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How to Develop Good Team Habits at Practice

-By Tom Houser

Do you ever watch a team and say, "I wish my team
played that hard?" 

Now there are some physical skills that you will
not be able to train your team to execute.
However, effort is something that you can always
expect from your team! 

In the fall of 2006, I watched as the Winthrop
University team destroyed every team in the Big
South conference. Their defense was so intense. I
sat there thinking, "Wow, this is incredible! How
did they get this way?" (I knew how!) A few years
earlier, as my stepdaughter was deciding which
college to attend, I watched perennial Division 3
power Washington and Lee destroy weaker opponents.
W&L worked much harder than was necessary to win,
making spectacular digs and saves. Then their 2nd
team came in and did the exact same thing. I sat
there thinking, "Incredible!" 

Since Mike Krzyzewski took over the Duke men's
basketball program in the 1980's, the team often
plays harder on every possession than their
opponents are capable to playing on any
possession. If normal effort would have beaten
their opponent by 20, Duke often beat them by 40. 

How do these teams create such game intensity? In
each case, it's nothing the coach or the team said
during the game or prior to the game. No one said,
"You guys will play hard, or you'll be sorry!" In
fact, it's obvious the players aren't stressed.
They're smiling and having a great time. 

This sort of effort is a habit that is instilled
at practice. 

As some of you guys know, I teach Algebra I at
half speed all day long. I volunteer to teach it. 
These kids have every reason possible for not
achieving: attitude, ADHD, depression, abuse, and
pregnancies. Some of them hate school, hate
authority figures, are in trouble with the law,
etc. Some are also just slow learners. 

But from the first day they meet me, they hear,
"We work in here until I say we're done. You don't
decide that. I decide that. You can work on math,
history, science or English. But we will work
until class is over." I force my students to
develop habits that will lead them to long-term,
permanent success. Or they must find another
teacher. 

What makes my teaching position so important is
that there's an end-of-course test in May, and in
order to get a diploma in Virginia, the test must be
passed! "We work every day. There are no days off
unless you earn one." And I stick by that week
after week. 

I also say on that first day of class, "There will
be no disruptions. And if you think you have more
attitude than me, just try it." We have homework
due every day. We have a quiz or a test every
90-minute class. If a student refuses to work,
they are sent to the principal. If a student falls
asleep, I send them across the hall to sit with
the freshman geometry class -- how embarrassing. 

Allowed to do what they want, these 16 and 17 year
olds will sleep, throw paper, listen to their
Ipods and fail another class. But, in my class,
kids who have made D's and F's in math since the
5th grade, miraculously start making C's and B's
and sometimes A's. They stand up straighter, they
develop self-esteem and confidence. They want to
visit me the next year, they come to me the next
year for help, some continue to take math
throughout high school, they become my teacher
aides, etc. Last year one of my students had the
6th best GPA in the graduating class. *sniff* No,
it's not because they love Algebra, but -- like
every other kid -- they love to succeed! 

Does this sound like coaching volleyball?
Somewhat. We don't usually have all those issues
to deal with; however, the majority of our
volleyball players will not give 100% effort
unless expected to. They will nearly always pick
the temporary fun (chasing, teasing, talking about
their social life, texting, joking, long water
breaks, etc.) over the long-term fun that the Duke
men experience every game. 

Why in the world would our players pick temporary
over permanent? Because they're kids. And it's all
they know. We're the adults. We know more. We know
better. 

"Coach Houser, I've tried with every team that
I've coached to instill in them the never-give-up,
never-give-in attitude, and it just hasn't
happened." 

I understand. When I was a younger coach, I would
have said those exact same words. You have to have
the right group of kids AND you have to possess
the proper motivational tools. Let's explore each.
 

The Kids:

I heard someone say once, "Sports is about the
only activity left in our players' lives where
there is no welfare. If you're not good enough,
you just get your brains beat out." But our
children haven't grown up that way. They've grown
up to believe that if you don't make enough money,
if you didn't study the night before, if you don't
get home by curfew, there may be a few unpleasant
consequences. Or there may be none. 

So we try out best to lead them down the path of
long term success! Some kids will resist. Some of
your kids will refuse to give 100% (They get taken
out of drills and they lose playing time). Some
will talk back (Immediate consequences). Sometimes
they will gang up on you. ("We can play next
weekend with only 6 or 7 girls. Would you rather
stay at home?") But even though you can tell them
that you "lead a horse to water, but you can't
make him drink," you will continue to ask him,
expect him, coerce him haha and trick him into
drinking. You will never give up trying to make
your team play harder and play better. 

