The Art of Coaching

How do you build confidence in players? Be demanding and teach them how to do things that they didn't know they could do.

Assistant Men's basketball coach at SMU, Mike Hatch, was asked, "How do you build confidence in players?" He said that you have to do two things: you have to be demanding, and you have to get them to do things that they didn't know they could do.

Once you get your athletes to do something that they didn't know they could do, then they will trust you and they will do anything you want. At this point, you can really push them and get them to go at a higher level.

That is the art of coaching. The art of coaching is getting your athletes out of their comfort zone and doing things that they didn't know they could do. At that point, their confidence will start to skyrocket and they will run through walls for you.

Successful people aren't always the most talented. If you can teach an athlete how to do things the right way, to try to do the things you are asking them to do, and how to get out of their comfort zone and learn and grow, they will be great, successful people. Our job as coaches is to teach kids something that will carry over into their lives and make them better people. 

Life will get hard. You will lose. You will face failures. You will run over potholes and face adversity. If we can be demanding of our athletes, hold them accountable in a productive way, and help them get out of their comfort zone by doing things that they didn't know they could do, we are setting them up for success in life when life gets tough.

To Our Athletes
People in life are going to expect you to be on time and to do things exactly right. If you can be on time and do things right, it doesn't matter how talented you are - you are going to be successful at something. Get out of your comfort zone and learn how to do new things, and your confidence will grow, you will be a better athlete, better student, and a better person.

You have a choice. You have a choice on whether you are going to trust your coach, or not. You have a choice on whether to accept the vision or belief that your coach sees in you. You have a choice to be coachable and to show up every day, on time, ready to work, ready to learn, and ready to grow.