Guest Post by Scott Tyson
I’ve been involved with organizing and running recreational and competitive sports leagues for over 10 years and know one thing
for sure — no matter what you do, you can’t avoid lopsided games. Here are 5 ways to manage lopsided games so they are more fun and competitive for everyone.
- If you know the teams are unbalanced going into a game, coaches from both teams should circle up and talk before the game begins so they can come up with a workable plan on how to help close the competitive gap.
- If know you are the “better” team, make changes to your game plan before the game begins rather than waiting until you are up by 4 goals, 20 points, 10 runs, or 3 touchdowns. I’ve challenged coaches to try and lose a game while still putting forth maximum effort (only a great coach can pull something like this off). Most coaches won’t even consider this as an option because winning is still their primary focus (whether they want to admit it or not).
- Play games within the game. Here are some ideas on how to help you accomplish #2. Create a rule that every player has to touch the ball before anyone can take a shot (Hoosiers mindset – “How many times are we going to pass before shooting – 4 times”). Jennifer hasn’t scored yet today so we are going to do everything we can as a team to set her up. Only the second defensive player to the ball can pull the flag belt because we want to learn how to play solid “help” defense.
- Don’t “punish” your top players by sitting them out or keeping them from using their talent. Tell them what you want them to do rather than what you don’t want them to do. Similar to #3 but focuses on your top players. Help them develop less noticeable but essential skills to becoming a well-rounded player. Rather than telling Joey to stop taking shots because he is a dominate scorer, tell him you would like to see him work on setting up his teammates to score. Rather than telling your 7-footer to stop blocking everyone’s shot, challenge him to learn how to play when he is in foul trouble (can’t go for the block every time).
- Put your weaker players in key roles rather than supporting roles. Let Timmy play point guard even though he doesn’t handle the ball very well. Let Johnny play quarterback even though you know he is going to have a tough time completing passes. Give one of your younger players a chance to pitch even though he struggles to throw strikes in practice.
