The importance of having a preplanned and set practice schedule cannot be understated.

How well your players practice will determine how they play come game day. If your team has a solid week of practice, your team is more likely to give a solid performance on game day.

For top practice optimization:

• Assign responsibilities to all coaches. Clearly define every coach’s role. 
• Script practices. Divide practice into sessions, have a plan for each session, and give that plan to all assistant coaches.
• Keep things moving. No players should be standing around on the field. Set up drills ahead of time. When you give the kids a water break, make sure to use that time to set up the next drill.
• Divide players to keep lines shorter. Don’t be afraid to have the same drill running in two or three spots on the practice field. This will increase the amount of reps each player gets. When there are 20 kids in one line, not much is getting accomplished.

Implementing tactics such as the no huddle in practice increases productivity and reps, which is the key to success. It is important that all assistant coaches are on the same page and understand their responsibilities.

Switch phases with energy and purpose, and there should be no walking on the field whatsoever.

In youth football, most teams only have three days a week, two hours a day to prepare for the game ahead.

If practices are disorganized it will show. Parents, players and other coaches will notice.

Jeff Hemhauser is the co-founder of Youth Football Online.