Giving everything they have at practice is the way
to be the most successful when matches roll
around. Sure they know there is no socialist
safety net, but do they really appreciate that the
other team is trying to beat them? That the other
team will do everything in their power to keep
them from being successful? That the other team
may win by their superior work ethic? And there's
nothing their parents can do to stop it. It's
either sink or swim. 

Yes, to have a team that buys into it like Coach
K's, you need the right people. But just because
you have 1 or 2 kids who are lazy, or a few kids
with attitudes, you can still increase your team's
effort by using the correct drills and saying the
right words. 

The Coaches' Job-The Proper Motivational Tools:

We must instill in our players from the first day
we meet that they will out-practice, out-hustle
and outwork the opponents. Then we will create
drills that require high intensity, and reward
players who give great efforts! We will preach to
them once or twice a week, "We will give great
effort. We are proud to be wearing the Central
black and gold." 

At yesterday's practice I said, "Wonder what a
kid's grandparents think when the kid doesn't give
a great effort, or has an attitude, or sulks? I
guess the grandparents shake their head, yet say,
‘Good job, darling.' (Sounds like welfare to me.)
This won't be an issue on our team. Every time
your grandparents see you play, they'll be so
proud of you, they'll be standing in line to give
you a big hug." 

Example 1: At Wednesday's practice

Here's the drill that we ran this past Wednesday:
I put three boxes at the net and one player
standing on each box. They each had a ball to hit.
There were 6 girls who were at base defense on the
other side of the net. When a box girl smacked the
ball, the defense shifted, the box girl hit the
ball, and the defense played it. After about 10
hits, the defense had dug, set and attacked only 1
ball. I wasn't mad. The kids were being kids. They
were giving 95% in a tough drill. Not good enough.
"Timeout!!" I barked. "Everyone come over here." I
became pretty animated. "You said that you wanted
to be a great team. You also said you wanted to
win that first tournament. This isn't the defense
that's going to do it. You can't play defense with
95% effort and beat any good team. Anyone have a
good reason why we can't play better defense?"
Pause. Several said, "No". "Then this drill will
be finished in 3 more minutes or there will be
consequences. We're not going to stink up the
court like this. Girls on boxes: Let's make this
drill a little harder!! Yeah, you heard me right. 
LET'S GO!!!" The girls on the boxes starting
ripping the ball. Haha They're 8th or 9th graders,
so they sometimes don't understand the concept of
"a little harder"! Yet, the defensive intensity
jumped up, girls were on their stomachs, running
down balls, hitters were asking for the ball, etc.
The drill was finished in about 2 minutes. I knew
it would be that way! 

After that defensive team rotated out, I loudly
told all 11 girls, "Now this group will play hard
defense from the start! We're not going to wait." 
And they did. And so did the next group and the
next group. The girls slapped hands after the
drill was over. They were smiling. I'm sure they
told their parents how hard they played and what a
fun drill that was. I was proud of them, but
didn't leap into the trap of short-term fun. "See
what happens when you are completely, totally
committed to playing your absolute best? Can we
make this a habit?" "Yes!" "From the start of each
game?" "Yes!" "And the team that would beat us
25-23, we will beat them 25-23, right?" "YES!"
"This will become a habit with us, just like the
Duke men's basketball team. You will show up ready
to play. Now, 30 second water break. GO!" 

Example 2: Saturday afternoon's practice.

I created a pressure serve-receive drill where the
girls had to earn 100 passing points in 60
receptions. The kids had no problem with it. In
fact, it was accomplished in only 53 passes. Then
we started the drill over. "Remember the goal that
you set for your team? You said you wanted to
serve receive at 2.00? Now, let's see if you can
do it. We're going to restart the drill, except
now we'll reach 100 points in only 50 receptions.
2.00! If we're not at 100 points after 50, then
we'll do 10 lunges for each additional ball we
need to get to 100." I also told my players that
the lunges aren't punishment.  They are: 

a) Motivation;

b) Conditioning;

c) Additional pressure!

Can you guess what happened? The passing was
horrible. I wasn't surprised. And in the next few
minutes, the passing didn't improve. My 14's and
15's were so conscious of trying to be 2.00
passers and were so nervous about all those
lunges, that they were too distracted. I thought
they would be. I went over to my Captain Of The
Day and said, "I want you to call a timeout, and
talk to the team. Tell them to just call the seam,
keep a still platform and just do what they've
been taught." In about 2 minutes, she hollered,
"Coach we need a timeout." I said, "Deal. You get
30 seconds." 

