Enhancing the Quality of Practice
| This article details methods that coaches could utilize to improve upon their players’ and team’s practice performances. Being a former Division I soccer coach I know firsthand the frustrations that coaches go through
trying to motivate players day in and day out. The particular focus will be on empowering athletes with quality practice skills. I devised and have worked off of a quality of practice model which was derived from the theoretical, empirical, and practical work from numerous disciplines, including motor learning, pedagogy, coaching, and sport psychology. Specific topics included deliberate practice, practice distribution and variability,practice methods, simulation, transfer, and efficiency of feedback (Butler & Winne, 1995; Ericsson, 1996; Ericsson, 2003; Fischman
& Oxendine, 1998; Magill, 2001; Schmidt & Wrisberg, 2000). The model encompasses four main factors: (1) adopting a quality attitude; (2) utilizing quality preparation procedures prior to the lesson; (3) incorporating quality execution strategies during class activities, and then (4) taking the time and effort for quality control or evaluation of their performance of the activity or game. Quality Attitude USC football coach, Pete Carroll, a recognized “educator” at both the professional and collegiate levels, spoke at a sport psychology conference (Carroll, 1999) on quality of practice issues, most notably the attitude that participants bring to the practice. In an interview (and subsequent article) Coach Carroll noted a distinction between two types of athletes, mediocreattitude versus professional-attitude athletes. “Mediocre-attitude players wonder ‘what is coach going to do to us today’? Players in this mindset go through the motions, put in their time, and just want to complete the drills and get out of there. Professional-attitude players consider practice as an opportunity for improvement and refinement, and not something forced onto them” (Voight and Carroll, 2006, p. 328). Do you have many students who fit into these particular categories? To change the mindset of a ‘mediocre-attitude’ student-athlete it is important to do the following: 1.) Get to know your students as more than just “players” who are put through drills and games for a class period. Getting to know the students will let them know you care, and chances are they will give more of themselves since you have done so. 2.) Knowing them in this way will also enable you to be aware of student preferences for specific teaching behaviors, namely, types and timing of feedback, and their motives for participation. The coaching literature shows those players not receiving their preferred feedback or having their primary motives met will be dissatisfied (Chelladurai, 1990; Voight & Callaghan, 2006). 3.) Today’s generation of students want to feel part of the process, so providing them with as much instructional information regarding the purposes behind the activities and how it relates to the game will go a long way to improving upon their attitude. Quality Preparation How many players actually prepare for practice? Most players probably shove down a burger, race to the locker room, busily put on their gear, get to the practice field, and wait until they are told what to do. Sounds like a mediocre-attitude athlete. A professional-attitude athlete will attempt to find a way to prepare better for practice. Actually having a set routine to follow, made up of proper eating (fueling up) and rest, as well as finding a way to let go of non-soccer-related problems (school, friends, significant others) can ensure that the two hours of practice can be dedicated solely to quality execution. The ability to park distractions is an important skill to acquire. It is very difficult to truly commit and focus on practice if outside stressors are brought onto the field. One routine that has worked with several top players is to write down the stressors that are nagging them, and, prior to walking onto the field, shredding or throwing this paper away, symbolically throwing away the stressors so that the player can focus on practice objectives. Coaches can be a great help in assisting athletes with their practice preparation by setting up pre-practice routines, such as arriving to the field prior to the start of practice to perform a wide array of warm-up activities. Players who
do this routine can be truly ready to begin practice once the coaches arrive. Also, athletes can prepare better for practice by setting standards of performance (goals) for each week’s practice or individual session (e.g., “What do I want to accomplish by the first preseason scrimmage? What do I want to accomplish in this defending drill?”). In addition to setting standards, players can visualize what they want to accomplish prior to physically and technically executing the drill. Another strategy that top players have used is to mentally picture themselves executing their most important roles and responsibilities over and over again, often the night before practice or prior to practice. Strikers would shoot 100 shots a night before bedtime in their mind’s eye. Keepers would make crossed-ball saves and block a certain amount of shots. Each position could easily do this type of “homework” every day or night. Visualizing these actions help to devise a mental blueprint that is used during real, physical training. The more often players perform their particular actions, both in their heads and with a real ball, the more reps The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports, and games (pp. 1-50). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Expert performance in sports (pp. 49-84). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. An interview with USC football coach, Pete Carroll. InternationalJournal of Sports Science & Coaching, |
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Dr. Mike Voight Assistant Professor Sport Psychology-Team Consultant (Private Practice) Central Connecticut State University E: voightmir@ccsu.edu Website: www.drmikevoight.com |
How was my physical, technical, and tactical execution?