5 Ways to Spice up Practice

We are well into the season. I have found year after year that this is the mid-season lull and it is important to keep your team motivated. You can keep your team motivated by spicing up your practices. As a coach, my goal is to always have productive practices, so I have to consciously plan to take time for fun.  I have learned that taking 10 minutes, even once or twice a week can make all the difference in the world in motivating your team!

Here are five ways you can spice up your practices!

1. Themed Practices  Pick themes for your practices.  You can do this once a week or have a whole week dedicated to themed days. I don’t recommend that you do this the day before a big competition!  Map out on your calendar when these practices will work best. Have your team pick the themes and you will generate more excitement around the theme days. Some theme ideas include: PJ day, tie-dye, 80’s, superheroes, Disney, crazy hair, crazy socks, and more.

2. Team building  Once a week make time for a 10 minute team building activity. Assign a few athletes each week to be responsible for the activity.  This way you don’t have to come up with them all yourself and you can engage the team better.

3. Fun Routine Run Throughs  Whatever routine you are working on, let them have some fun with it and mix it up. Have them perform a routine in a fun way at least once a week for about 10 minutes. Do a cheer in different accents, such as a southern (or northern accent if you are from the South!), valley girl, British, etc. Have groups take turns doing crazy facials during a routine. Do the dance with their arms in their shirts. See the video example by @beavertonhigh.cheer.  You can think of many fun ways to perform your routine and have your team come up with them too. Just make sure you keep safety in mind.

4. Choreography Fun Put your team into groups of 5 or 6 and have them make up mini-routines by choreographing a routine doing only level 1 stunts and pyramids. You would be surprised at how creative they can get!

5. Conditioning Competitions  For conditioning, turn it into a competition.  Who can complete the most push-ups or sit-ups in a minute? Who can run around the track the fastest?  Make sure you have prizes!

Ask your team what they want to do to spice up practices!  When you can engage them at this level they will more likely participate and have fun!