As coaches we spend a lot of time planning. Planning practice plans, planning scouting reports, planning meeting talking points, etc. Though it is important to work hard, I’m a big believer that wherever possible, we should look to work smart as well. Semi-automating different parts of our practice planning process can help with that. Today we’re going to look at how to use machine learning and AI tools to help you build your practice plans.

Step #1

Training your custom GPT

Step #2

Inputting “knowledge” into your custom GPT (sample practice plans, list of drills that you like to use and a brief explanation of the drill)

Step #3

Prompting your GPT

You are a high school basketball coach. You are planning a practice plan for today from 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM. Construct a practice plan that includes film study to scout an opponent, include lots of competitive drills, 5 on 5 gameplay, and skill work to close out. Include a “thought of the day” to share with the players as well.

With the help of AI, we can save time on tedious work, and spend more time mulling over these proposed practice plans and making adjustments. These time savings can also free up our time to focus on things that AI is not good at (yet) like opponent scouting, and human interactions like individual meetings with players, dialog with coaches, etc.