A Coach's Diary

The most important part of being a leader and a coach?  You have to first learn how to lead and coach yourself.  You have to model how to bring energy and enthusiasm - everyday - whether you 'feel' like it or not.  We ask our players to leave their problems in the locker room and stay focused between the lines.  We have to be able to do the same and be completely invested and locked in on them and for them. We have to hold ourselves accountable.  We have to be life-long learners and find ways to learn, grow and get better.  We want our athletes to work on their game outside of practice, we want them to come early and stay late, and we want them put the extra work in to be great.  We have to be willing to do the same.  We have to be ready to learn and get better at what we do.  We have to make sure that we are willing to come early and stay late and we have to encourage it and push for the extra effort that we want. We have to ...

What we call ‘elite’ at 8 years old or even at 14 years old and going into high school is a basic requirement at 18 when it really matters.   Being considered ‘the best’ carries an expiration date, and it expires when your peers’ game, skill, and ability out-grows your own.   The only way to push back that expiration date and to stay on top is to continue to work on your game, continue to listen to your coaches, parents, and anyone who can help you improve, and always find ways to get better.   The second you stop getting better is the second somebody will pass you up. This is what ‘the process’ is, and your character drives the process.   To become the best that you can be, you have to work as hard and as smart as you can work.   In A Champion’s Mind , author Jim Afremow says that we if we want to become the best that we can become, we should live by ‘Gold Medal Standards.’   Winning the gold medal in any sport means that you are the best at what...

I heard a superintendent tell a group of coaches this last week.  It had to have been one of the best compliments that a coach can hear, especially coming from a boss.  In a world where parent complaints and transfer rates are seemingly at all time highs, and when every other week we see articles where coaches either resign or are fired because of parent issues, hearing your superintendent say something like this has to be a reassuring and rewarding gesture. Having a parent genuinely feel this way about the time that I spent with their athlete is one of my ultimate goals as a coach.  I want them to feel like I helped their kid become a better athlete and a better person, and I would love for them to be grateful and appreciative of the time and energy that I gave to their athlete. But how do we get to this point?   It starts with focusing on growing our athletes and helping them become the best people and athletes that they can be, and we ...

When you find yourself frustrated about what your players can't or aren't doing, ask yourself, 'What are our process or system for monitoring, improving, emphasizing, or correcting this performance or behavior?' 'My players aren't motivated.' - What is our process for getting players excited about practice or what is your process for creating goals that keep your kids focused and dedicated? 'My players won't come in a get shots up on their own.' - What is an effective way/system for getting players in the gym outside of practice? 'My players don't know 'how' to work on their game at game speed on their own.' - When they are with you, what are some effective things that we can teach them that they can do on their own? '_____ is acting up in Algebra class and _____ is failing biology.' -  What is our weekly process of monitoring classroom grades and behaviors? It is frustrating when I can't get my pla...

Werribee basketball is a program in Australia's Melbourne West.  One of their coaches posted this to a website on Facebook regarding their club's holistic curriculum from last season.  It is really good, as it is a developmental program for their athletes from the youth, u8 level to the u18 levels. Below is a link to their program.  I really like the age group points of emphasis (40-47) and player development matrix (48-56). http://werribeebasketball.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Werribee-Way-Curriculum.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1Npg-9BKCfF98eYQ5sVZLkN5vt9P8edaVVeqenjl2WzipK1AH0xATuMJg https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aAuR33naFV4M79u3aZEAskzrkaGiIiXu/view?usp=sharing

"Two big reasons I work with students to set internal goals is that I want to cultivate in them an “internal locus of control.” I want them to believe that success is within their reach, and that personal, internal goals are more satisfying than external ones. When they do, they also experience more peace of mind. So, as you mentor your students, let me suggest the following: 1 - Have your students write down their goals for this year. 2 - Help them evaluate whether their goa ls are more external or internal. 3 - Coach them to re-write any external goals, converting them into internal ones. Not only will these goals be more rewarding, but they might just help those students decrease their anxiety. I’d call that a double-win. Jean Twenge’s theory suggests that increases in anxiety and depression we see today are connected to the shift from “intrinsic” to “extrinsic” goals in students. Intrinsic goals are ones that deal with one’s own development as a person, such as bec...

The following article is from Self.com.  I am fascinated with the world of mental-performance and how our minds can and are a separator for success.  I am in no way trying to profit from this article, but find it to be a valuable resource in my own growth and understanding of how to get the most of the athletes that I work with. Olympic athletes  push their bodies to the limit. From the outside, it seems that they develop this ability through dedicated training regimens and long days practicing and  perfecting their sport-specific skills . Which, of course, they do. But being an elite athlete is not just a physical feat. To perform at the top of their game, professional athletes spend time training their brains, too. “There's not an athlete or team, either Olympic or professional, that’s not utilizing the services and expertise of a mental skills coach,”  Colleen Hacker, Ph.D. , a five-time Olympic Games coach who currently serves as the mental skills...

