During practice, coaches face a tremendous challenge in getting players to execute all drills to the best of their ability
in terms of intensity, performance, etc. in practice. The ability to
effectively accomplish this can be related directly back to a coach's style of
coaching and personality. Some coaches demand intensity and focus because they
are intense and focused in their approach and demeanor. Other coaches are more
laid back in their personalities and, therefore, may struggle in getting players
to perform up to their potential.
One of the most effective ways to
motivate players to perform the fundamentals within a particular drill at a
high level of efficiency is through competition. Here is a simple little
experiment you can try in practice:
Choose a particular drill that you like to
do in practice. Let’s say you are a basketball coach and you are going to run a
3-player weave. Divide up your team and tell them, “OK team, we are going to
run our weave drill and I want you to run it as hard as you can and with no
mistakes.” Let them run the drill and take note of how well and how intense
they run the drill. Now run the drill again with the following instructions,
“OK team, we are going to run a 3-player weave with the following rules:
1. Each
3-player group is a team competing against all other 3-player teams.
2. The
object is to the win the drill by accumulating points as a team competing in
rounds against the other teams.
3. A
round is completed when all team have had a chance to run the drill. Your team
is awarded a point by completing a 3-man weave and converting the lay-up going
up and back in the fastest time.
4. 3
seconds will be added to a team’s time for every missed lay-up or ball-handling
mistake.
5. A
total of 5 rounds will be performed.
6. Team
with the most points after 5 rounds wins the drill.
You will see a tremendous increase in the level of intensity, concentration, enthusiasm, and desire to execute the drill
properly from the first scenario to the second one. Competition is one of the
greatest motivation factors that can be used to improve overall player
performance. There are also a number of other benefits by making drills
competitive:
1.
Players are trained to perform under game-like
conditions.
2.
You are able to identify players who perform well under
pressure.
3.
Players who are real competitors and have a strong
desire to win will quickly be identified.
