Questions to Ask Athletes After Practice (That Get Real Answers)

Practice ends, gear goes in bags, and you ask "how'd that feel?" The answer is usually "good" or a shrug. Sometimes the session went great and nobody can say why. Sometimes it went sideways and the athlete is already replaying it on the drive home without you. The right questions to ask athletes after practice turn that moment into something both of you can learn from, whether the session clicked or didn't.

Five post-practice questions that work

1. "What's one thing that felt better today than last week?" Starting with progress makes the conversation easier to enter. It also trains athletes to notice what's working, which most skip.

2. "Where did it get hard, and what were you thinking right then?" You want the moment, not a summary. "The third round of drilling, I started rushing my grips" gives you something to coach. "It was tiring" doesn't.

3. "What would you do differently if you ran that drill again?" This puts the athlete in the coach's seat for a few seconds. Their answer often tells you more about their understanding than watching them does.

4. "How did your body feel compared to what you expected?" A neutral question about physical state. Some athletes won't volunteer fatigue or soreness unless asked directly, and you can't adjust what you never hear about.

5. "What's one thing you want to focus on next time?" End forward. Ask them to write it down, so the next session starts with intent.

You don't need all five every day. Pick two, rotate them, and keep it under three minutes.

Why open-ended questions get better answers from athletes

Yes-or-no questions invite athletes to tell you what they think you want to hear. Open questions ask them to recall specifics, which builds the self-awareness they need when you aren't around, the same skill they develop by reflecting on training sessions on their own. You also get information you'd otherwise miss: the athlete who felt flat but trained hard anyway, or the one who figured out something you didn't explicitly teach.

Making post-practice check-ins stick

Ask the same core questions for a few weeks so athletes learn to expect them and start thinking about answers during the session. Listen without correcting right away. If every answer turns into a lecture, the answers get shorter. When an athlete gives a thoughtful reply, reference it next practice so they know it mattered.

For bigger groups, ask athletes to jot answers on their phone and review them later instead of going one by one. For the whole-team version after a match, see how to debrief after a game with your team.

Give your athletes a place to answer

Any notes app or paper log works. Sherpa is a free athlete journal where your athletes can log intentions before practice and reflections after, in a couple of minutes. We're also building tools for coaches to see that context. Have your athletes try Sherpa on the App Store.