Coaching: "Big Six" Some Key Points from Lemov's "Coach's Guide to Teaching"

"That which we are, we are, and if we are to be any better, now is the time to begin." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Few of us have eidetic memory. Pick and choose what to incorporate and share. 

Director Werner Herzog reminds storytellers (and coaches are) to "read, read, read, read, read." 

Here are six quotes lifted from Doug Lemov's Coach's Guide to Teaching. Why six? Legendary investigative journalist Bob Woodward says that he includes at least six key points in any article.

Action sequences begin with vision and progress to decisions and execution. Chess grandmasters "chunk" the board and players do, too. Satchel Paige was shown images of hitters from the waist down and he identified them as that was part of his process in deciding how to attack them with his pinpoint control. Pete Newell said a coach's first job was helping players, "see the game." 

Looking isn't the same as seeing. And it's easy to "overlook" opportunity which makes film study helpful. 

Technology can help or hurt us. Under stress, we literally get "tunnel vision" and lose the bigger picture. This is particularly worrisome during combat and police encounters. Smartphones may narrow our focus and therefore the recommendation to withhold them on game day. 

Expect pushback. 

Players do not "magically" grow knowledge and perspective, any more than auto mechanics, engineers, or doctors. Training takes many years to develop and the "only shortcut to success is mentoring." 

Yes, I'm a broken record because 1) about a third of games are decided by two possessions or fewer and 2) that means any two possessions might decide a contest. I looked back at our (1973) 21-4 high school season, and eight games were decided by two possessions or fewer. We lost four games by a total of seven points. 

What hurts many teams - turnovers, shot selection, missed layups, and missed free throws...

Players know that they have to "clean up" mistakes but they often don't recognize opportunities to do so. Curating mistakes and opportunities for improvement and suggesting and practicing "edits" gives us a solution-based focus. 

The paradox confronting every player and team is that individual achievement is the foundation of success but collaboration elevates us. "We can go faster alone but farther together." All great achievements in human history have come on the winds of cooperation. 

"Coach's Guide to Teaching" shares a myriad of practical advice and is a worthy addition to our bookshelves. Twenty-five percent of Americans never read a book, but coaches don't belong in that grouping. 

Lagniappe (something extra). From Wikipedia, "A lagniappe  is "a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase" (such as a 13th doughnut on purchase of a dozen), or more broadly, "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure. It can be used more generally as meaning any extra or unexpected benefit."

Lagniappe 2. Zags BOBs video from Joe Haefner

High-powered offenses get additional advantage via special situations.