the use of conditioning, and operant conditioning in sports

I grew up playing sports and actually played Lacrosse in college for Franklin and Marshall.  Practices consisted of running, skills training, running, watching film, and more running.  After reading the sections of conditioning and operant conditioning it is clear to me that these styles of learning are prevalent every day at practice.
Conditioning is prevalent at practice in its most literal term.  We had to condition our bodies to be game ready by running everyday.  We had to gain muscle memory so that we merely reacted to situations intuitively and did not have to waste time during play to make a decision.
Operant conditioning is also prevalent on the practice field.  Whenever someone dropped a pass they had to take a lap.  No body likes running especially when we already have to do it several times through out practice.  My teammates quickly learned the importance of catching the ball.  Sometimes it had a reverse effect though.  I would be so nervous that I would have to run if I dropped the ball.  I would be focusing on that too much and I would wind up dropping the ball instead of catching it.  While it was certainly effective, there are better ways to operantly condition.  Like use positive reinforcement.  
Positive reinforcement was implemented in practice as well.  Coach implemented this by saying whoever wins does not have to run.  This quickly enhanced the whole teams focus and intensity.  Knowing that there was a punishment always made the whole team practice harder!
Conditioning and Operant conditioning are two strong tools that are seen every where.  I encounter them every day.  One of the most frequent places they can be seen is at practice of almost any sporting team.