Some thoughts on conducting basketball practice from Coach Bob Hurley"I love practice. If it were up to me, we’d not play any games, we’d just practice.”
-Coach Bob Hurley
Maximize your facility
1. Whatever you have, maximize it. Take pride in it. Make it clean.
2. Sweeps floor before every practice and at halftime of JV game. “This shouldn’t
be the custodian’s job. The coach should take pride in doing this.”
3. Practices after school during the week and in the mornings on the weekend (either 9:00
am-11:00 am or 8:00 am-10:00 am)
Priorities
1. Team play
2. Keep individual skills up
3. Prepare for opponent
1. Team play
2. Keep individual skills up
3. Prepare for opponent
Early season practices
1. Know exactly how many opportunities you have to work with your team before
the first game. We have 16 practices and 3 scrimmages before our first official game.
2. First day of practice: 4 hours with a 15 minute food break (bananas) at the 2 hour
mark. This practice is followed by another 4 hour session the next morning (a Saturday)
and a free clinic Sunday morning for area coaches.
3. Post your practice plan:
4. It doesn’t have to fancy or even typed out, but it has to be on paper.
5. Players should have an idea of what practice will be about. They won’t study it,
but give them an idea at least.
6. Be careful not to overcoach on the day before a big game. Your players will catch on and
they will know something up (2 bad things can happen: they’ll tense up or, later on, will
relax during the next “day before” practice when you’re not as tense)
7. Bad coaching: spending too much time on one thing
8. “I love teaching, but how long can you maintain their attention?”
9. Late in the year if you’re in a drill that’s scheduled for 4 minutes, but you’re
sharp and after 2 minutes you realize your guys get it, call it after 2 and move on. “Don’t
be a slave to your practice plan.”
1. Know exactly how many opportunities you have to work with your team before
the first game. We have 16 practices and 3 scrimmages before our first official game.
2. First day of practice: 4 hours with a 15 minute food break (bananas) at the 2 hour
mark. This practice is followed by another 4 hour session the next morning (a Saturday)
and a free clinic Sunday morning for area coaches.
3. Post your practice plan:
4. It doesn’t have to fancy or even typed out, but it has to be on paper.
5. Players should have an idea of what practice will be about. They won’t study it,
but give them an idea at least.
6. Be careful not to overcoach on the day before a big game. Your players will catch on and
they will know something up (2 bad things can happen: they’ll tense up or, later on, will
relax during the next “day before” practice when you’re not as tense)
7. Bad coaching: spending too much time on one thing
8. “I love teaching, but how long can you maintain their attention?”
9. Late in the year if you’re in a drill that’s scheduled for 4 minutes, but you’re
sharp and after 2 minutes you realize your guys get it, call it after 2 and move on. “Don’t
be a slave to your practice plan.”
Thanks to Zak Boisvert, student manager at Fordham University for these great notes
