CTLaxer
05-19-2004, 11:17 AM
*Note: Admins, please make this sticky*
I thought this would be a good place to centralize general coaching tips and stuff and keep the rest of the posts about individual questions and aspects of the game. Please post any tips, tricks, or ways to make a coaches life easier here. I'll start off with a few things i've experienced as a player and as a coach that help out tremendously.
Make a packet of plays and drills and give it to your players as early as possible. Require them to learn them all and memorize them. Come practice time, do little quizes during warm ups and such. This cuts down on the time used for explaining drills and plays and really helps. It also makes new players less nervous about playing on a new team and not knowing how things are done as they have it all laid out in front of them. Doing this will allow you to spend a minimum of time explaining and more time actually doing the drills/plays
Teach fundamentals at every level of the game and make sure they're being reinforced! Just because they've done enough ground balls, or everyone can now catch lefty or something, doesn't mean you can stop. Incorporate fundamentals into your drills at every given chance you get. Instead of having a player start with the ball, roll one out the opposite way and make them do a ground ball to get it. Simple stuff like that.
Having a set warmup at every practice and game can do wonders and makes your life easier as well as your players. If you're late for practice or a game, they know what to do for the first 20-30mins until you get there. This also hammers home the teaching fundamentals as mentioned above. Line drills/shuttles can work miracles second only to the wall.
Make up a specific practice schedule for each practice. This can be a set of 9 or 10 practice routines that you rotate, or it can be totally different for each one. Staying organized during practice and ensuring you cover everything you need to will really make your life easier. It will also keep your kids in line if you can just hit them with drill after drill after drill instead of standing there thinking about what you want to do next for a few minutes while their mind wanders. They won't have time or energy to goof off or not pay attention.
Set the rules at the begining of the season and do not stray from them from the first day of the season till the last. More importantly, STICK WITH THEM! If you made a rule about being late, stick to it and enforce it every single time. Don't play favorites with who you enforce the rules with and who you don't. Be even and fair with all your players. Anyone who breaks the rules pays the consequences. It might suck having a really good player or a player with a great attitude forced to run a whole practice or sit out a game, but in the long run it will help the player, the team, and you the coach.
That's about it for now. A lot of what I posted might seem like common sense, but it all helps. Please add to this list whenever appropriate
I thought this would be a good place to centralize general coaching tips and stuff and keep the rest of the posts about individual questions and aspects of the game. Please post any tips, tricks, or ways to make a coaches life easier here. I'll start off with a few things i've experienced as a player and as a coach that help out tremendously.
Make a packet of plays and drills and give it to your players as early as possible. Require them to learn them all and memorize them. Come practice time, do little quizes during warm ups and such. This cuts down on the time used for explaining drills and plays and really helps. It also makes new players less nervous about playing on a new team and not knowing how things are done as they have it all laid out in front of them. Doing this will allow you to spend a minimum of time explaining and more time actually doing the drills/plays
Teach fundamentals at every level of the game and make sure they're being reinforced! Just because they've done enough ground balls, or everyone can now catch lefty or something, doesn't mean you can stop. Incorporate fundamentals into your drills at every given chance you get. Instead of having a player start with the ball, roll one out the opposite way and make them do a ground ball to get it. Simple stuff like that.
Having a set warmup at every practice and game can do wonders and makes your life easier as well as your players. If you're late for practice or a game, they know what to do for the first 20-30mins until you get there. This also hammers home the teaching fundamentals as mentioned above. Line drills/shuttles can work miracles second only to the wall.
Make up a specific practice schedule for each practice. This can be a set of 9 or 10 practice routines that you rotate, or it can be totally different for each one. Staying organized during practice and ensuring you cover everything you need to will really make your life easier. It will also keep your kids in line if you can just hit them with drill after drill after drill instead of standing there thinking about what you want to do next for a few minutes while their mind wanders. They won't have time or energy to goof off or not pay attention.
Set the rules at the begining of the season and do not stray from them from the first day of the season till the last. More importantly, STICK WITH THEM! If you made a rule about being late, stick to it and enforce it every single time. Don't play favorites with who you enforce the rules with and who you don't. Be even and fair with all your players. Anyone who breaks the rules pays the consequences. It might suck having a really good player or a player with a great attitude forced to run a whole practice or sit out a game, but in the long run it will help the player, the team, and you the coach.
That's about it for now. A lot of what I posted might seem like common sense, but it all helps. Please add to this list whenever appropriate