Friday, June 21, 2024

Basketball: Post 4000, Chef's Kiss

Aspire to deliver a 'chef's kiss'. 


ChatGPT

"Chef's kiss" is a gesture often used to express excellence or perfection, especially in the context of food. It involves kissing one's fingertips and then gesturing outward, often accompanied by a sound mimicking a kiss (like "mwah"). It's a way of saying something is exceptionally good, delicious, or just right, typically used metaphorically to emphasize approval or satisfaction. 

What actions help us deliver a chef's kiss across domains? 

1) Specifics. Telling players to play hard isn't specific. Basketball and life reward specifics. 

2) Clarity and simplicity. Have a team vocabulary (lexicon) that says what you mean. For example, defending the pick-and-roll, Coach K called hedging "fake trap." 

3) Habitual excellence. James Clear describes "keystone habits," triggers for change. Habits like adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise would be keystone habits. 

Here are some key characteristics of keystone habits as described by James Clear: (ChatGPT answer)

  1. Small Changes, Big Impact: Keystone habits are often small changes or actions that, when consistently practiced, can lead to significant improvements in other areas of life. For example, starting the day with exercise or meditation can set a positive tone for the entire day, affecting productivity, mood, and decision-making.

  2. Gateway to Other Habits: These habits act as gateways or entry points to other good habits. For instance, someone who starts meal planning (a keystone habit) may find themselves naturally making healthier food choices, saving money, and reducing food waste—all as a result of this one initial habit change.

  3. Positive Domino Effect: Keystone habits initiate a domino effect where one habit change triggers a series of positive behaviors. This creates momentum and makes it easier to adopt and maintain other good habits over time.

  4. Behavioral Catalyst: They serve as behavioral catalysts, influencing how we approach and react to different situations. For example, developing a habit of active listening can enhance communication skills, leading to better relationships and improved teamwork.

  5. Personal Transformation: Keystone habits are integral to personal transformation because they target fundamental aspects of behavior and mindset. By focusing on these key habits, individuals can make lasting changes that extend beyond just surface-level improvements.

4) Be performance-focused, feedback-rich. A Turkish proverb says, "Measure a thousand times but cut only once." For example, tracking shot quality and results, turnovers, transition scores and stops and taking action on results changes behaviors. 

5) Positive culture. Nobody earns a positive life with negative attitudes. Culture is the entire ecosystem of a program including leadership, player development, strength and conditioning, relationships, community involvement, and more. It's hard or impossible to evaluate the inside of programs as an outsider. 

6) Resilience. Resilience reflects our response to pressure. Pressure degrades performance, but the most resilient performers and teams have less drop off. Global self-care including nutrition, hydration, sleep, conditioning, mindfulness, and experience all factor in. The first sign of dehydration is fatigue not thirst. 


To become our best, learn about performance enhancement. 

Lagniappe. Big fan of spread offenses and horns sets. 

Lagniappe 2. Pistol action as an option for "early offense." Strong transition/early offense teams can exploit defenses before they're set.  

Don't overwhelm young kids who can't execute because they lack skills. 

 

at