Practice Habits

The toughest and most reliable players I have ever coached have always been tremendous practice players.  Our practices are not easy.  We have always approached practice as an opportunity to put players in stressful situation that are more difficult than the ones the will face on game nights.  As with everything there is risk/reward and unintended consequences to every decision.  The risk you run with having tough practices is players can develop the mindset of "getting through" practice and can come to dread practice.  This is a dangerous environment to foster and one we have to constantly combat as a coaching staff.

I think the most important thing you can do as a coach to prevent this situation is to gain the trust of your team and constantly communicate.  They need constant reminders that what they are doing is going to be worth it (Nothing great worth accomplishing was ever done easily).  The purpose of this individual drill will help us achieve what we really want down the road. 

Players cannot get better and ultimately reach their potential by "surviving" practice.  10 minutes of game speed intense and engaged practice is worth more than 2 hours of "going through the motions" (playing just hard enough to keep the coach from snapping over effort).

How do you foster a practice environment that is competitive and engaging to your players?