One of the hardest things to do is getting your team's best effort and energy. Those are two words that coaches hate to discuss because most of us feel it should be an automatic. Although it may seem like it should be automatic, the habit must first be formed. Giving constant effort and energy first as a coach is a great way to set the tone. Second, having a coaches meetings before practice to communicate how you need your staff's energy spent for the day will help them know how to give their best effort. Third, effort and energy must be a standard at every practice and meeting so that the players understand to bring their best every time they step into any environment. When my team struggles with effort or energy, the next practice we address it immediately because that is a non-negotiable. The players need to understand they have to take ownership and if they expect the best results, they need to first give their best energy and effort!
The truth is, you will not always get their best energy and that is because you are still teaching them to form the habit. As long as they can admit they could give more, then they should be willing to get after it in the next practice.
Sometimes the best cure for a lack of effort or energy is a break away from the normal routine to try something new. I sometimes like to throw something different at our players to keep them on their toes. One day I told them to come to practice with their favorite sunglasses. When they showed up we had music and literally had a dance off on center court before practice. Our manager voted on the winning team and the girls had a blast! The icing on the cake was them seeing me - their head coach get out and dance too and it made them all laugh. Practice that week was full of energy and effort....our team had fun getting better.
