January 17th, 2011
From Dave Colby – Manchester Athletic Club, MA, USA
1. I will not start a practice with “take two laps around the court!” because I know that I have a 100 better, more engaging/team building interactive ways to begin a practice session and running is so cliche gym teacher that I am not.
2. I will not use my cell phone in front of my students as I know that builds walls and sends the message that I have “other things” that are far more important than them. This also shuts down opportunities for increasing the connection with my students that can only begin to be realized if they find me consistently accesible through our practices together.
3. I will not practice serving without a returner, I will maximize productivity by always creatively using as many players in every situation- so that balls are not “sent” without a receiver.
4. If I find myself with two players, I will not have them each centered on a service box, as I know that recovery is as important as execution.
5. I will always be aware of how realistic my drills are on-court. It will be my goal to have every second of every practice be relatable to playing situations.
6. I will not be afraid to come up with ways to incorporate receiving (catching) skills in practices as I know that this is most crucial to the game, and most of my students still need to work on getting the back foot behind the incoming ball.
7. I will leverage the playing situations of QST to make modifications to grips and techniques during practice sessions.
8. I will encourage all Green players to get continental on serve and volleys as time is running out for these changes at this stage of their pathway.
9. I will encourage my players to compete at every level. I will be aware of upcoming in-house tournaments and personally invite them to participate, because I know if they compete during the session, it is 10x more likely that I will keep them for the next sesssion. (The next tourney is this Saturday Red-Orange-Green-Yellow)
10. I will always practice with purpose, i.e practicing for the REAL GAME!
