Coaching This Generation

Coach Frank Martin is known for being a tough, hard-nosed, old school basketball coach.  He was asked how he has changed his coaching style and philosophy and mindset while working with today's athlete.

He said that he hasn't changed his style and what he believes in, but he has had to find PEACE in having more PATIENCE today.  

Kids transfer and leave earlier and more often today, and parents don't make their kids stay and go through adversity like they once did.  We have to be more PATIENT because they haven't been prepared to handle a tougher environment.

Young people learn DIFFERENTLY now than they used to.  They now have so much information and they don't know what to do with it all.  They don't care how we grew up, what we had to go through, and what and how we had to learn.  

They want to know that we CARE about how they learn, and we have to ADAPT to comprehend and learn about THEIR environment, THEIR learning styles, and what's important to THEM so that they allow US in.  When they allow us in, then they are more willing to understand where we are coming from.

He was then asked about the guard that players put up and how they are afraid to be vulnerable.  Athletes need to build a level of resiliency to get to the highest levels, but how do we get them to let their guard down, to be vulnerable, and to allow us to coach them?

He said that we have to earn their trust.  We always talk about how players have to earn the coach's trust, but we have to earn their trust too if we want to reach them at a level where we are able to teach them and for them to respond to us.  It's no different than our own children.  When our own kids feel that we don't give them our time or willingness to understand them, then our own children will tune us out.

Now, more than ever, communication about everything with players is so important.  And we are always fighting to earn their trust.  Back in the day, we had no way of accessing information from other people.  We only knew what our parents, teachers, or our coaches told us because they were the boss.  When they would tell us that the sky was blue, we would believe it because that was what they said, not what we saw.  Now it's different.  These kids have access to so much information and to so many people, and social media has become so important in their lives.  Whether we like it or not, it's not going away so we have to find ways to build relationships and build trust with the people that we teach and coach and lead so that we can better understand them and who they are.

When they get on campus, we have to be in constant conversation with them because they have so much information and so many people in their ears.  If there is any doubt in their minds about their relationship with you, then when they are away from you, they are going to believe those voices rather than believe in what you are saying.

This is where we have to make adjustments as we are earning young peoples' trust; that we understand that and that we find patience as we go through this journey with them.