There are tons of drills out there to choose from; How do we decide what we need for our team? How do we ensure maximum returns for the time we invest?
This is a common stumbling block for many teams. They simply don’t have the ‘know how’ to nail down appropriate goals that can be translated into relevant drills at practices.
A simple way to do it would be to work back from the team goals. Want to be more than just Sunday morning recreational activity? Want to challenge teams at national tournaments? This needs to get reflected in what you do at every practice session.
Step 1: Decide whats priority to your team – Depending on the level your team is playing at, you may want to focus on anything from not getting broken on the mark to learning to make an effective cut or hucking 70 yards. You should know what you need!
( A simple example of the crucial difference between ‘needs’ Vs ‘wants’ – Everyone on your team needs to learn how to mark without getting broken; Everyone on your team wants to learn how to layout. At the risk of sounding cliched: Don’t go buy $10,000 alloys for your car that needs a new battery to start.)
Step 2: Choose drills that reinforce these relevant concepts – For eg: Want to learn to mark? Try the 3 man marking drill.
Step 3: Make those drills work at practices. You already know what you signed up for. Just go out there and execute. Remember that the drills themselves are a means to an end so they don’t have to be fun, to be fun.
Step 4: Get on the field and execute. Learn from the mistakes you make + Tweak based on flaws exposed by opposition teams.
Step 5: Persevere. Be patient. Keep at the drills and you’ll eventually start seeing results.
“How you expect to run with the wolves come night, when you spend all day sporting wit’ the puppies?” – Omar Little, The Wire
