Sunday, March 1, 2026

Basketball - The Three F Method"*

*Inspired by Cal Newport's MasterClass (Newport is the author of Deep Work)

Each of you has an overwhelming amount of work, distributed across home, school, coaching, and work (if you're not a full time coach).

Cal Newport, father, podcaster, author (Deep Work) shares how his process has improved. I've renamed it the 3F Method - Focus, Fewer, and Fabulous. 

Focus

Focus means full engagement without Zoom meetings, email, texts and high-touch, low output work. During COVID, meetings increased 2.5 times without a reduction post-COVID. "There is never just one cockroach." 

If you lead your organization, control and streamline your process. 

Removing distractions matters, regardless of the problem to be solved.

Without focus, identified problems, e.g. turnovers, shot selection, transition or half-court defense, won't get solved. 

Fewer

Less is more. The volume of nonproductive work can be overwhelming. Decide how many offenses, sets, defenses, special situations (e.g. BOB, SLOB, ATOs) you need. 

Prioritize ways to win games that are close late.

  • Offensive and defensive delay games
  • Foul shooting 
  • Strategic fouling 
  • Special situations (create and practice from your list, e.g. leading by three without the ball, 9 seconds remaining...foul or not?)

Fabulous 

Quality is our top priority. What have you done for me lately?

What matters is the quality of our work not the quantity. CEO of Spanx, Sara Blakely, put it simply, "Obsess the product." 

Choose and solve your emphasis. Presume your top priority is improving your half-court basketball defense. Within that area, decide what elements to work on. 

  • Contain the ball. 
  • Improve your pick-and-roll defense. 
  • Challenge shots without fouling. 
Lagniappe. Sets to study and share. Find a few that resonate. 


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