Make our message resonate with clarity, simplicity, and feedback.
Athletes perform, similar to musicians, actors, and comedians. Cellist YoYo Ma presents a MasterClass and includes a lesson applicable to basketball about CCR - content, communication, and reception.
Ma points out that in the concert hall, the most important people are the audience. He can't allow himself to be bored or disinterested because that is unfair to the people who matter.
Content. Here's a dodecahedron, a 12-sided figure. That could be a multifaceted representation of basketball. Does that help or hinder the young player's understanding? 'Smooth' and convert to a sphere, entitled "more and better shots" than our opponent.
Simplify the fine detail of the dodecahedron and the clarity of the sphere.
Communication. Communicate better by clarity and simplicity. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski called the pick-and-roll defensive hedge, "fake trap." There are other simple ways to get points across:
- Trap the ball. "Put them in a glass box."
- Pressure the ball. "Crawl up into them."
- Teamwork. "The help can never get beaten."
- Quality shots (Bilas), "It's not your shot; it's our shot."
Reception. Did the team understand, learn, and embrace the message? If we say we're going to use "lock and trail, drop, and ice coverage" we might as well say it in Urdu because it's neither descriptive or simple. "What is not learned has not been taught" to borrow the phrase. Be "performance-focused and feedback rich." Give and get feedback.
To add value and get buy-in, use Don Meyer's mature simplicity.
Summary:
- Be aware of content, communication, and reception.
- Stay fully engaged.
- "What has not been learned has not been taught."
- Stay "performance-focused, feedback rich."
- Deliver mature simplicity.
Lagniappe.
Another Boston sportswriter commented that UCONN's women streak of over a hundred games didn't matter because they were playing women. I won't mention his name because he doesn't deserve the publicity. Everyone believes they're the smartest guy in the room.
