November/December 2019 - 32

better as coaches, they don't transfer to game situations.
Mistakes are learning opportunities, so we strive to
challenge our players to make mistakes in practice.
Cultural aspects of practice
Practices should build a specific culture. These are
some specific things we do to accomplish that goal.
1. If you aren't in a drill or in a game, you're coaching
it. This rule ensures communication is maintained
throughout practice. We discuss this at the beginning
of the season and hold players accountable to a
standard of constant communication. They can provide
encouragement and give teammates reminders while
they're sidelined during practices.
2. HEART jersey. We developed the acronym HEART
(hustle, energy, attitude, response, toughness) to define
what we're looking for in players. Each practice, we award
a special HEART jersey to a player based on the previous
practice. The coaching staff meets after practices to
discuss which player best displayed these qualities. That
player gets to practice the next day wearing the jersey
instead of a regular practice jersey.
3. HEART board. Along the same lines, we use a
HEART board in practice. This is a reminder of the
HEART concepts. At times during a practice, we may
ask players to gauge where we are in each concept. For
example, if the practice is lacking energy, we may ask a
player how she would assess our energy. In all likelihood,
she will know and maybe grade it a 'D' or 'F.' This allows
the team to take ownership of its own energy level.
4. 'Daily Dozen.' We begin practices with the number
'12' on a whiteboard. This signifies the number of sprints
we have after practice. However, we tell our team that
we hope they never have to run a sprint. If we believe our
HEART is at championship levels, we periodically lower
the number throughout practice.
5. 'Champion's Corner.' If a player fails to execute one
of our desired habits, we may send her to the " Champion's
Corner " with an assistant coach. This is not a punishment,
but a way to reinforce necessary fundamentals. If a player
fails to take a charge, the assistant might take her to a
corner and give her a few reps of taking charges. This
reinforces that we believe taking charges is important and
necessary to be a great team.
6. Basket leaders. At times, we may put a player in
charge of a group's energy during practice. If we're
using several baskets during shooting drills, each
basket could have one player assigned to make sure that
all players are hustling and communicating. This is an
effective way to build leadership and get players out of
their comfort zones.
7. Celebrations. When we huddle after each practice,
players have the opportunity to celebrate other teammates.
This helps us end practice on a good note, and it
recognizes players who stood out.
Practice organization
The following is the basic practice setup that we like
to use.
1. Before practice. We post shooting groups for the day
and prepare all equipment - clock, blocking pads, cones,
water bottles, balls.
2. Shooting segment (11 minutes). We start by
spending three minutes on form shooting, beginning with
shots under the basket. When players swish two in a row,
they can take a step back.
We then spend eight minutes on three-person
shooting drills. Players get in their shooting groups
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