From "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
Focus on strengths. Hemingway is known for simple writing, short words and sentences. "The Old Man and the Sea" shares many lessons, the beauty and savagery of nature. And resilience.
Attention to detail. Among other help, Hemingway's hero didn't have the sharpening stone he needed for his knife (see initial quote).
Coordinated operations. Santiago relied on 'the boy' to help him fish. The boy didn't fish with him. Never underestimate the importance of our surrounding staff. Building a capable staff has great value.
Degree of difficulty. "Any idiot with a whistle can coach." Hemingway expressed doubt another way, "Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
Preparation. The old man is engaged in an epic battle with an enormous fish. “Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”
Resilience. Hemingway wrote, "But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
Don't make excuses. Santiago says, "Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”
Experience. Hemingway's hero recognizes its value. “I may not be as strong as I think, but I know many tricks and I have resolution.”
Lagniappe. The first rule of team sports is "make your teammates better."
Make your teammates better. @BallisPsych pic.twitter.com/l719s3igwl
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) October 7, 2022
Lagniappe 2. Become your own coach. Learn how to build, complete, and analyze your workout. Players, you should be developing your own workout and drill book in your notebook. Not keeping one? Start.
Teach kids how to work themselves out 🏀
— Shane Hennen (@Hennen_Workouts) October 8, 2022
Skills trainer, camps, etc.. are great and an important part of the process
But kids need to know how to put themselves through a good training session
Lagniappe 3. Principles work across sports.
There are differences in how quickly an offense must move into enemy territory and get into position to attempt a score, regardless the essential elements of attacking are the same in any team sport.
— Fergus Connolly (@Fergus_Connolly) October 9, 2022
Players need to learn how to use tempo in multiple ways, time and score, in transition, in the half court, and with and without the shot clock. Failure to teach situational basketball and tempo cost teams games and championships. Never presume players ALL know the answer. It only takes one unaware player to disrupt a team.
