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Managing Water Breaks Effectively
-By Dave Cross
When running a practice, camp or clinic, I always make sure the water breaks
are less than a minute in length.
This may seem to some like it's a bit "over the top". But, if you think
about it, I feel it makes alot of sense.
Here's my reasoning on this:
1. How long does it take a player to get over to their water bottle,
get a drink, and get back on the court?
Go ahead, time it a couple of times. It actually takes about 30 seconds
or so.
A water break is just that: a water break. It's
not a "sit down and get a drink" break, or a "stand around and
talk and get a drink" break. Or, how about a "stand around and think about
how tired you are and get a drink" break?
The longer you let players stand around during a break, the more likely it is that their minds and conversation
will start to wander away from what you want them focused on. Then, if their
focus does drift, it's going to take
a certain amount of time to get it back when the next drill begins. How
many reps are you willing to waste
while they get themselves "back on track"?
Over the course of a two hour practice, there will usually be around six
water breaks (one every 20 mins.).
If it takes just ninety seconds for them to get their focus back after a
break, that's a total of nine minutes
(540 secs.) of wasted practice time.
I ask you, how much more could you get done with an
extra nine minutes? How many times have you ran a
practice over just five minutes because you needed to see one more thing,
or needed to get a few more good
reps out of a drill?
The bottom-line here is that limiting the length of
water breaks to under a minute keeps your players moving
quick and focused throughout the length of the practice. This leads
to a more high-energy practice with better
focus - sounds like a winner to me!
2. Time-outs during a match are one minute.
But, subtract the time it takes them to get to the bench and grab
their drink, and the last 15 secs. where they are getting hustled back on
the court by the officials, and you've
got about 30 secs. for them to get a drink and listen to your instructions.
You really need their attention during that 30 secs. If they are used
to hustling over and getting their drink
because this is what they do every day in practice,
you've got a much better chance of getting your message
across to them.
Think back to a time-out where you didn't have enough time to get them to
understand what you wanted to tell
them, or where you didn't have enough time to change their mind-set.
How frustrating was that?
Making their water breaks quick in practice will lead
to more productive time-outs. How many
more points can
that get you over the course of a five set match? How many more points
did you need to pull out the last close
one you dropped?
Here's how to make this a habit with your players:
1. Explain to them you don't have any time to
waste standing around because you have too much to go over, too much to do.
Kids like that. They want to "do alot"
in practice. They don't want to stand around and be bored.
2. Tell them that a water break is just that:
a water break, not a "(fill-in the time waster of your choice) and get
a drink break".
3. Pull out your stop watch and always give them a different amount
to time to get a drink in and get back on the court. "Ok, you've got 38
seconds, go!" The next time, make it 34 seconds, then 41 seconds,
etc. After a few
times, they get the idea and think it's kind of fun,
because it's a challenge. You'll be amazed how some players
will always be the first one back, no matter how much time you give them.
4. Do this in a fun, "ok, here's a challenge"
manner, not a "drill sergeant" way. If a kid's a couple of seconds
late getting back, ignore it-unless they are walking back to you.
Look, you've got the stopwatch-they don't
really have any idea how long it took them! If someone does dog it,
then fine: "It's three pushups for every
second you are late next time". That'll stop that behavior very
quickly!
Coaches: This may seem like a very "little thing"
to some. But we all know that "little things make a big difference",
and how many of us can truly afford to get less out
of our team on a daily basis than is possible?
Besides that, how many of us want to?
Good luck!
-Dave Cross
National Director
Yes I Can Volleyball
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