"Get After It!” has been a battle cry for my teams for many years, so it seemed fitting to title this column “Gett’in After It.”  “It” is something personal for everyone, simply, it’s doing one’s best during on the court but actually it’s more than one’s best, “It” is finding what it takes to succeed – giving more than you thought you ever could give.  This concept can be applied to anything . . . so I’ll try to apply it here each month.  Feel free to send any questions or topics to the website for discussion.   In most cases I’ll try to keep this targeted towards coaching any age group.  Regardless of the age group or setting (recreation, AAU, or school), coaching be rewarding and very challenging.  What exactly a coach is and the role they play differs in many opinions, so I thought sharing my idea of what a coach is would be an appropriate start, and I’ll start with one word – Leader.

             Leadership is sometimes difficult to define, but I’ll draw on my military background and define it as an art of influencing and directing people to accomplish a goal.  I like this definition because it leaves room to be flexible.  As a coach we must be flexible because we deal with different personalities of players and parents, who together must achieve our goal of  . . .?  Well, that differs too doesn’t it?  As a coach, my overall goal is to be a positive influence on players.  My objective is to help them see and reach their potential as a player and more importantly as a person.  To achieve this, a coach must recognize different needs of different players (and actually different parents too, but that can be a topic in itself).  Coaches must be teachers, dictators, and mentors, all depending on the situation.

Coaches must evaluate the situation, players and team and then react appropriately to help them succeed on and off the court.  Evaluating the situation can be tricky or simple, but very necessary.  Some coaches run the same plays each year because that’s their system and by golly it’s worked in the past.  Then when it doesn’t work, they yell and blame it on the players’ skills.  Perhaps the skills of the players would be better suited with a faster offense or zone defense.  Evaluate and adjust.  That’s a simple example.  A more overlooked example is how we communicate to players (communication is the backbone of your program).  As coaches we have to realize that not every player learns the same way.  A coach must put on teacher’s cap and understand that some players may need different explanations than others to fully understand plays or drills.  I am amazed at how many teachers are coaches and yet they fail to recognize the needs of their players.  Some players may be motivated by a stern command, but some may need a quieter tone or a more detailed explanation or even a simple “good job” comment.  Communication with your players is essential; evaluate how to reach your players and adjust as needed.  There will always be some players who grasp a new play after one example and others who simply don’t get it.  Perhaps a different point of view would help, watching from the mid-court or walking through it with another player or trying to explain it back to another group may sink it home.  The time you take now to saves you time later.  Of course there are times when you have to tell them what to do without an explanation.

The dictator role in coaching is also a necessary part of coaching.  The first thing that may come to mind is during a game – but the dictator role starts from day one.  A coach must establish rules of engagement for the team.  By this I mean set standards for your team.  Start and end on time.  Coaches be prepared for practice, players be prepared to practice.  Tell parents about playing time.  Parents don’t sit behind players during games (particularly usefully for young teams).  There are many standards a coach should be prepared to share with the team and parents during their first meeting.  A dictator coach has its moments, but that doesn’t mean you stop listening.  During games coaches most often call the plays, but some players may give the coach some information he or she didn’t see – listen, evaluate then decide or dictate.  A leader must understand the team, listen to its needs and help them succeed.

Players want to succeed that’s why they’re there; a coach helps guide (another word would be lead) them toward success.  Success is not simply putting a ball through a basket and winning a game, it is developing as a player and person.  Players need to grow physically and mentally.  Some players achieve this easily while others need a bit more help.  Mentoring players expands the role of coaching.  Just as you would think in business, coaches can help mentor players too.  Many players thirst for more conceptual understanding of the game (our future coaches), quench their thirst.  Some players also need guidance to see their weaknesses, and I’m not speaking about their physical limitations as much as I am their mental road blocks.  Some of the most talented athletes are limited by their own attitude.  It can be seen at every level.  The player who doesn’t pass enough, gets mad at his/her teammates, gets too many technical fouls, walks down the court when he/she doesn’t get a call . . .the list goes on.  As a mentor to these players coaches need to communicate honestly with the player and help him/her overcome the limiting attitude.  Two players come to mind from last year; both have the potential and desire to play college basketball.  My primary goal for these two during the entire season was to improve their attitude.   One-on-one communication was called for, I talked with them about what their attitude displays on the floor, to me, their teammates, parents and especially college coaches.  It seemed to hit home.  We developed a simple hand signal during games and practices as a simple reminder for them to stay focused.  A coach must recognize the needs of their team and individual players and react appropriately to lead them toward success.
            Coaching basketball is very rewarding and challenging – leading players and teams is even more rewarding.   Think about coaches from your youth; what do you remember about them?  Do you remember some fondly and others not so fondly?  What set one apart from the other?  Coaching is much more than winning games – it’s about leading players and teams towards achieving their goals.  Coaches must evaluate their players and team; they must react with appropriate communication and lead the way.  Coaching is not about merely winning games, but wins will come if you can lead players and teams to reach their potential on and off the court.  Get After It!

-Coach B-