Never Have a Bad Practice Again

Every coach knows the feeling. Five minutes into practice, the energy is flat, the focus is missing, and nothing you say seems to change it. The usual fixes- a final warning, a round of sprints, a lecture- rarely turn it around, and over time they water down the standard you are trying to hold. As JP Nerbun puts it, you get what you tolerate, and you promote what you permit.

The Quick Set is JP’s answer, a warm-up routine he has refined over the last 10 years and one he says will guarantee you never have a bad practice again. He has taught it to coaches at every level, including Michigan head coach Dusty May, professional rugby coach Andre Pretorius, and former Appalachian State head coach and current TOC team member Angel Elderkin. Choose three to five simple drills your team already knows, each running 60 to 90 seconds on a clock. Before each drill, ask, “What does excellence look like in this drill?” and push for one or two observable behaviors, like calling a teammate’s name on every pass or sprinting in transition. Then start the timer and watch. The moment a player drops below the standard, say one word, “reset,” and reset the clock to zero. After three resets in a row, bring the team in and ask: why was I calling resets, and what did you do when you saw a teammate miss the standard?

Over a season, the responsibility for running the Quick Set, and eventually for calling resets, shifts to your captains and players. At its core, it tells your team something simple: we are not starting practice until every one of us is committed to excellence.

The Quick Set Activity is available in the TOC Coach community on Skool, with a guide for running the system through workshops with individual athletes, your team, and your coaching staff.

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