Coach Don Meyer was known for many basketball contributions and a willingness to share. On his website, he used to take questions and always answered them thoughtfully and in a timely way. He kept three notebooks - one with basketball information, one with general information, and a notebook of appreciation for his wife that he would give her annually.
Everyone learns in a different way, a combination of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic inputs. But keeping a journal or diary helps reinforce information. I distribute a notebook each year to every player with suggestions for them to build their basketball knowledge into their journal.
I recommend that after each practice and game that they include three items that they did well and why and one area that they need to improve and how. For example, in stock trading, most traders fare better with a journal of preparation, execution, and trade management. I'm encouraging players to improve their basketball and life process through journaling.
Psychologist and trader Brett Steenbarger discusses the trade journal at his site TraderFeed.com. Here's a valuable excerpt:
"Traders have long used journals as performance tools. A trading journal is a great way to track your ideas about markets and also track your development as a trader. Finding the right format for a journal is important, as a journal for your market ideas might be quite different from a trading performance journal. The common goal of all journals, however, is to cement important observations and facilitate reflection and creative thought. When we take ideas out of our heads and commit them to screen or paper, we become thinker, writer, and reader. That enables us to process information more deeply and in multiple ways."
As coaches, we should establish a growth mindset and provide our "students" with the tools allowing them to create their best process. Ideally that process migrates into every aspect of their life - family, school, relationships, work, and basketball. When we achieve that, we're sharing the best part of teamwork and growing better people.
