drills? Full Court Offense Drills? Defense Drills?

I prefer to condition this way, so the players don't have that bad taste in their mouth when they leave practice. I want them to enjoy basketball, not dislike it.

Timoteo says:
10/21/2010 at 8:30:39 AM

Could not disagree more with first point. I always end with some sort of conditioning drill and I never have kids "saving" themselves for the end of practice.

Barry Cook says:
10/21/2010 at 8:22:26 AM

Excellent. This has been my approach for many years now. I have often been frowned at for this but it is an excellent approach.

MARLON says:
10/21/2010 at 8:16:59 AM

Excelente trabajo me va a ayudar mucho mi entrenamiento con jóvenes como con niños. Thxs

Damon Keene says:
10/21/2010 at 7:37:12 AM

More great tips. As a youth coach (grades 2-5), teaching the why's I've learned is a great tool for the longer term development of young players. Not running at the end of practice is a new one. I'll have to start implementing this and see what results I get.

Thanks!

Gary Lees says:
10/21/2010 at 6:27:50 AM

Many coaches use military type methods with their players, screeming at players for everything. My boys are on school teams that have teachers as coaches. I have questioned the coaches and asked if they use this screeming and running to teach math to students. When a student does not know 5 plus 5, no amount of running and screeming will correct this, basketball cannot be taught or learned any differently. I try to use a proactive approach instead off a reactive one.

Darren Brown says:
10/21/2010 at 5:24:42 AM

I, like Steve, agree 100%. I was lucky to have a great coach and I have taken much of his practice into developing my own. He was (and still is) adamant that the best way to teach something was to explain it in game context- the simplest skill development was always taught by demonstration and explanation as to why. It's a method I use and even parents watching have commented on how it makes sense of what their kids are doing (and in the uk, most parents have no concept at all).

Steve Graham says:
10/21/2010 at 3:20:15 AM

I totally agree with all 3 points ... just like your own child you should tell him/her why they need to go to school and they will appreciate going to school. Coaches are too quick to tell telling players what to do and not why they need to this. This is a very profound way of getting your boys ready for the season.

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