(I got this from Coach Starkey, LSU Women's basketball coach, and adjusted it for our needs)
1. Practice Hard – come every day with energy and enthusiasm. Practice hard because the effort you give will follow over into games. Push through fatigue because the best improvement comes upon the heels of being tired.
2. Practice intelligently – come with a constant state of focus and concentration. Enter the practice court with the mental frame of mind that you will use your eyes, ears; seeing and listening. Treat practice like it is a classroom, or even better.
3. Practice together – work as a team to make each practice a “victory”. Push yourselves because to make the team better, you must make yourself better. Encourage and pick up teammates, together you will work towards a great practice.
4. Run the floor – sprint the lanes offensively. Run early and late during practice. Sprint back as a team defensively. Sprint from one drill to the next. Run off the wood when getting a drink respecting the game and efforts of those who came before you.
5. Stay in your stance – stay low in a basketball stance because you know it provides proper balance necessary for good offensive and defensive play. Stay low because it adds to the quickness of your movements.
6. Get a hand on the ball – keep a hand up on defense and keep your hands up on offense. We want to deflect passes when possible. We do not want them to play to their strengths and we will not allow any uncontested shots.
7. Take care of the ball – value each and every possession because its importance ensures offensive success. Be strong with the ball. Strong rips. Catch and triple threat. Catch and chin it. Use the dribble wisely and pass away from the defense.
8. Take good shots – work hard each possession to get the best shot available. Work to get layups, to get out best shooters shots. We will decide where, when and who will shoot.
9. Communicate – use words of encouragement to lift your teammates. Talk to improve execution on the court. Talk during practice to help “coach” each other.
10. Practice the above everyday – follow the previous standards each and every practice. Together doing the previous 9 standards will help us reach our full team potential.
More stuff from Coach Starkey can be read here: http://hoopthoughts.blogspot.com/ .
