"Hi, my name is Ron and I'm a basketballic." "Hi, Ron."
Many people are too proud to ask for help. They could need spiritual help, emotional help, money, technical help. Maybe they need a mentor or a friend. Has any coach ever sincerely come to you with a question or asking for help and you refused?
If a player stops growing, they won't succeed. It's the same for coaches.
Everyone benefits from coaching. The same categories of improvement for players apply to coaches:
- Technical (skill development)
- Tactical (strategy)
- Physicality
- Psychology
Be specific with recommendations. Mr. Rogers said, "Look for the helpers." Where are they? As coaches, are we supporting or chastising each other?
Skill development. At some point, every coach says, "I don't have enough good players." Remember what Coach Wooden said, "Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses." Use available resources to improve our skill development. YouTube has a wealth of resources:
Do our players 'buy-in' to the process? That's on us. What separates the most successful from the others? "Champions do extra."
Strategy. Xs and Os, analytics, "countermeasures" are all part of the game.
- Study topics. BOBs, SLOBs, ATOs, early offense, transition offense, whatever.
- When watching games, "play along." What would I do here? Take a timeout? Foul? What actions are working or not working?
- Study video. Break down successful teams' actions and study why other teams fail. Turnovers, poor spacing, poor shot selection, defensive mistakes and errors.
- Compile written and mental actions that work in your notebook or other "commonplace book."
- Apply more "hard-to-defend" actions (PnR, staggered screens, screen-the-screener, screen-the-roller (Spain PnR), back cuts, DHOs, etc.
Physicality. Are our players in optimal condition? What's our plan to train them and to assess the training response? What's their nutrition and hydration plan? How much sleep do they get? If we don't ask, then we can't know.
You snooze, you win. Study showed sleeping more increased performance.
At the end of the sleep extension period, the players ran faster 282-foot sprints (16.2 seconds versus 15.5 seconds) than they had at baseline. Shooting accuracy during practice also improved: Free throw percentages increased by 9 percent and 3-point field goal percentage increased by 9.2 percent. Fatigue levels decreased following sleep extension, and athletes reported improved practices and games."
Psychology. Each of us comes with different hardware (cognitive capacity) and software (knowledge, learning and study habits). What's our plan to upgrade the hardware (neuroplasticity) and software (what's in brain storage?).
Mindfulness training improves focus, grades, and standardized test scores, lowers stress hormones and blood pressure. Use these free guided meditations.
Sports psychologists advocate for "positive affirmations" and visualizations. Have a mental "highlight reel" of proven success.
Lagniappe. "Locked in."
