Practice? What practice?

In a previous post, I talked about why players and teams who want to get better need to practice. In this post, I want to talk about why practices fail and what can be done to keep them from failing.

In my mind, there are two culprits when a given practice fails: the leadership and the team members.

When a practice fails due to leadership, it is usually caused by one or more of the following:

1. Practice isn't planned out.  This is the easiest way for a practice to fail.  The captain needs to take time before any team practice to decide exactly what drills to run, what games to play, how to scrimmage, and what the schedule of these different events are going to be within a set time limit. I don't think practice can be less than an hour.  I don't think practice should be more than two hours.  Within whatever time limit is set, the captain must plan the sequence and duration of events.  Without this plan, I'm not even sure you can call it a "team practice". "Team practice" without this plan is just pickup with a lot more standing around.

2. Practice is planned out, but the plan isn't communicated effectively to the team members. The captain can spend the time to plan out exactly what they want a practice to be.  It can be scheduled beautifully.  But, if the team members don't know the schedule, then there is a good chance that practice fails.  Leaders ask for a lot.  They want you to give up your time and let them direct you in using that time as they see fit.  Too often, leaders don't give back. By not explaining exactly what the practice schedule is to the team members, they set themselves apart from the team. A captain is not a coach. It is not enough to have a plan. Your exact plan must be communicated to the team members. Even if they don't care about the schedule, team members will respect a captain who explains what is going to happen in advance.

3. Practice is planned and communicated effectively, but the plan isn't executed.  The captain needs to keep to the plan.  This can be done quite easily with a stopwatch that has countdown mode.  The only way to figure out what kind of plan works best is to follow a given plan all the way through. Then, after practice is over, analyze what worked and what didn't.  A plan that is abandoned halfway through eats away at a leader's credibility.

4. Practice is planned, communicated effectively, executed, but the plan sucks.  Maybe the drills are bad.  Maybe the games are boring.  Maybe everyone hates you and feels bad about themselves after your practice.  This isn't the end of the world.  Although the result wasn't ideal, the framework for a good practice is in place.  Thankfully, there is no rule that says you have to ever repeat that practice.  Chalk it up to experience and design something else.  Team members will forgive this sort of bad practice easily, provided that you don't make the same mistake again (and again, and again...)

When practice fails due to team members, it is usually caused by one or more of the following:

1. Team members don't show up.  You can't get better if you don't show and unfortunately your team can't really get better either.  Missing practice is dreadful.  If the team leader is going to put the work in to properly plan, communicate, and execute a practice, the least you can do is show up.  It is hell on the leaders of any team to have no shows.  But, it is worse on the team members who do show.  Their commitment is cheapened and team bonds are weakened.  In the best case, the team moves on without the no shows.  In the worst case, the team ends.

2. Team members show up late.  Now, this one can also fall on the leader(s).  Obviously (although not obvious to all captains) practices need to be scheduled at times when team members are available.  Let's assume that the captain has scheduled practice properly. Showing up late is simply disrespectful.  It is disrespectful to the captain, it is disrespectful to teammates, and it is disrespectful to the person who is showing up late.  Nobody's time is inherently more valuable than anybody else's.  The leader(s) need to respect everybody's time and so do the team members.

3. Team members are unfocused or disinterested.  Be where you are.  If you are at a team practice, then be at a team practice.  Don't be at the office or at home in your head.  Respect your time.  An hour is not too long to concentrate on getting better at a game you love.

In the end, like most things that are team related, all of these issues really come down to trust. When a captain screws up a practice, it means he doesn't trust his team.  He doesn't trust that the team is worth his time.  Likewise, when a team member screws up a practice, it means he doesn't trust his captain.  Everybody is insecure.  Nobody wants to be the guy who looks like he's giving a f@ck when everybody else is screwing around.  This fear causes both practices and teams to fail.

Whatever you're role on a team, you've got to be willing to put in 100%.  That's the only way to get anything back.  Captains, trust your team members.  Team members, trust your captains. Because once this trust is established, everything else is easy.