Maximizing Practice

Alan Stein writes a great blog- blog.strongerteam.com.  Check it out.  Below is one of his recent blog posts about making the most of practice.

8 Ways to Maximize Every Practice

by Alan Stein 19. November 2012 03:24 They say, 'you play the way you practice.'

Assuming that's true, and I have full confidence it is, then coaches and players alike should do everything in their power to maximize every practice.

8 Things PLAYERS should do to maximize every practice:

1) Be well fueled, well hydrated, well rested, and take care of your body. 

2) Get to practice early. Don't wait for practice to start, prepare for it. Making 100 extra shots before every practice will have an enormous compound effect over the course of the season.

3) Approach practice with a 'game like' mentality. After all, how you do anything is how you do everything. Want to play well in games? Then practice well every day.

4) Listen with your eyes. Your coach won't say it if it's not important. Absorb everything your coaching staff and teammates say by having great eye contact.

5) Leave your comfort zone every practice. Leave it mentally. Leave it physically. Leave it emotionally. You should be drained at the end of every practice. Leave it on the floor!

6) Make your enthusiasm contagious. Raise the level of those around you with constant energy. Be vocal.

7) Be a 'Glue Guy' (or 'Glue Girl'). By definition, glue binds and holds things together. Be the glue on your team.

8) Value the ball for the entire practice. Every drill. Every scrimmage. Every play. Don't take bad shots or make sloppy passes.

Terry Greene Tip-Off

The Terry Greene Tip-Off tournament is just 3 days away.  We are hosting a great field, with Moravian, Lycoming, and Elizabethtown coming to the Mayser center.  Professor Terry Greene was a beloved member of the Franklin & Marshall community.  She was a long time faculty member and the faculty liaison for the women's basketball team.  Professor Greene was a fixture at women's basketball games.  She was a constant support to the young women on the team - always seeing the best in them.  Outside her office in the Psychology department, there was a huge collage of women's basketball programs, pictures, and other mementos.  We miss Professor Greene and it is our privilege to honor her memory in this small way with the Terry Greene Tip-Off tournament.  We hope you will join us in Mayser!

Saturday: Moravian vs Elizabethtown 1pm  & F&M vs Lycoming 3pm

Sunday: Moravian vs Lycoming 1pm & F&M vs Elizabethtown 3pm

F&M Field Hockey = Centennial Champions!

A big congratulations goes out to our F&M Field Hockey team.  They won the first Centennial Conference championship in program history yesterday and are riding an 18 game winning streak into the NCAA tournament.  The Dips host Eastern in a first round NCAA game this Wednesday at 4pm.  Let's get out to Tylus Field in droves to support the Dips!

Track or Treat!

Yesterday, our Athletic Leadership Council and SAAC representatives joined with the Diplomatic Congress to run the annual Track or Treat.  It is a trick or treat event on the upper track in the ASFC for local children that included games, pumpkin decorating, and a balloon artist.   Teams dressed up in their Halloween best and greeted the many trick or treaters!  Check out more pictures on our Facebook page.

Wiffle Ball

It was such a beautiful afternoon yesterday that we could not let it go by without doing something together as a team outside.  So at the start of practice, we had a little bit of an extended warmup with a short wiffle ball game on Hartman Green.  It was a lot of fun, but quite clear that we should all stick to basketball!  More pictures are on our Facebook page.  Check them out!

Family & Homecoming Weekend

This past weekend, F&M welcomed back alums of all ages as well as the families of our current students for Family & Homecoming Weekend.  It was great to see so many folks return to campus.  The weekend started with various events on Friday night.  The F&M Athletics Hall of Fame inducted 6 individuals and 1 team - all very deserving of the honor. 

On Saturday morning, our team was out at Baker early to host our 2nd annual Fummer 5K.  It was a great success with over 60 racers running and walking on a beautiful morning.

After our Fummer 5K, we headed over to the Tailgate Extravaganza and cheered on the many Diplomat Teams competing.  It was a great weekend.  Thank you to all those who came back to campus!  More pictures are on our Facebook page. 

Fummer 5k Registration

Our Fummer 5k is rapidly approaching.  Join us on Saturday, October 20 at 9am for our 2nd annual race.  We have great prizes for all age groups and walkers are welcome.  Registration info is online.  Hope to see you there!  

 

13 Leadership Goals for All Team Members

This is one of my favorite pieces that I think concisely captures what it means to be a good teammate.  It comes from Keith Kenyon of the American Athletic Institute.  We put it in our team notebooks each season and talk about many of the points throughout the year.

1.     Always follow team rules. 

(We call them our team standards, but same idea.)

2.    Try to be the hardest worker on the team.

3.    Try to be the most enthusiastic player on the team.

4.    Try to be the best conditioned player on the team.

5.    Observe and reflect on the leadership traits of the team captain(s) and  coaches.

6.   Master the plays and team strategy.

7.    Care about your teammates; this includes being supportive and never backstabbing.

8.   Maintain your sense of composure and balance when adversity strikes.

9.   Always put team goals ahead of personal goals.

10. Inspire confidence by demonstrating self-control.

11.  Try to be the most coachable player on the team.

12.  Reach out to those team members with whom you have little  in common.

13. Try to energize your teammates by your positive attitude.

Check out President Porterfield's Blog Post: This is Not

Click the link to check out President Porterfield's blog post:  This Is Not

Developing Leaders

Now that the school year is in full swing, some of the leadership development programming is starting up again for our students.  This week, Kevin Touhey, a leadership development expert, will be back on campus working with our student-athletes.  All of our new players will meet with Coach Touhey for an introduction to the philosophy of lateral leadership.  On our team, we believe that everyone contributes to our team leadership, in different, but all meaningful ways.  Coach Touhey will be back throughout the year to meet with each team individually as well.

I also have the honor to participate in the Harwood Leadership Program.  The nominated students gathered yesterday for a round of interviews and activities.  It was a great afternoon, and I had a lot of fun participating in the interviews.  The launch of this program will be an innovative way to foster peer learning and provide the framework for students to learn from each others leadership experiences.  I'm really looking forward to the first session.

As we get closer to the start of our season, we are preparing a number of team building and leadership development activities for our team.  It's so important to prepare and develop the mental side of the game as well!  I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what we are up to!