To me, this just means that we have to have a purpose and a why behind all of the drills that we do in practice.  We have to practice discernment in our planning process - don't just do something to do it or because that is what you have always done.  Kids today are smarter than that.  They want to know how this is going to help them and why they should be doing something. We can complain about our kids not buying in and the 'culture' today, or we can adapt and be better coaches, comminucatiors and leaders by having a purpose and a why for what we do and by effectively communicating how this particular drill can and will translate to individual and team success. Plan with a purpose.  Plan with the end in mind.  And it's okay to smile while doing so (lol).

Successful sports psychologists need a wide variety of advice and techniques, and that’s why we’re excited to recommend these 5 Great Books For Sports Psychologist. Each of these books provides unique information about the mindsets that make athletes and coaches great. You can find this original article here.  1.  Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success Success doesn’t appear magically; it takes a solid foundation to achieve and maintain. That’s what the daily readings in college basketball coach John Wooden’s book aims to develop. Wooden provides game-tested exercises and advice to develop self-confidence and faith. Each “step” in the book builds upon previous steps to form the pyramid of success. It’s a goldmine of actionable advice, laid out in simple terms; that’s why it’s number one on our list of five great books for sports psychologists. 2.  The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive What transforms a great athlete into a champion? Phys...

Great programs start with great leadership. They have a strong vision, effective and efficient systems and processes, and clear communication. The players have bought into the vision and their roles in the process. They appreciate and value their roles and they are appreciated by their coaches and teammates. The parents have also bought into the vision. They appreciate the time, energy, and leadership being provided by the coaches. They accept the roles of their athletes and they help their athletes accept and appreciate their roles as well. This continues to all of the stakeholders of the program - school administrators, sponsors, other family members, etc. To have a successful program, everybody has to be on the same page, bought in, and ready to play their part. One squeaky wheel can affect the whole wagon. It truly is a team effort!

💪🏿 Find the best player in the gym and play them. 🏃 Find the fastest person at the workout and work  next to them. 🏀 Find the best shooter in the gym and shoot with them. ⚾️ Find the best hitter and pitch to them. ⚾️ Find the best pitcher, and hit off them. ⚽️ Find the best scorer and try to stop them. 🏀 Find the best goalkeeper and try to score on them. 🥅 Find the hardest worker and try to outwork them. 🎽 Find the person who can run the furthest, the longest and try to keep up! When you play against people who are better than you, you get better.  They push you harder and they expose your weaknesses.  They force you to maximize your strengths and grow your weaknesses.  They teach you how to have a growth mindset and learn from your failures.   We all win and lose in life - and sports can prepare you for that.  Your first loss shouldn't be as a college freshmen when you are away ...

When you are really competing and adversity hits, you will see the true character of your teammates and the true culture of your team.  When things aren't going right, some of your teammates will start to complain and will start to whine. They will start making excuses.  Some teammates start blaming the referee or start blaming their teammates and coaches.  They start to cry, fight and shut down.   YOU can't do that.  You have to keep going, keep pushing and keep fighting.  YOU have to figure it out. The teammates with the right character and the teams with the right culture keep their heads up and don't make excuses.  They don't complain about the referees or about their coaches or about their teammates.  The teammates with the right character and the teams with the right culture encourage their teammates.  They bring positive energy through their actions and their words.  They keep everybody moving forw...

The best players don't just score goals, or touchdowns, or baskets - they make the right plays and they make others better.  Being the best scorer on your youth league team looks and sounds cool, but scoring alone doesn't always translate to the next level.   What does translate is making the right play every time.  Playing defense.  Making the right pass.  Encouraging your teammates and bringing positive energy.  Listening to your coach and learning and getting better every practice and every day.  Learning from each situation.  Playing with grit.  Those are the things that translate as you move up in levels so much more and so much easier than scoring.  You aren't going to make THE play everytime.  Just make the right play enough.

Don't spend your time just being busy - spend it being FRUITFUL.  Make sure that you spend your time on stuff that actually benefits you and your life and not just staying busy. Be a person of purpose so that you can leave a legacy and so that you do not have to look back with regret for not doing different things with your time. We all have the same amount of time, and it is all the time that we need.  We spend our time just like we spend money - on what we want, on what we value, and on what we think is important -  and when we spend our money and our time - we can't get it back.  So make sure that you are spending your time on something that will bear good fruit in your lives. Take responsibility for how you are spending your time.  What you do is your choice, and when you control the fundamental aspects of your life, you can have the time, headspace and creativity to chase greatness.