Coaching Time Management Tips – Part I
This is a special Play of the Day- an excerpt from my book “Little Things That Win Big Games” – It’s Coaching Time Management Tips. Something I learned that had a lot to with winning is keeping your staff fresh because you and your staff are responsible for the morale & enthusiasm of your team. Here’s the excerpt:
Coaching Time Management Tips
One of the most underrated aspects of coaching is Time Management. It is important to organize your practices & meetings to maximize their efficiency. One principle that you should always remember: Work expands to the time allotted. In other words if you have 8 hours to complete a project, it will take 8 hours. But if you have only 6 hours, it will take 6 hours.
I had the opportunity to coach on Tubby Raymond’s staff in 1989. I was brought in to add the triple option to the Delaware Wing T but I got more from the experience than I gave them. Working with “Masters of the Game “like Tubby Raymond, Ted Kempski & Ed Maley was like going to football grad school. One of the most important things I learned from Tubby was: Keep your staff fresh. We went home after practice. Tubby said if you have to meet for 12 twelve hours & stay until Midnight then find a new profession – sell insurance.
Being precise in your practice organization is also important and will keep your players fresh. Great practice organization also keeps your players attentive and engaged. Unless your players are practicing with awareness and effort, they will fall short of their potential.
These are tips for making the most of your time:
- Never meet to meet. Meetings can be a great time waster. I once worked on a staff that used to meet at 7AM to discuss what we were going to meet about at 9AM! Preparing practice is the most important meeting time
- .Grade every practice – know what needs to be emphasized & corrected.
- Always remember that your assistants have families, let them be fathers.
- Staying late into the night burns out coaches and saps their enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is caught not taught so it’s important that your coaches coach with enthusiasm so your players will play with enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Nothing great was ever accomplished without great enthusiasm”