New practice theme

This past weekend we had a couple of practices as well as a "team meeting" before our video session on Sunday. The theme of this meeting (besides dealing with a few random things) was our new approach to practice.

After losing to Canada in January, everyone agreed that we needed to change something if we are going to be a winning team. So, we've been trying different approaches at practice to see what works best for our team. We've spent a lot of time going back to basics and really trying to have accountability for ourselves and our teammates during practice. This means focusing on the details like good passes and precise shots so that practices are just as important as games. It also means running a lot of sprints and doing a lot of push-ups when we make mistakes. The idea is, you have to pay for your mistakes in a game, so you should have to pay for them in practice!

We have now decided to turn-up the intensity in our practices so that we do a lot more running at a lot faster pace. We have also integrated more foot-work and speed training into our practices so that every drill is an opportunity to improve on these. As we saw in Europe, playing at the international level is as much about speed and fitness as it is skill.

We'll see how this goes- so far, so good. Practices certainly aren't easy, but I think there's a greater sense of accomplishment at having worked at a more intense level every day. It has only been a week, but I think we've all seen an improvement in the energy on the court. Hopefully we will be prepared for our three games in Canada this weekend! If we want to secure our spot in the playoffs of the Quebec League, we really need to win at least two of these games!