Just by coincidence, the COD is the oldest person
on our team. I could hear her say, "Come on! You
guys are great passers. Forget the points and the
goals and just pass. COME ON!!" They put their
hands together. "Together we can!" * Proud
coaching moment!* 

That's all they needed! The passing improved
immediately! A few minutes later, I stopped the
drill. I asked my assistant coach to announce the
status of the drill. "45 passes, 80 points." I
looked at the girls. "What does that mean?" They
did the math in their head. "We can't get 100
points in 50 passes." "No, not today. What are you
going to do until you reach 100 points?" "Keep
trying!" I said, "OK, let's finish!" The next pass
was a three. So was the next one. So was the next
one and the next one. I was loud after each pass,
praising and encouraging. They finished the drill
in 54 balls. 

After they finished their lunges, I announced,
"You just passed 2.22 after you realized you
couldn't win the drill and a lot of lunges were on
the way!! That's not normal. It's amazing."
They're smiling.  I continued, "For the entire
drill, you passed 1.82 with everyone getting an
equal share! Good job! How do you think we'll do
when it's just our best 5 or 6 passers in a
match?" 

One said answered, "We'll pass 2.00." Our COD
said, "No, we'll pass better than 2.00." 

"Yes, we will, but it'll only occur with everyone
working together and supporting each other." 

Then I said, "Why do coaches create pressure
drills? Is it so you beat the drill? No, it's so
that you'll be accustomed to the pressure and can
perform well when pressure is on you. So from now
on, pass well from the start, hustle from the
start. Each pass is important. It's not the last
play that wins or loses a game. It's every play!" 
 

Requiring The Team To Accept Habits:

I'm a coach who can see the end of the season from
the beginning. I know what my team has to do in
order to be successful. I know that long-term fun
is far superior to short-term fun. I realize that
every human remembers the big wins, the
championships, the teams, the great competitions,
while quickly forgetting the giggling, the jokes,
the messing around. Hey, I want to win also. I
want to be a state champion as much as the kids
do. Therefore, I'm excited and intense throughout
every practice. 

Why do we humans forget the short-term fun?
Because it's attainable everywhere, every day, in
every situation. Even in Algebra class! Haha. But
long term fun is so fleeting, so rare, it takes so
much hard work, so much sacrifice. But it's SO
worth it!!!! 

But, this is the hard way to coach. It requires
planning, caring, thoughtfulness, emailing,
celebrating birthdays, sending Christmas cards,
saying the right words, etc. It's much easier to
chat, laugh, joke, talk, start practice late,
cancel practices, giggle, etc. But, again, those
actions are only fun for the moment. They're
temporary. 

Furthermore, if a coach isn't committed to
long-term fun, the players will talk about the
coach like a dog after the season is over! I'm
sure you've heard players say, "I'm not playing
for Coach Jones again. We learned nothing. I was
so bored. Then we had a losing record at every
tournament we went to."
 

What Motivated This Article?

The other day I was checking our Gold Members
forum and saw a post from one of our members about
a team playing down to the level of a weak
opponent. There are dozens of ways to try to
motivate your team to play well. But guess what?
If you create proper habits during practice, you
won't need those motivational speeches as often.
In fact, I tell my players, "We will never play
down to our opponents. Never. If we could win
25-20 by playing normally, then we will beat them
25-15. We'll get off the court quicker, we'll get
to lunch quicker, and we'll play better at the end
of the tournament. Plus, you'll get more hugs from
your grandparents! Haha." 

One More Algebra Story:

After 6 weeks of school, a student came by my room
asking to transfer from one teacher's class into
mine. I told her my class rules up front. She said
she could handle them. Within a few days, there
she was in my first period class. A few days
later, I got her grades from her previous teacher:
0%. I asked her why. She said she slept, talked,
played tic-tac-toe, even used her cell phone in
class. Well, she failed 1st quarter. Nothing I
could do about that. But she's making a B second
quarter. Why? Because I'm forcing her to be a
respectful, hard working student. I'm forcing her
to accept the habits that will make her successful
and give her long-term memories that she'll be
proud of. Which teacher do you think she will
visit next year? The fun teacher or the Algebra
teacher? Which class will she tell her friends
that she enjoyed the most? I'm betting the Algebra
class! 

-Tom Houser
Head Coach, 2007 and 2008 Roanoke Juniors 15's Open 
Director, STAR Volleyball Camps
Author, "I Can't Wait" Drill Collection and Ebooks
www.coachhouser.com