July 06, 2023 | Tagged Coaching,
How to Build Successful Basketball Practice Routines
Success in basketball coaching involves your ability to implement and maintain dynamic routines that build the unity and talent level of your team.
Prepare ahead of time the routines your team need for greatness. The clearer you are in what you want the greater your success. Discipline in building your routine will reap great benefits all season long. If this is not a strength for you, get a mentor who can assist you.
Create a basketball practice routine for unity and connection. Most coaches are heavily focused on fitness, weight lifting and implementation of plays and play making routines. However, most overlook the importance of creating a routine to build relational unity and team connection. They are not intentional enough. Time together is not the same as purposeful “unity building” routines.
Routines should be the vehicle that support your mission and creativity.
Before you create your routine be crystal clear about your mission.
Answer the following questions:
Who is your team?—what are the defining qualities of your team?
If your team was a person, what character qualities would define this person?
What is your mission? As you come together as a team, what is the purpose? Is it only to win games? Is it to build lifelong tools for success? Is it to win state? Why are you coming together as a team?
What is not your mission? Clarify what the team is not meant to be about. This is important to define. For example, one high school team makes it clear that the purpose of the team is not to have a star player who goes D1—this might be an outcome but it is not the driving goal.
Where is your team headed in the long-term? Once your players have graduated and moved on, what significance does your team hold? What impact should your leadership and the team experience have in the long term? What is your vision for your upcoming players?
What are your priorities in the short-term? What needs daily repetition and what are your immediate needs for your team?
Once you have answered these questions, then you need to create a routine to help emphasize your mission and vision. The routine needs to be like the dry wall of your house. It supports your mission. The photos and objects of art on your walls are the unique drills, creativity and inspiration that make the routine alive, fresh and challenging. A stale routine is a result of a stale life. If your routine is stale, you don’t have enough creative input.
About NBC Basketball
NBC Basketball is an educational program designed to elevate the understanding of great basketball and leadership. NBC Basketball began in 1971 and has grown to include summer camps, academies, clinics and online training. For more information about NBC Basketball visit www.nbccamps.com/basketball.