Structuring Your Practice Sessions

Every team that I have been on has discussed the structuring of flyball practice sessions. I know for me it has been a long process that has evolved with time and I think there is still room for improvement.

A little history

The first team I was on was a very green team; in fact, it was the only team within 250 miles of my home. In reality, an obedience training business was trying to train dogs to play flyball. When I started, the people doing the training had only ever attended one tournament. Everyone doing the training was involved in one way or another with the training of dogs for obedience, agility, or other dog activities, but no one had flyball training experience. Additionally, back when I started in 1999, there just was not much available on the Internet about flyball training.

Looking back, I wish that we had more contact with people that had flyball training experience because our dogs suffered for it. No one knew anything about box turns, passing, or even how to start. We were the typical all green team, happy to just get our dogs to run the course.

The second team I was on was a lot better at training but still lacked some of the structure needed at flyball practice. We talked about it a lot and got somewhat better at it over time, but never perfected our sessions.

With my own team now, we pretty much know what we are going to focus on beforehand. We have a good idea of each dog’s needs and focus on those things. We may just do box work with one dog, or it might just be passing with two others, or we may just do conditioning work, but it is usually very specific.

So what is the best way?

I know that this is a very open question and I hope that it will draw comments on how others do it. I do not have all of the answers by any means but I will try to offer some suggestions for things that can be done during flyball practice. Since there may be different things worked on to prepare for a tournament, I will break my suggestions down into General and Before Tournament even though some of the same things may be done in both areas:

General - Things that can be worked on all the time

• Pick someone on the team that has the most training knowledge as the trainer. This may not be possible with new start up teams, but there is help out there for the asking. Just contact a team in your area and I am sure they would be glad to help. Additionally, there is now good help on the Internet, and this blog is just one of many sources.

• Whoever is selected as the flyball trainer should look at each dog on the team and compile a list of the dog’s strengths and weaknesses.

• The weaknesses of each dog needs to be assessed and a plan put in place to correct each problem. Set aside time during each practice session for correcting problems. It should be a team effort in correcting each of the problems, as this is a good way for everyone to feel a part of the team.

• The strengths of each dog should then be looked at because dogs will run better in one position versus another. The trainer should select dogs based on their strengths for starting, running in the last position, or running in the pack. A good way to do this is with a good old fashioned stopwatch. Time each dog over a period of several sessions as they run in different positions or passing different dogs.

• Training new dogs - just as with correcting weaknesses or problems, time should be set a side for training new dogs. If you are training new handlers and their dogs it may be best to set aside time before or after practice for this training. It is usually better to train new dogs before the start of regular practice, that way the new people can stay and help with regular practice. This is a good way for you to get to know the new people and will give you some insight into what kind of teammate they would be if invited to join the team. It also gives the new people a chance to see other training techniques and will give them a better overall view of flyball.

Before Tournament – Things that need to be done before tournament closing

• Select a captain for each of the teams that will attend the tournament. The captain should be familiar with all of the dogs and should work with the trainer to select the dogs for each team. If you only have one team, the captain should probably be the trainer, or someone with a good knowledge of each of the dogs. The selection of the dogs for the team or teams may be based on the team philosophy, i.e. fastest dogs on the first team, fastest dogs spread out to achieve 25 points per heat, etc.

• Once the dogs have been selected for the team or teams, they should be run together during practice sessions leading up to the tournament. The trainer and captain should note any problems and try to work on them before the tournament.

• After the team(s) is set, run your fastest lineup together to come up with seeding for the team. Please note that all of this needs to be done at least a month before the tournament, because you will need to know the speed of the team before entering the tournament. If the same dogs have run together before, you should have a very good idea of what speed they will run. Alternatively, if you know the speed of each dog you can come up with a good estimate for your seeding. Use realistic seeding because it is better to be in a faster division and take last place, than to be in a slower division and break out. You will never get better running in a slower division and taking first place in that division at every tournament. The only way to get better is to be challenged.

• In the weeks leading up to the tournament, after the closing, you should practice passing and everyone should be comfortable in his or her position, including the dogs.

I hope that you will find these suggestions helpful, and it would help everyone to know how other teams use their practice time.

Larry

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