Coaching is Teaching - Part 02 - Start Backwards

Published: Fri, 10/23/15

   
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Thank you to those who replied expressing interest in joining other parents to discuss solutions to raising stud athletes while not being a slave to year-round travel teams.  Here is the plan: Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 29th at 12:30 p.m. EST. It will be the first of a series of free 30 minute web calls where we will share strategies including: 
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Coaching is Teaching - Part 2 - Start Backwards
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A common teaching theme I have learned from many of my guests is to start backwards.  Instead of doing the traditional drills you typically see on practice fields, really break down your sport by watching the games closely and taking notes of the 3 or 4 skills that are crucial to being successful on the field.

'What do you want to see in the game? – Figure out the skill then make a game out of it.' - Jacob Gilbert

Rich Clayton shared: 'Look at skills needed in a game – then develop drills that break down the skills into pieces you can practice.  Make sure these drills simulate real-game experiences.  Name the drill – so you can refer to it during a game: ‘Johnny remember during the waterski drill what we focused on.’'

‘Everything we do in practice is something you will directly see on the game field.  We don’t run over bags and ladders anymore, because they aren’t on the game field. Break everything down into it’s simplest piece and start small, then add progressions after perfecting the previous step.' – Joe Daniel

Dave Cisar reminds us that 'Anything you see on the field during a game - you either taught it, or you allowed it.' It's easy to set up your practices doing the same traditional drills that you have seen growing up - but take a few minutes at the beginning of the season and really break down what you want your team to be great at - and practice it!  If you are a power running team - don't spend 50% of your practice throwing passes.  If you want to be a great rebounding basketball team - practice rebounding for 20-30 minutes every practice.  Think out-of-the-box when setting up your practice drills and you will have out-of-the-ordinary results.

Next week we will look at teaching ball-skills - without a ball.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, if you hit reply it goes straight to my inbox, and I reply to every email. 
Make winning your habit starting today,
​Craig
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Craig Haworth is the founder of Winning Youth Coaching, a site dedicated to helping coaches and parents make youth sports an awesome experience for the the youth and the parents.  He interviews coaches from around the world and posts them on his podcast, which currently has over 50 interviews and has been downloaded over 40,000 times. He writes a weekly note to coaches and parents. He is married to his high-school sweetheart and they share the blessing of 3 children and live in Franklin, TN. You can sign-up for his weekly note here, find him on twitter at @craighaworth1, or visit his website winningyouthcoaching.com.
"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men"
- Frederick Douglass