If only there was a way for your team to magically improve overnight. Wouldn’t that be great? Everyone goes to bed and wakes up a better athlete and teammate. Unfortunately, there are no supernatural methods to getting better. There is another way to become the dominant team you all want to be. The secret isn’t a secret at all; it’s practice.

Most players don’t find practice to be all that exciting. There tends to be a lot of repetitiveness. Doing drill after drill, constantly running, it’s no wonder why athletes dread going. Practices may never be extremely fun, but they are integral to improving as a player. However, a practice doesn’t simply mean that the team gets together and runs some drills. Players and coaches can assure that every practice is a productive one by using these tips.

Set objectives

Every player and coach should have objectives in mind for each practice. A player’s objective could be as simple as, “I want to improve my first touch today.” Then for the duration of that soccer practice, the player will be conscious of every time he/she first touches the ball. Keep the objective small and accomplishable. It’s unrealistic to go into a practice and try to consistently throw a football 50 yards when you normally can’t even throw it 40. Set manageable objectives for each practice and the improvement will follow.

While players should have a more personal objective, coaches need to take a more holistic approach. The coach should have objectives for the team to accomplish every practice. Unlike players, the coach should convey to the team what those objectives are. This way, players can be cognizant of them. Having objectives for individual athletes is also a great idea. It’s a positive approach for working on player performance.

Keep things consistent and organized

Proper organization makes everything in life easier, including practice. Stick to proven drills and techniques that work for your team. Repetition may not be fun, but it works. When players continue to perform similar tasks, it begins to become second nature. The muscle memory kicks in and it frees them up to concentrate on different things.

That being said, introducing new techniques and drills is a must. It keeps practice fresh and interesting. Players won’t be as engaged when they know exactly what to expect going into every practice. But, do your best to not incorporate something new unless you know it will help. Adding drills and exercises for the sake of adding new things is a waste of time.

The reason organization is so vital to practice is it allows coaches and players to maximize time. The list of things a coach wants the team to work on is endless. Practices fly by and by the end of it, coaches and players might feel like they didn’t accomplish nearly as much as they wanted to. Being organized makes it easier to have everyone be on the same page.

Communicate often

Communication is one of the most essential traits of every good team. Whether it be coach to player, player to coach, or player to player. Having the benefit of exceptional communication is an invaluable asset to have. Regardless of if you’re a coach or player, keep the communication flowing through practice. Talk to teammates in practice as you would in a game.

There is a difference between communicating and chatter. As a coach, you need to shut down frequent side conversations. All they do is distract players and inhibit progress. There’s a time and a place for talking. It’s not when players should be doing a drill. As a player, fight the urge to get involved in conversations as much as possible. It’s challenging to not talk to your teammates, especially if you are great friends. Sometimes you’ll get sucked into a discussion at an inappropriate time. It happens. But do your best to limit it.

Evaluate after practice

Reflecting on each practice is almost as important as the practice itself. Coaches and players should take some time after practice wraps up to evaluate how things went. If you’re a player think about your performance. Did you improve on the objective you set for yourself? If so, how did you do it? What should you focus on next practice? What went well for you, what didn’t? Coaches should ask themselves similar questions, but in a broader sense. How did the team do? What players had trouble with specific parts of practice? Who excelled? The most successful athletes and coaches constantly evaluate. Having the ability to be critical on yourself when you do something poorly is a beneficial trait to have. Similarly, giving yourself a pat on the back when you do something well isn’t a bad thing to do either.