These days, kids are involved in so many things. I'm sure parents feel like their heads are spinning, rushing their children to practices, rehearsals, or meetings.
Because of this, and for the development of the young athlete, I want to ensure sports practices are as efficient as possible. In addition to this, don't forget that these kids need time to be kids, just play and have fun.
Take a look at your practices. Is there a lot of down time? Are athletes standing around a lot? Do the coaches take a lot of time between drills setting things up? If you are a coach, you can take some of these suggestions and implement them in practice. If you are a parent, I don't suggest trying to undermine the coach, but there may be areas you could help to make practices go more smoothly (setting things up, assisting with drills).
A study done by San Diego State's Tom McKenzie found that coaches spend a lot of practice time doing administrative work. This creates plenty of down time and, as a result, lots of wasted time. It is an easy trap to fall into, but with a little work, it's not hard to change. By the way, this can be applied to physical education classes as well.
Most practices consist of a warm-up and stretch, drills, live play, and conditioning. Most coaches do not implement balance, speed and agility, strength or core work into practice. With the above model, there is no time.
With effective and efficient practices, however, certain things can be intertwined for better results.
The following practice outline is largely from Todd Durkin Enterprises, "Twice the Results in Half the Time" by Brett Klika:
The coach should always be at practice before the youngsters arrive. Have things set up and ready to go so that you are able to transition from one thing to the next. Set expectations at the beginning of practice. Let them know what you want to accomplish and what you expect from them.
Next should be general preparation work. This includes a dynamic warm up, practicing general athletic skills, plyo-metrics, strength and footwork. Do not allow large breaks in time; move from one thing to the next to keep the athletes focused. You should even time the water breaks, so that the kids get their drink and are ready to go again very quickly, thus staying focused.
Next week, we will continue and also add a little more detail. In the meantime, start evaluating the things you are currently doing at practice.
-- Rich Hess is Executive Director and Fitness Trainer at the Middlecreek Area Community Center. You can reach Rich at richmacc@live.com or the MACC at maccrec.org
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Rich Hess' fitness column: Developing the youth athlete
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