I may never be the best coach, but I can become the best coach I can be. Phil Ford said of Dean Smith, "I got a coach for four years, but I got a friend for life." I believe in checklists to assist in that process.
In what areas is a team proficient and where does it need improvement? We have our first games next weekend with a holiday tournament. I've assisted with another team from time to time and saw them play two games yesterday which helps me with assessing our team progress.
As previously discussed, checklists help promote competence and excellence in many areas including aviation, construction, investing, medicine (surgery), and restaurants. When we watch our teams play what primary and secondary competence areas deserve scrutiny?
- Am I preparing players for their bigger "life's task?"
- Would I want my child playing in this program because of added value?
- Do I have the team's pulse socially, emotionally, and physically?
- Do the players know and care about our basketball philosophy?
- Can we apply and defeat defensive pressure?
- Do we have a major weakness on offense, defense, or conversion?
- Can we score both in transition and in the half-court? (The latter becomes especially important against better teams, zone defense, and in the post-season.)
- Do we have offensive and defensive solutions for special situations (key possessions against man, zone, BOB, SLOB, delay, time-limited decisions)?
- Do we do enough of what we do well or too much of what we do poorly?
- Are we improving, static, or regressing, especially at "seeing the game"?
Winning youth basketball games isn't my first priority relative to adding value to prepare players for success. But wherever we coach, if we focus our curiosity on developing character, commitment, and competence, the players have a chance to flourish through developing a meaningful process.
Develop your own checklist and monitoring system. Successful individuals have self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy, and responsibility.