I struggle to find time to plan my sessions, how can I quickly put together training plans that ensure my players are improving?
As a volunteer cricket coach, finding the time to plan effective training sessions can be a challenge. However, with a few key strategies in place, you can quickly develop training plans that guarantee your players' improvement. Here are some practical tips to help you optimize your time and create impactful sessions that address their specific needs.
Utilise the CA Coach App: Cricket Australia's coaching app is an outstanding resource for junior community level coaches, providing an easy to use Training Planner along with coaching insights, tips and essentials. By utilising the Training Planner, you can choose from one of the pre-filled session templates, or create your own session plan using the hundreds of drills and activities loaded into the system. This app is an absolute must have for all junior cricket coaches.
The 4 x 4 Approach: Often it is easy to overthink session planning as a junior coach. It is important to remember that we don't have to develop a brand new, unique session every week, and that some consistency can be very effective. At the start of the season, come up with four areas of improvement for your team. From there, develop or source four activities that will assist your players development in each area.
You now have sixteen activities that can be utilised throughout the season in order to ensure your players development. Each week you can plug and play an appropriate activity for the area you are working on. As your players improve, aim to adjust each activity to ensure an appropriate level of challenge for your players.
How do I balance allowing my better players to have opportunities to succeed, while ensuring all players on my team receive a fair go?
This is a common question, with many community cricket teams consisting of players with a wide range of abilities. It seems unfair to not allow the better players a chance to succeed by scoring runs and taking wickets, however it is vital to balance this with ensuring all players receive a fair opportunity to participate.
Season Long Rotation Plan: At the start of the season, sit down and develop a season long rotation plan that ensures all players receive a good amount of batting and bowling opportunity. This season long plan can become a framework for ensuring you are not chasing your tail with certain players in the second half of the season. This can also ensure you don't put your weaker players in situations that are uncomfortable or even scary. This plan will have to change based on injuries, illness or absences, however it will ensure you have a structure in place regardless of how many changes arise.
Game Based Roles: Rather than trying to ensure every player gets a bat and a bowl in every single game, it can be a good idea to give each player a role for a given game. For instance, Player A could be given the role of opening the batting, however won't bowl in that particular game. Player B could be guaranteed to bowl five overs, but will bat in the lower order.
This allows you to give players more genuine opportunities to perform over the course of the season. This is a good strategy for club teams as they get older, and want to play cricket that more resembles what they might see on TV.
How do I handle situations where a player is struggling or feels discouraged?
This is a common occurrence, and happens to all players over the course of a season, regardless of their ability level.
Individual Attention: As a coach, it is important to try and address struggling players individually to understand their challenges and mindset. It is easy to see the player happy as part of the group, however regardless of what it may look like on the outside, it is always important to have even a quick chat individually with a struggling player. Try to empathise while also offering constructive feedback, encouragement, and support to help them overcome obstacles and regain confidence.
Peer Support: This is a more pro-active way to manage players when they are struggling. By fostering a supportive team environment where players uplift and encourage one another, it is far less likely for a player to feel like they are letting the team down by not performing well. Encourage your players to offer support, advice, and positive reinforcement to one another in open group conversations throughout the season.
It is also important to try and eliminate any negative communication between players, no matter how light-hearted it may seem.
It is important to remember that there is no answer to any question that is correct for all junior players and teams. Innovation and creativity is vital to discover the solution that best fits your situation. For expert advise and assistance, reach out to the team at CricketLAB who have helped numerous junior teams over the past ten years.