Challenge your athlete's abilities appropriately
Coaches are constantly challenged to develop and create drills that are difficult enough to stimulate concentration and favour skill development. One of the most challenging tasks for coaches is handling a player base with varying levels of ability and skill.Sports like golf introduced the handicap system, where players of different levels can play against each other, each with a different goal set by the handicap. A system similar to the Golf "Handicap Score" can help make the same drill challenging for everyone. The easiest way to do this is to alter the amount of defence placed on the thrower in a drill, e.g. is the force static allowing the thrower to focus on completions, or is the force active, making the thrower perform under pressure.
In a mixed team sport, groups should be built according to the skill level and not the gender of the athletes. However, if, for instance, the physiological differences between genders influences the drill, then it would be permissible to group man-matching and woman-matching players in separate groups to ensure that each athlete is matched and challenged appropriately.
Some tips:
- Make the same drill harder or easier by defining "complications".
- A "complication" may be expecting the same accuracy with longer throws, a shorter stall count, catching the disc with a throwing hold, or whatever is appropriate to make a drill more challenging.
- In a game, experiment with different numbers of players on the line, e.g. 2v3 or 2v4, or allow more turnovers for less experienced teams, and so on.