Ep 2912 Are You Building a Summer Scoreboard That Forces Real Improvement?

0:00This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. From the 5th quarter studios in Madison, Wisconsin, you're listening to Coach Unplugged. And now, your host, Steve Collins. Hi, coaches. Welcome to the 5th quarter studios in Madison, Wisconsin. This episode is brought to you by teachoupes.com. If you want off-season plans, practice templates, and cultured tools you can plug in today, go to teachoupes.com. All right, coaches, it's the end of April. And this is the moment that decides your summer. Because May shows up, a U starts rolling, families get busy, kids get jobs, and suddenly your big plans turn into random, open gyms and wishful thinking. So today, I'm giving you a simple tool that changes everything. I call it the summer scoreboard.

1:00Because what gets measured gets done, and what doesn't get measured becomes a rumor. Now, most coaches measure the wrong things. They measure, did you show up? They measure, did you get shots up? They measure, did you play hard? Those are fine, but effort is not growth. You can have a kid in the gym every day who stays the exact same player. So the summer scoreboard measures improvement, not just attendance. Here's how it works. You pick four categories, category one, skill work, category two, strength and durability, category three, competition reps, category four, habits and leadership. And every kid has a weekly target, not a dream, a target. Let's go one by one. First, skill work. This is not a shot for an hour. That's too vague.

2:00Skill work is two things per player. One strength, one weakness. Shooter. Keep the shooting. Add finishing through contact. Take a guard. Keep the handle. Add decision making and passing out of pressure. Big. Keep the pose seals. Add footwork and passing out of doubles. And you track it simply. Did you complete your two skill work out? Yes or no? Second, strength and durability. If your kids are always banged up, that's not bad luck. It's usually weak hips, weak core, poor landing and no mobility. So your scoreboard includes two to three lifts per week. Or if you're youth, it includes movement work, jump stops, balance, core, landing, deceleration. Because durable athletes win in February.

3:02Third, competition reps. This is where most summers fall apart. Kids play five on five and the best player takes over and everybody else hides. So competition reps means small-sided, two on two, three on three, four on four. And you add one constraint based on your identity. If you want ball security, turnovers are minus two. If you want rebounding, no block out means no point. If you want toughness, every possession starts with a paint touch. If you want defense, points only count after a stop. Now you're training habits, not just playing. Fourth, habits and leadership. This one is the secret. Because the best teams aren't just skilled. They're connected.

4:03They talk. They show up on time. They finish. They respond well to hard moments. So your scoreboard includes simple habit points, on time, great body language, encouraged a teammate, stayed after to help, did the little things. And coach, here's the key. You don't use a scoreboard to shame. You use it to create clarity and competition. Now let me give you the weekly targets. A simple high school target might be two skill workouts, two lifts, one compete day, one leadership habit. That's it. And the scoreboard is visible, whiteboard of the gym or a shared Google sheet. Names down the left, weeks across the top. And once a week, you do a two minute update. Let us speech two minutes.

5:05Here's what we did well. Here's what we need more of. Here's next week's focus. Now, the most important part, end of April, is when you communicate the rules. So here's the message I send. Players, this summer is not about hours. It's about progress. We're tracking skill work, strength, competition, and habits. If you want to play more next season, you have to win this summer. Not with talk, with work you can prove. And I tell parents one thing, we're building structure. We're focusing on improvement and accountability. Here's the schedule. Here's what we measure. And here's how you can support your kid. Clarity kills drama. Now I'll end with this.

6:05If you want your players to come back better, you have to design the environment for it. End of April is your chance to set the rules of the summer. Not in July, not when you're frustrated, now. Hold the summer scoreboard, track the right things, make it visible, make it simple, and make it competitive. Because when the season starts, you won't be guessing who got better. You'll know. One more time, if you want my done for you off-season plans, open gym structures, and player development templates, go to teachoupes.com.