How to plan a practice. Know the path, don't be blind!

"The blind leading the blind" 

Check out the bottom for its meaning!

I have been talking about the importance of planning out practices for your players.  Not only is this planning for specific practices crucial, but so is their career planning.  In the past, I made the distinction between teachers and coaches with the latter focusing on ALL aspects of the player's game while teachers only focus on the practice at hand (teachers can't be coaches, but coaches are teachers).  In this final installment of How to Plan a Practice, let me talk about periodizing, which is the planning short term and long term for the player.  I will explain it, but also use a hypothetical player describing his development, let's call him Ace ;-)




Know where you came from
Coaches have to be great journalist, recorders of what has happened in the past with their players.  This will allow them to see what the NOW needs to be and what the future could entail.  I encourage coaches to chart matches, make notes, write down any observation that you think is critical and KEEP IT!  From there, the coach can review it to plan out the practices.  Too often, coaches go out of their own memory, but this in itself is very difficult.  It is estimated that a people remembers 55% of what they see and hear.  They only remember 30% from what they see.  Without recording observations, how could we expect to remember everything a player needs?  You will be missing close to 50% of their needs!

Where is Ace now?
Our hypothetical player Ace, has been playing for some time now.  He is a very solid tournament player, but lately he has really struggled with his rally backhand.  As a coach, I know that this problem needs immediate attention as this is a vital shot in his game.  As I develop the practice plan for the next week, I will focus on his tactical play and his other weapons, but it will center around his rally backhand and the concepts necessary to improve it.  I have to make sure I do not leave the other parts of the game alone as these are also necessary, but have to attack the problem at hand.  This is only possible because of my planning that I have done due to the observations I have made in the past.

Know what the Now (next immidiate step) is
Now that you have the past in the books and ready to use, you can start planning the present.  The now can be described as your Microcycle.  This is the period of time in Periodizatoin that spans about a week; this is the NOW.  Coaches need to decide what is the most pressing matter in their player's game.  Is it that their forehand is landing short?  Maybe it could be that they are hitting double faults in crucial times of the match.  Coaches will be able to use the information they have gathered from the past practices and matches to see what the player needs most now.

Ace today...
Ace is finally on the court after his struggles on the backhand side.  The planning that I have constructed for the next week will give Ace the ability to really focus on that left wing.  By him doing drills to isolate his rally backhand and utilize it more on the court, along with the right corrections, Ace now feels better about his stroke.  Instead of being a liability, it has become a stronghold, maybe even a weapon in his game.  His confidence has gone up on his backhand along with his overall game.




Know what the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and ..... step is 
The 2nd step is the one after the immediate problem and the rest of the steps follow.  This is where the Mesocycle comes in.  This usually relates to what the plan is in a week's time to two months of training.  This is probably the toughest part to develop as a coach must see where the player has struggled, where he is in good standing, and where he excels.  The plan now should involve all aspects as the coach must make sure he corrects the struggles, improves the solid parts, and maintains the player's weapons.  This planning occurs all the time and is extremely fluid.

Ace in the near future...

Ace is now working on his backhand and he is feeling better about it.  In the past tournament, I noticed that his 1st serve percentage was a bit low, but his forehand was a huge weapon.  The planning for the next 6 weeks will focus on developing a combination play that will get him into a winning position along with solidifying his backhand.  After this week, I will have Ace start slicing more 1st serves to increase the percentage of making the stroke.  I will then instruct him to cheat over towards the backhand side so he can use his forehand more.  If the opponent decides to take the ball cross court at a relatively extreme angle, Ace can respond as he has worked on his backhand during his Microcycle.  The planning done because of the observations in the past has allowed me to put Ace in a great position; he is improving his liabilities, but also maintaining his weapons.


What is the ultimate goal
The ultimate goal is fist planned out with the player.  Coach and player must sit down together and think of what are the goals the player wants to accomplish long term.  The coach will then draw a long term plan, Macrocycle, of how to get there.  Macrocycles are usually plans that are a year long.  Knowing where the player has come from and where he/she is now, will allow the coach to come up with the appropriate training to get the player to the goals set.

Ace in the future...
When I sat down with Ace his goal was very simple.  He told me, "I want to become a professional player".  Knowing that this is the ultimate of ultimate's when it comes to goals, I knew that the planning had to be extensive, to the point, and relate to the player perfectly as there is no time to waste.  Planning for Ace starts with his rally backhand, from there I know that his 1st serve percentage has to go up in order to better use his beggest weapon, his forehand.  I also know that in the next year, he must become stronger with his shoulders, core, and legs in order to acquire and maintain a high level of fitness for his competitions.  Additionally, I know his mental game needs work when it comes to keeping a neutral state of mind on the court.  I will draw out plans that will become more specific as the time gets closer by using Mesocycles and Microcycles.  Ace now haw a path to get to his ultimate goal.


Planning is the preparation to fail less often.  It is a clear pathway that will lead you to an outcome.  Whether it a wanted outcome or not, depends on how transparent the planning is.  Make sure your coach is planning for your game otherwise you truly will be led by the blind and before you know it, you will end up in that ditch and not on the mountain top.