Saturday, February 13, 2021

Basketball - Fast Five: Raise the Energy to Lift Performance


via Slideshare...

Energy is finite. Coaches help define energy levels. Author James Clear asks, "Does this activity fill me with energy or drain me of energy?"

1. The coach and point guards must bring energy every day. This is non-negotiable. 

2. Reject what Jon Gordon calls (in The Energy Bus) "energy vampires." 

3. Attitude creates energy. Try it. Enter a room smiling, chatting people up and energy rises. Conversely, we lower the energy level intentionally by asking people to tone it down. 

4. In Above the Line, former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer discusses "crossing the red line" to enter the field. When players cross the line, they 'agree' to readiness, engagement, and expectations of meeting a high standard of performance. 

5. "Fired up, ready to go." Understand how to work a room, because "one voice can change a room." It's not about politics; it's about getting people excited. 


Lagniappe. Raise the energy level. Shaka Smart knew how.



Lagniappe 2. Energize your writing
  • Use stronger verbs. "She ran" becomes "she sprinted." 
  • Eliminate adverbs. "She moved quickly" becomes "she hastened."
  • Reduce the passive voice. "She was sitting on the bench," becomes "she seethed after Coach Jones pulled her."
Use an energy quote. Tommy Lasorda remarked, "There are three kinds of people...people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what's happening." 

Lagniappe 3. Adopt an energy mindset...with one of Jay Bilas's Toughness standards, "Play so hard your coach has to take you out." 

Lagniappe 4. Use music to find the right 'activation' level. 


In "Performing Under Pressure" Weisinger and Pawliw-Fry inform the relationship between state of arousal and performance. Many athletes use music to raise their arousal levels pre-game.