When you win, it's easy to have fun. But how do you have fun when your team is not winning?
Hayden Fry, the legendary football coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, used to tell his team to "scratch where it itches." When practices were slow, sloppy, or full of dropped balls and missed tackles, Coach Fry would abruptly stop practice and gather his squad together at midfield.
Sometimes he would call for a team sing-along.
Sometimes he would ask one of his players to tell jokes until everyone was hootin' and hollerin'.
Then, when the Hawks went back to practice, Fry's team would play mistake-free.
The lesson: you can't take yourself too seriously.
Hayden Fry was a master psychologist, and his philosophy of "scratch where it itches" helped his players thrive under pressure.
How does YOUR team have fun at practice?
Listen here to Week 11's Motivation Monday message about the importance of having fun at practice.
Let's get better together!
John and John
