PRACTICE POINTERS #1: DEVELOPING A MASTER PRACTICE PLAN

As official practice looms for us all, we will run a series of posts on ideas that might have a positive effect on your workouts.

Each year at LSU, we took some time to look at our team and what we felt was needed to do to be successful. Our program had a system of play and we rarely deviated from that system. However, we did add wrinkles each year based upon the make-up of our team and the schedule we play.

One of the best organizational tools we  developed was the Master Practice Plan. We printed it on card stock, front and back.

On the front side is our master list of everything we want to put in with our team. I got this from Stu Aberdeen when he was at Marshall.  It is very detailed in all facets of the game. Under offense, we include our man-to-man offense, our zone attack, transition, and press offense. On the defensive side, we have transition defense, man-to-man defense, zone defense and our pressing system. A third category covers all of our special situations.

On the back sheet is a calendar that generally takes us through the first seven weeks of our season. It lists when and where we practice, and most importantly, the objective for the day in terms of installing our system. Everything listed on the front page is now placed strategically on the calendar to insure that we get in everything in a timely fashion. This is not to say that we never veer from this calendar but it certainly is a great tool for keeping us organized.

This is a simple yet effect tool to help you stay organized and on track for the first several weeks of practice.