Find our better version. "The magic is in the work."
Take time to think. Spend five or ten minutes daily, just thinking. What does my team need now?
Control what I can control. I control my attitude, choices, and effort. Am I spending my time or investing it? We decide whether to access a movie channel or a podcast.
Take better notes. Record and study at spaced intervals. This helps concepts stick. Reduce mistakes by focusing on the errors. Note from this weekend - let the play develop on the baseline out of bounds plays.
VIDEO. We need video. "Veni, vidi, vici." I came, I saw, I conquered. VIDEO. What made this play work? What was the spacing, the timing, and the action? Is there a better option?
What am I reading and studying? The difference between who we are today and whom we become in the next five years are the people we meet and the books we read. Last night I listened to a Basketball Immersion podcast. This morning I took several MasterClass lessons on "Leading a Values-Based Business." I'll read a chapter or two of Howard Marks' Mastering the Market Cycle after finishing this missive.
Increase efficiency.
- Operate at a higher tempo.
- Make it competitive.
- Condition within drills.
- Limit the lines, laps, and lectures.
- Include special situations. Many games are close. Any possession can be the answer.
Don't return to the basics. Stay with the basics. What do we do well and what has to change? Never presume that we have all the answers.
Get players to improve their self-assessment. What are my ways to score? If I want a different role, how can I improve to fulfill the tasks of that role?
Stay focused. Do what we can do. I believe in certain defensive philosophies (run-and-jump) and changing defenses. BUT I don't think that's best developmentally for middle school players. We're better doing fewer things well than many okay.
Is what I know making the players and team better? Does each practice activity make us more skilled, better decision makers, or more competitive?
I can't imagine not having the capacity to improve as a coach.
Lagniappe 1a: Acknowledge our mistakes. This weekend, I allowed a basket off the tap. I allowed an inadequate defensive deployment, a speed mismatch. I apologized to the team yesterday and told them that can't ever happen again, even if we have to put four players under our own basket.
Lagniappe 1b. It's not enough to stop your player from scoring. Your responsibility is being part of the team stopping our opponent. "The ball scores." Help and recovery is a team job. "The help can never be beaten."
Lagniappe 2: LATTE
Starbucks has a customer service model acronym, LATTE.
L = listen to the customer
A = acknowledge the problem
T = thank the customer for bringing the problem to our attention
T = take care of the problem
E = explain to colleagues so they don't have the same problem
This works well in coaching and in playing.
Images today via Howard Schultz MasterClass, "Leading a Values-Based Business"
