A play nobody has seen before practice costs you ten minutes of practice. Getting it to players’ phones the night before is the cheapest improvement most teams can make. Here are the usual ways, and where each one breaks.
1. Photo of the whiteboard
Free, instant, and everyone knows how. It also loses the timing, so a player sees where people end up and not when they move, and a blurry photo of a marker diagram is hard to read at twelve.
It works for a one-off reminder. It is a poor way to teach a set with a screen in it.
2. PDF or printed sheet
A clean sheet in a binder still has a place. Players can mark it up, and it works with a dead phone battery. It is also static, and a play that changes after the first scrimmage means reprinting.
Use it for the bench and for the staff. Use something that moves for the players.
3. A shared link to the play
This is the format most coaches settle on once they try it. A link opens in the browser, so there is nothing to install, and you can fix a mistake in the play without sending a new file.
What to check:
- It opens without an account.
- It shows the play, not your whole playbook with drafts and scouting notes.
- It works on an old phone on a weak connection.
- You can send a single play with one note.
4. Exported video
A short clip is the easiest thing for a player to rewatch, and players are used to video. It also fits where players already are, such as a group chat or a story.
The trade-off is that video is a fixed picture. If the play changes you export again. It is best for a polished teaching clip, less for a draft you are still adjusting.
5. Quizzes and questions
Seeing a play is not the same as knowing it. A question works better than a diagram for finding out who has actually learned it: “You are the 4. Where do you go?” Some tools generate these from the play itself. If yours does not, ask the question at the start of practice and watch who hesitates.
Sharing with minors: a short checklist
Most youth teams are made of players under sixteen, and a few habits keep you out of trouble.
- Share the play, not the roster. A play does not need player names. If the link or the file shows names, ask yourself why.
- Prefer links that need no personal data from the player. An account with an email and a birthday is more data than a diagram needs.
- Release deliberately. Keep drafts and scouting separate from what players can see.
- Know where it is stored. If your tool holds team data, find out who can see it and where it is kept before a parent asks you.
- Ask parents once. A short note at the start of the season about how you share plays prevents most questions later.
A routine that works
Pick one play per week. Send the link the night before with one sentence on what to notice. Open practice by asking one player to explain it, and run it once at walk-through speed. Then add the next play.
What to write in the message
The message around the play matters as much as the play. A link with no context gets a thumbs-up and no viewing. Three lines work better:
- What it is. “Horns Spain, our first play out of a timeout.”
- What to notice. “Watch where the 5 sets the second screen.”
- What you will ask. “At practice I will ask the 2 where they go on phase 3.”
Keep it short, send it at a time players read messages (not at midnight), and send one play, not the whole book. A player who gets one play and a question will often open it. A player who gets twenty plays and no question will open none.
Players who miss practice
Someone is always sick, injured or on a trip. A link you can resend is the cheapest catch-up there is: send the plays they missed with the same three lines, and ask them the question when they return. It also helps the player who is in the gym but standing out with an injury, because watching a play three times from the bench is real learning.
Tournament weekends
On a tournament weekend you have no practice and limited time between games. Share the next opponent’s likely sets and your two or three key plays the night before, and keep a printed sheet for the bench so a dead phone does not stop you. A link that loads quickly on a weak gym connection matters more here than any extra feature.
For the staff: one version of the truth
When several coaches draw plays, you will end up with three versions of the same set. Decide who owns each play, put the final versions in one place, and ask the staff to share links from there, not copies. The goal is simple: when a player says “the way coach showed us”, every coach means the same thing.
What parents ask
Parents tend to ask the same few questions, and a short answer prepared in advance saves you time:
- What is this? A diagram of a play so the player can review it at home.
- Do we need an account? If you have chosen a tool where players need none, say so, because many parents will ask.
- Is it shared with anyone else? Say what you share, and that you do not share names.
- Can they see other teams’ plays? Only if you release them. Keep drafts and scouting out of what players see.
A friendly two-line note at the start of the season, with the same wording each year, prevents most of these.
How often to share
More is not better. One new play a week gives players time to learn it and gives you time to ask about it. Early in the season you can go faster, because players have little to unlearn. Late in the season, send a refresh of an old play before you send a new one, so the base stays sharp. Pay attention to who opens the link, if your tool tells you, and talk to the players who never do, since that is usually a phone or a habit problem and not a motivation problem.
Mistakes to avoid
- Sharing the whole playbook at once. It overwhelms players and reveals your drafts.
- Sending a screenshot of a screenshot. Each copy loses detail and timing.
- Never checking that it opens. Open every link on a phone yourself before you send it.
- Changing a play after you shared it without telling anyone. If the version changes, say so, or half the team will run the old one.
- Treating sharing as the end. Sharing is the start. The learning happens at practice, when you ask the question.
Where SlongeHoops fits
SlongeHoops creates a share link that opens a viewer with no account and no install, exports video as a reel, square or landscape clip, and has player quizzes generated from the play. On the team plan you choose which plays players can see. We make it, so weigh that when you read this, and apply the checklist above to whatever you pick.
Questions
What is the easiest way to share a play with players?
A link that opens in the phone's browser with no account or install. If players have to sign up first, many will not look at it before practice.
Should I send a PDF or a link?
A PDF is good for printing and for the binder at the bench. A link is better for anything animated, and it can be updated without re-sending a file.
Is it safe to share plays with minors?
Share only the play, not names or contact details, and prefer links that need no personal data from the player. If your tool stores player names, check who can see them and what the privacy policy says.
How do I make sure players actually look at the play?
Send one play at a time with one sentence on what to notice, then ask a question about it at the start of practice. A whole playbook dropped in the group chat tends to go unopened.