Introduction
A sport practice is confined to a specific moment, shared by a particular group of people, all pursuing a common goal.  The types of drills (i.e. skill development), strategy (i.e. competition preparation), and conditioning (i.e. physical and mental training) are determined by the type of sport and the level of competition.  Coaches are the orchestrators and key ingredients to an effective practice.  They plan the activities, serve as the lead teachers, and motivate athletes to come together as a team.

The basic elements for effective practices can be developed and nurtured by coaches of all levels (i.e. youth, high school, college, professional).  In this article, four key elements for developing an effective practice are discussed: 1) establishing standards of performance, 2) designing activities with a purpose, 3) creating a safe learning environment, and 4) communicating clearly.  An example of all (4) elements in action is also provided.

Establishing Standards of Performance
An effective practice session is built on a culture of high expectations, centered around standards of performance.  A standard is a measurable objective that pushes athletes to rise to a higher level of performance.  If a tennis coach requires an athlete to demonstrate competence in where they place a specific number of serves, they have established a standard of performance in executing a particular skill. When a volleyball coach demands that all players wear team assigned practice gear each day, a standard of performance aligned around team unity is created.  The performance standards a coach establishes are based on the coach’s values.  The values of the coach originate from their personal background, previous athletic experience, and development as coach.

Introduction
Coaches are responsible for creating environments that are safe, challenging, and provide rewarding experiences for all of their athletes. These environments are often referred to as team culture. Developing a successful team culture is a key characteristic of an effective coach and essential for long-term athletic achievement.  Three-time national championship and current Ohio State University football coach, Urban Meyer emphasized the importance of the coach in creating a team culture that leads to desired results: “…leaders create culture, culture drives behavior, and behavior produces results” (Meyer, 2015, p. 65).

There are many techniques coaches can use to build team culture.  A quick Google search of, “building team culture in sport,” reveals over 88 million results.  If you narrow it down by sport, for example, “building team culture in basketball,” over 33 million options appear.  While latching on to an idea following a random internet search may yield results, it’s more effective to examine what master coaches do.  Mastery in coaching occurs when a coach exhibits effectiveness and expertise in teaching sport (Gilbert & Trudel, 2012). In other words, a master coach demonstrates the ability to improve athlete performance while also finding success on the scoreboard.

Don Showalter, Head Coach and Director of Coach Development for USA Basketball’s Youth Division exemplifies what a master coach looks like.  Throughout his 42-year hall of fame high school coaching career and his work with USA basketball, Don has demonstrated effectiveness and expertise in teaching sport.  As a high school coach, Coach Showalter won over 600 games and in 2009, was named the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Coach of the Year.  During his tenure as the head coach of USA Men’s Basketball U16 and U17 National Teams, he amassed a 55-0 record and won nine-straight gold medals (USA Basketball, 2017).

This is the first of a three-part series on planning, developing and implementing a successful and productive off-season conditioning program for interscholastic sports programs.  A previous article, “Principles and Axioms for Effective Coaching of Fitness and Conditioning” shared some basic principles of fitness training that you may want to look at as a prerequisite.

The purpose of this series of articles is to give coaches the specific tools to develop a sound, scientifically-based conditioning program that will encourage high participation and yield quality results. Each article in the series will focus on three essentials for a highly productive conditioning program.  These three essentials are 1) Organization and Planning, 2) Efficiency, and 3) Effectiveness.  After each article you will have specific tools that can be used to implement and measure each of the essentials. This first installment will be on the essential trait of Organization and Planning.

“The better your organization and planning, the greater will be your results.”

In any professional career, people frequently strive to achieve a level of excellence where they’re considered experts or at least highly effective in their chosen field of work (Nunn, 2008). The world of sport is no different, although determining whether or not coaches are effective and their subsequent hiring or firing is frequently assessed by win-loss records.

But being considered an effective coach should not only be defined solely or even predominantly by a head coach’s win-loss record. Becoming effective is a developmental process that takes time and involves much more than just game scores. Watching 10-time national champion, legendary Hall of Fame, and former UCLA men’s basketball head coach John Wooden during practices, Tharp and Gallimore (1976) found that he spent 50.3% of his time teaching his athletes the fundamental skills of basketball. Consistent with the concept of pursuing teaching & coaching mastery, Wooden spent half his time instructing his athletes (Nater & Gallimore, 2010).

A Coaching Case Study
This article highlights the complex experiences and thoughts of an effective female NCAA Division III (DIII) head women’s volleyball coach as her career developed. The information comes from a larger study on the development of effective coaches at the DIII level. The effective coaches in the study were identified as those who currently serve as head coaches of a DIII team sport, five-plus years of experience as a head coach at his or her current DIII institution, a career winning percentage of .500-plus, and peer recognition such as coach of the year (Gilbert, Côté, & Mallett, 2006).