Practice is Everything

John Wooden one time said that the thing he missed most about coaching was the practices.  I have found that the more I enjoy the process of trying to improve and perfect our practices, the more I enjoy coaching.

Pete Carroll has put together a great video outlining some principles that guide how the Seattle Seahawks practice.  I thought I’d share and hope that you find some things to take away and think about when planning your practices this upcoming season.

Below the video, I’ve selected some highlights to paraphrase.  Hope you enjoy.

• Everyday you should feel the energy, even in stretch and the early part of practice.  We’re trying to set the tone for the rest of practice.  You should see the coaches working really hard trying to “juice” guys up.
• If you are here at our practice you’d recognize that our guys always “tap in,” that means they hit the I’m In sign.  That’s the start to their whole process.  When they hit that sign they are making an affirmation and they say, “I’m in.”  It’s a positive statement of what they are about to do. Give everything they’ve got, hold nothing back.  The whole world may be troubling them and they put that aside and commit to practicing our way.
• It’s crucial that we make everyday be a great day.  That starts with the coaches.  We get together in a disciplined fashion, to make sure we cover all the practice schedule.
• I don’t think the format is as important as having one.
• It’s all about attention to detail.  How we organize the drills, where we line-up, field organization.
• It’s on the coaches to have their minds right and their attitudes.  They have to be jacked up every day.  We take just about 5 minutes to get everybody on the right page, and make sure everyone is tuned in, waked up and ready.
• One of the really simple guidelines we use is to critique effort first.
• We’re always disciplined as coaches to talk about what we want to see, the desired outcome.  Not about what went wrong or what the mistake was.  We have to be disciplined about how we use language.  We’re always talking about what the next thing we can do right.
• I can’t stand watching coaches stop drills and talk to players while everyone else is standing around watching.
• If you’re walking you’re wrong around here.
• Competition is a central theme in our program.  Competition is what elevates the guys involvement in and the enjoyment they have in practice.
• We compete everyday and these guys understand its about striving for what you want, not beating somebody down.
• We have ways of keeping score on 7 on 7.  We have ways of keeping score on 1st and 10 drill, red zone drills, blitz periods, we’re tracking it so there’s something at stake and it seems to elevate everyone’s focus and attention.