Shane Beamer always says 'practice matters' but what does that mean to him?

As much as the term “as well” is Shane Beamer‘s unofficial catchphrase, there’s another two-word phrase that he uses quite often.

Beamer has always been all about competition. He considers it to be a core value of his program at South Carolina. That’s where the other term that he says comes in: “Practice matters.”

He always says it. When he’s asked about a specific player and why they aren’t playing a lot or making as big an impact as expected, this is typically an answer he reverts to.

“Practices matter around here. How you perform in games matters around here,” Beamer said. “We don’t just say here’s the starting lineup for game one, and it’s the same thing for the next 12 games or 11 games after that. Practice matters.”

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Sure, you can put two and two together and know that you must practice well during the week to play on Saturdays. But what does he really mean when he says it? What specifically does he look for to help him determine who plays and who doesn’t each week?

Beamer is detailed in how he runs his practices. Every minute counts. There’s a reason why the times were so specific when the media attended a few fall camp practices in August.

9:23 a.m., 9:18 a.m., 12:58 p.m., to name a few random start times. It might seem strange, but that’s just how he operates.

“We put a lot of time as coaches,” Beamer said, “into planning practice and what we want to get done, the plays we want to run, the defenses we want to call, the kickoff returns and punt blocks we work on.”

In return, he wants to see a high level of execution. Whether it’s the offense, defense, or special teams, he wants the players to execute what’s being asked of them.

“I want to see the strain and the finish,” Beamer said. “And just the technique and the mentality that you want to play with, whether it be pad level, feet, footwork, hand placement, all the fundamental details.”

Of course, it’s not a Beamer-led practice if there isn’t good energy. There’s usually a lot of different types of music being blasted on the speakers. That’s how he likes it, though. He wants to see not just energy but physicality from his players as well.

“I’m a believer, like you don’t practice soft, and then think you’re going to go play physical on Saturday night,” Beamer said. “You need to see that. And we get after it in practice. We do. I want our practices to be harder than the games in a lot of ways with how we do things.”

It’s all intentional and serves a purpose. As the Gamecocks hit the road for the first time this season, Beamer wants them ready for what’s to come. That’s why “practice matters” so much to him.

“I feel like we create that environment,” he said. “I just want to see us each day like I said, execute what we’re asking our guys to do, but then doing it with the right mentality that carries over into Saturday when you play.”

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