While many coaches use a formulaic approach to managing their player’s time during practice it can be difficult to manage anything else. Time management for basketball coaches doesn’t stop when practice ends and the players go home. If you are lucky enough to offer additional private practice sessions, work for a club or work exclusively as a private coach/trainer you know this struggle all too well.
Maintaining the balance between administrative duties, individual focus on your players or clients, and working to constantly improve client satisfaction isn’t impossible. But it can be tricky, and we’re here to help.
Eliminate Distractions, Encourage Semi-Closed Practices
The days of closed practices are mostly gone because of a collection of scared schools, and legal happy clients or parents. Although there have been instances in which a coach crossed a line in a closed practice, the benefits of closed practices are gone now too.
How do we get back the benefits of team building, player-coach respect, and hyper-focus that came with a closed practice? We establish strict rules for those observing practice.
I’m sure many coaches have faced either another private coach coming into a practice, a concerned parent or even for older ages a distracting significant other. These are a nightmare for time management during practice. Anyone approaching you with a question or concern takes away from your focus on the practice, your players, and if you’re working privately, your client.
What rules are we recommending?
- Try these out, they are non-intrusive and operate in a mutual respect:
- Ask that any medical concerns be brought to your attention ten minutes before practice starts.
- This means you’re asking them to be proactive, instead of informing you of a new asthma diagnosis thirty-minute into practice.
- Any non-medical concerns or questions should be held until after practice or discussed during “office hours”
- Please refrain from any feedback to the players, encouraging or otherwise. This is a time for all players to develop, and one receiving special attention from an observer may affect others negatively, even if unintended.
Basically, you’re asking for silence.
Schedule Time for Parent and Player Questions
If you’re using blocks to drill through a two-hour practice you are already ahead of the game. By segmenting out drills you can identify which players need the development in which areas. Additionally, it allows you to focus on one task at a time.
But, the time always comes when you’re in the middle of fast break drills and a client asks about shooting. By no means are you in a position to decline to answer a question. However, how do you do that without detracting from what you’re trying to work on at the moment? Which area becomes more important?
A type of office hours if you will, where a player may come and have five or ten minutes of questions without impeding on practice time.
Always encourage parents to come with their questions also, especially if your players are in the younger age groups. It can be helpful with their practice at home between training sessions. An issue that many private coaches face. If you do offer private practice slots, encourage parents to come and observe!
Use Technology to Increase Client Satisfaction
That’s right you can use technology too! To improve your time management, increase client satisfaction and even book more appointments.
Apps like Time Slot Pro can be used to knock out some administrative duties like processing payments and helping client’s book time slots. A similar app called Paymo can help with creating invoices.
If you aren’t hosting private practice slots, you can use apps like Time Doctor App to record valuable data from your practices. There are a ton of options in technology available to coaches. Don’t miss out on valuable tricks to build time management for basketball coaches.