Coach’s Corner – Making Conditioning Fun

Basic drills and overall body conditioning are part of any athletes’ training – it doesn’t matter which sport. But training basics and doing conditioning can get tiresome for the young athlete – afterall, they are there because they want to have fun! Here are a few of my tried and true techniques for making conditioning fun.

1. Make it a game! This is an easy one – we all know it is more fun to play than work. From relay races, to obstacle courses, if the kids perceive this as fun, you’ll get more out of them.
2. Put the kids in control. One of my favorites is to have the girls start off jogging in a large circle. When I say freeze, I pick a child and she chooses the exercise that she and her team mates will do right then. It may be 25 pushups or tuck jumps, what ever she likes. Then she picks the next girl to choose and they all start running again.
3. Reward effort. My team loves this one. If I see an athlete working especially hard on an exercise during group conditioning I will send them to the “lemonade lounge” to rest, jump on the trampoline or play in the minute until the next exercise is over.

I’d love to get some other insights! Coaches, what are your favorite ways to make conditioning fun?