Become a truthseeker by seeing the world around us. Core principles "play" across sports. A conversation with a former state championship hockey coach triggered analysis of "truths across sports."
"Character is skill number one," says Etorre Messina. Previous behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. While some earn redemption, Aaron Hernandez, Steve Howe, and many others struggle with the law. Shady character eventually bites us in the backside. Some gladly make that deal with the devil.
"Good teams don't give away games." I'm no hockey expert but carelessness and giveaways in your defensive end eventually turn into opposition points. Broadcaster Ken Beatrice said that three out of four football games are lost not won. Turnovers and poor free throw shooting turn coaches gray prematurely.
"Take away what your opponent wants to do." In football, it might be taking away the long pass or Marshall Faulk in Super Bowl XXXVI. In baseball, there might be trouble with the curve. The NBA fought against advantage with the Hack-a-Shaq rule.
*"Emphasize your strengths." Kevin Eastman says stick with your plan and if it's not working, "do it harder, do it better, and change personnel" until you realize "#$%@ it's not working." Another coach is a chimera. "*Belichick's view is much different. "Every week is its own challenge," he emphasized. "Every game brings its own set of circumstances, adjustments, play style, and matchups. We focus on what we want to do for that week, not what we did two weeks before or ten weeks before.""
"Be strong up the middle." Whether it's winning the paint, goaltending, the battery in baseball, or quarterback, strong teams control the center of the board. Points in the paint is one metric but it's evolving in the context of three-pointers and analytics.
"Space and time." Offense is spacing and defense denies space with ball pressure, loading to the ball, switching, and dropping to the level of the ball. Passes have to be 'on time' and 'on target'. Football "delay routes" help create space as defense flows to the ball.
Baseball shifts deny space to hitters. Few modern hitters hear about Wee Willie Keeler and "hit 'em where they ain't."
The primacy of skill. I know multiple NHL talent evaluators and they seek skill and production not fighters. Yes, there's an occasional altercation but goons are gone. Part relates to ownership investment and awareness of brain injury and CTE and part is players showing more respect to each other. In basketball, dirty plays like 'submarining' guys in the air or headhunting are rare. Size and athleticism carry weight but only to the extent that skill growth ensues.
Misdirection. Ball reversal (perimeter, through the post, over-the-top) stresses defenses. Misdirection gets defenders out of position in hockey. In baseball, teams use the hit-and-run and hit behind the runner. Football uses a variety of reverses and screens to confuse defenses. Crosses are key tools for scoring in soccer.
And puck reversal sets up many NHL goals.
Clarity of roles. The vast majority of players across sport are role players. Erik Spoelstra asserts, "every team has a pecking order." Players who thrive and survive long careers excel in their roles. They understand and fulfill coaches' expectations. When "Three and D" gets you a couple of million bucks a year, embrace it. Bill Walsh was a pioneer in this regard across the organization in his "The Score Takes Care of Itself."
Quantitative approaches take root. Analytics didn't start with Bill James or Moneyball. Dean Smith recognized the importance of field goal percentage, sometimes even scrimmaging with "shot quality scoring." Every sport uses advanced metrics to determine more effective actions both as a team and for individuals. Something as simple as changing pitch mix had a major effect on the Astros success, described in Astroball. Pundits lament "nerds taking over the sport" but they've been around forever. Everyone benefits from a practical scholar, a "man whom nobody knows what he does...look for him at Super Bowl parties...and I bet you won't find him. He is going to spend every minute out there preparing for this football game. It means everything to him."
Summary: Seek truth not validation.
- Find high character players
- Don't give away games
- Take away opponent strengths
- Emphasize your strengths
- Cultivate skill
- Leverage "space and time"
- Use misdirection
- Clarify roles
- Respect quantitative approaches (nerd ball)
Lagniappe. Study elite players. Adapt what works for you.
It's fascinating to see how much she finishes off the "wrong" foot. She finds and wins in space. She finishes as much as possible with her dominant hand.
Lagniappe 2. Top rules from "The Score Takes Care of Itself"
- Be deeply committed to learning and teaching, which means increasing my own expertise
- Demonstrate character
- Honor the direct connection between details and improvement, and relentlessly seek the latter
- Use positive language and have a positive attitude
- Be willing to go the extra distance for the organization
- Promote internal communication that is both open and substantive (especially under stress)
- Put the team’s welfare and priorities ahead of my own
- Maintain an ongoing level of concentration and focus that is abnormally high
- And make sacrifice and commitment the organization’s trademark.
Lagniappe 3 from Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion. Technique 26: Everybody Writes. Put it in your notebook.
