Saturday, January 9, 2021

Basketball: Style Maven Tan France Shares Coaching Tips


My daughter's dog has a bigger wardrobe than I do. Steal from every relevant discipline. Tan France's MasterClass on Style has a wealth of coaching tips. 


"Style Coaching is not one size fits all...this is a lifelong process." Learn every day. 

"Don't be lazy; try new things." With continual study, we edit our approach and results. 

"Continue to invest in your style coaching." The Internet has tons of free stuff but it invaluable resources come from pay sites as well. 

"I never want it to become stale." Players love freshness...e.g. dribble tag with constraints, e.g. non-dominant hand dribbling inside the arc. 

"I don't have to embrace every trend." Are we wearing bell-bottom jeans and shooting twenty threes with twelve year-olds?

"Incorporate one or two (trends) as you feel comfortable." How should we use analytics, like the Four Factors? 

"Mix it in with your regular (wardrobe) capsule wardrobe." Adding elements doesn't mean abandoning what worked. 

"Who do I want to be?" Be yourself but keep reinventing. 

"Is this (trend) really new?" Study = re-search.

"Trends always find a way to come back around." Coaches who study Bee, Wooden, Newell, Smith, Knight, Chaney and others cultivate an edge. 

"You will make mistakes...you were going through an evolution." Push through. 

"Don't try to be somebody you aren't." Authenticity has value...unless we're an authentic jerk. 

"If you're not making any mistakes, you're not doing it right." Higher performance means leaving our comfort zone. 

Lagniappe. Production is our ultimate coaching goal, high performance against tough competition. 


Mallory Pugh with the "first cap, first goal" achievement for the USWNT. 

Lagniappe 2. "The Playmaker's Advantage..." how do we help players and teams get where they cannot go alone? 

1. Recognize and cultivate special talent like Mia Hamm. 
2. Embrace developments in "cognitive neuroscience." What we say and how we say it matter objectively. 

3. Promote sportsmanship, teamwork, and accountability. Joy is the outcome. 

Lagniappe 3. Who knew getting stops could propel you forward? 


Ball pressure, contesting without fouls, drop coverage, and more.