How to plan for a practice. Introduction

"Failure to prepare is to prepare to fail" 

John Wooden

As a coach, you be hard pressed to find a better role model than John Wooden (UCLA hall of fame coach).  He transcends all sports and all of life.  This quote has inspired me to become the most prepared coach I can be.

One of the toughest challenges that a tennis coach encounters is planning for practices.  Either he/she doesn't do it or has trouble thinking about what the next step is for the player.  This goes for individual players or group practices.  In this multi-post article, I will be detailing how to build a good practice plan to ensure that the coach is getting the most out of the player(s).  I will cover the essentials, talk about the advantages and disadvantages of being unprepared. 

Let's take a look at the benefits of planning practices.

Advantages

Time Management

Too many times have I been at a tennis program where the coaches gather around trying to think of what to do next during the practice itself.  Not only is this a lack of investment as a coach, but it wastes lots of time.  By planning out practices, coaches can move from drill to drill rather easily.  They always know what the next drill will be disallowing for that lag time where they are attempting to come up with an idea of what to do next.  Imagine going to your dentist who doesn't keep any records of your past visits.  Every time you come into his office, he would have to do an evaluation of your entire mouth, re-analyze what the problem is, and only then can he starts work on the next step.  If this were the case, I am sure you would be finding a new dentist very fast as you wouldn't want to waste your time and money.  

Follows periodization of player(s)

Not only should practices be planned, but so should the development of the player through periodization.  This type of planning will allow a coach and player to see what the final goal(s) are and, from there, develop the plan on how to achieve those milestones.  If a coach is able to see the destination, he will be able to plan the road much better.  Remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  By knowing where the player is and where he/she needs to go, a coach will be able to pave that smooth straight road.

Builds from the past

Putting together a practice plan will allow a coach analyse what is the next step for the player from what they have previously done.  I just spent some time talking about the end game and how to develop a straight, smooth road to get there.  Here, a coach has to think of where the player has developed from, in order, to think of what they have to do now.  For example, if a player just worked on technique on the forehand the next logical step is to do forehand drills where he/she can practice that stroke.  Too many times do we see a coach work on technique on a stroke and move ahead to something else that doesn't build on that skill.  This will prove to be nothing more than a waste of practice, waste of time, and will slow down the development of the player.

In the practice itself, coaches will be able to build from the previous drill.  By building on top of each drill, a coach would be able to construct good habits on top of other good habits which will ultimately yield better a better player.  This will save time along with helping the player maximize their ability.

Gives you the future

As a coach you have to know where your player is now, where he/she was, and where you need to go.  Players live in the moment but think of the future.  They want to know where their game will take them, what is the next step in their development and how far they can go.  By developing a practice plan, a coach can show the player what they will focus on that specific day along with painting a picture of where the training/development will take the player.  Communication is vital for a coach-player relationship.  Knowing where you are, where you have been, and now where you are going is key to keeping that relationship healthy and long.

Coaches owe it to their players to be informed and well prepared.  In all sports, coaches use every tool at hand to improve the chances of their players to improve.  The biggest tool, being the pen and paper.  This will allow the coach to plan out and execute what the player need to accomplish next.

Stay tuned to the subsequent posts as I talk about the specific ways to plan a practice!  Until then, get planning!