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How To End Practice To Build A Better Team

How To End Practice

                                      How to End Practice To Build A Better Team 

My wife questioned my strategy for leaving any social get togethers.

I never said goodbye at any party or wedding.

I always left exactly the same way. I would just duck out the door.  No goodbye. Like ripping off a band-aid.

I hated giving the formal goodbye, because people never let you leave without some sort of guilt play or long-drawn out “I meant to tell you” story. 

It’s probably how most people do it today in real life. No two-weeks notice, no official break-up, and especially not face to face.

Just a text.

So, in order to build a better team– Here’s how to end on a positive note.  

My daughter hated it at first that I’ve implemented the principle of how we end everything. But, she gets it now.

We Thank The Coach! 

Coaches and mentors are the most important person in our lives. Everyone needs a coach!

Coaches Mark James and Brain Satterfield know how to end practice.  They do it the same way, they shake each player’s hand. Nowadays, hopefully, we can still fist bump! 

It’s simple, yet powerful.

NO matter the type of practice or outcome of game, the ending is always the same. It was created as a way to put any type of closure to a good or poor day, a way to END it positive. 

Players even started looking forward to it.

The worst punishment a coach could probably ever deliver is telling one of their players, “I don’t want to see you after practice.” But, without being deliberate with how to end practice, we run the risk of doing just that, not seeing them. 

A positive ending is essential because we can’t know the last time we are ever going to see someone.

Travis Smith played golf at Ball State and I distinctly remember seeing him at practice before I left for Nashville. I don’t recall saying goodbye… He died in a car accident. There’s no amount of money his parents or coach wouldn’t have given to spend just a few more moments with him. 

Money isn’t the most precious resource, its time.

Make sure you know how to end practice on a positive note. One of the best ways is to end everything with a handshake and a thank you.

 

dr rob bell speakerDr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology Coach. DRB & associates coach executives and professional athletes. Some clients have included three different winners on the PGA Tour, Indy Eleven, University of Notre Dame, Marriott, and Walgreens. 

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