Practice Like it is Your Last & Only

One of the many things I have learned and I am sure many will agree is that it is impossible to predict tomorrow. Therefore it is impossible to predict each future practice.  

Your team must know that each practice could be your last.  You don’t know when someone may be quarantined.  When practicing a stunt, pyramid, or any element of the routine, I have coached my team that they must practice like it is their last. They must have the mindset that it could be their last practice together for a period of time - just in case!

As a coach, prepare now for a variety of situations you may encounter.  If your entire team is present at practice, it is not a practice where you will want to individually critique jumps.  You will want to practice the elements that require the whole team and save the individual or small group coaching to practices where you may have a limited number of athletes.  

It is important to have a plan.  I cannot tell you how many times, I have had a practice plan, even before COVID, with the expectation that my entire team would be there and then I have some athletes missing for excused reasons.  

The following is a guide that you can adapt for your needs as you plan your practices.  

Entire Team

• Pyramids
• Transitions
• Full out routine

A Few Team Members not There

• Individual stunt groups
• Cheer with signs
• Tumbling timing
• Jump timing

Limited Team in Attendance

• Individual coaching on tumbling, jumps, stunts, dance and cheer
• Signs
• Mark routine and individually coach them

Conditioning

Depending on your frequency of practices, you may need to have your team condition outside of practice, so you can focus on the stunts and pyramids as well as synchronization, which requires the whole team.  If you decide to have your team complete conditioning outside practice, have accountability in place and be sure to provide them with a workout plan.  

Wrapping Up

When practice begins and when it ends, as a coach continue to remind them how important each practice is.  When your team completes practice, ask them - “Did we practice like it was our last?”  Let them self-reflect if they did the best they could.  If they did not practice as well as they had hoped, ask them what they can do next time. Then, encourage them to make the next practice their best practice.

We don’t know the future, so be sure to seize every opportunity to be prepared by making your team practices the most productive they can be.