A Coach's Diary

To be the best, you have to study the best and compete against the best. Becoming the best is a privilege that you have to earn from hard work and dedication. Kobe Bryant is one of the best to ever play basketball. He made it a goal early to become the best. He then studied the best and he couldn’t wait to compete against the best. In one of his first interviews , Kobe said that he dissected the games of all the greats so that he could take different parts of their game and put them into his game so that he could be a well-rounded athlete. Kobe also knew that ups and downs were a part of the process. He knew that playing in the NBA was going to be a roller coaster full of ups and downs that was going to take a lot of mental and physical toughness, but he was willing to get in there and learn. Life is full of ups and downs, and so is being an athlete. Learn from others and learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to be nervous or to have a little fear, but don’t let nervousness or fear keep ...

Sometimes I wish that we could win every game that we play. It would be fun if we could control the leagues and tournaments that we play in so that we face just enough competition to push us, but that we always win and take home the top medal or trophy. But the reality is we can't win them all. We don't make every shot, We don't hit every pitch, we don't catch every pass, and we don't put every kick in the back of the net. We learn valuable lessons from losses, and learning how to deal with adversity is important. Michael Jordan said, "My innate personality is to win at all costs. If I have to do it myself, I'm going to do it. Every time I step on that basketball court, my focus is to win the game, and it drives me insane when I can't. I wouldn't be here without the lessons that I learned at a very young age. The competitiveness within me started when I was a kid." Michael Jordan said that his parents provided him and his siblings with all of t...

One thing that people mention when they talk about Michael Jordan was his work ethic. He didn't take a lot of days off, and when he was in the gym (or the golf course, in a card game, ping pong table, etc.) he was competing to be the best he could be.  In the Last Dance documentary, studio analyst and reporter Ahmad Rashad said, "Michael played every game as if it was his last. Every single game. It was never a day off. He knew that it was going to be somebody in the crowd who never saw him play before. That is what kept him going." Staying in the competitive mindset and always competing is a skill that can be a real difference-maker. Today, Ja Morant is an NBA star and viral sensation, but Ja was once an unknown and un-recruited high school basketball player trying to earn a college scholarship. Murray State assistant coach James Kane peaked his head into an aux gym at a small AAU combine where Ja Morant was playing three-on-three when Ja was in high school. Many high sc...

Michael Jordan said that he came into the NBA with no expectations. While he was the 3rd player drafted in the NBA, nobody expected him to become as great as he did. He said that the only pressure he felt was to prove that he deserved to play on that level. Jordan said that proving himself was an easy, step-by-step process. It was about playing hard every day in practice, competing against his teammates, especially the best ones, until he earned a starting role. He said that after his first year, the expectations came, but by that time, he already had the positive habits that he needed and he had built a solid foundation for his game. He understood that the expectations and attention he was getting were because of the work that he had put in up to that point. If you want success, you have to put in the work. You have to have the right habits and foundation. You have to be willing to learn and compete, every day. Your effort has to match your goals. Approach every practice with the inte...

They might tell us that we weren't good enough, and they might beat us, but they won't say that they didn't 'feel us.' They will feel our fight. They will feel our hunger. They will feel our will to win. They will feel our grit, our determination, and our tenacity. If we make them feel all of that, we will win a lot more than we lose. Most importantly, if we make them feel all of that, we can leave every practice and every game proud of what we did. 1 - Did you work as hard as you could? 2 - What is one thing you were proud of today? 3 - What is one thing that you want to get better at for next time? 4 - How can I help?

In "The Last Dance" documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, they had some great footage and interviews about his time in college at North Carolina. Coaches Dean Smith and Roy Williams both talked about how competitive and hard working he was from day one. Coach Smith said that he was very inconsistent as a freshman, but he was one of the most competitive  ones that they had in their drills.  He  said that MJ WANTED to get better, and he had the abiity to get better. Its not about where you start, but how hard that you work, how willing you are to learn, and how much you are willing to compete. Coach Williams had a couple of great quotes about his work ethic.  Williams said, "When I think of Michael Jordan, I think of 3 years of watching that youngster get BETTER and BETTER and BETTER.  Michael Jordan was the only player who could ever turn it on and off.  And he NEVER turned it off." Coach Williams also told a story about ...

At the start of every basketball practice, in the middle of every basketball practice and at the end of every basketball practice, I talk to my young team about the word 'compete.' That is the central theme of our team.  I want them to know that we might not always be the best, we might not always win, but we will always give ourselves a chance by competing.   We talk about what the word compete means, what it looks like in n practice, and how we can compete with ourselves and others today. We self-assess and talk about our level of competition in practice.  We talk about areas that we competed hard in, and we talk about areas where we could have competed harder. I tell them that when a team plays against us, they need to know that it will be a tough game and that they will have to play hard and well to beat us. We talk about how important it is to compete with and against their teammates every drill because iron sharpens iron.  We also t...

COMPETE When the battle gets tough, when they are bigger stronger or faster, when you start to feel doubt, when they start to push you, even if they start beating you - just compete. Compete this next possession.  Compete for this next touch.  Compete for the next ball.  Compete in this next race.  Compete in this next 1 on 1 battle.  Compete on this next sprint.  Compete to cut-off the baseline.  Compete to cut-off the sideline.  Compete for every inch. Compete with that little devil in your mind that is telling you that you can't, that you aren't good enough, that they are better than you.  Compete with those ghosts who are whispering about you and whispering around you, saying that you can't do this or you can't do that.  Compete to prove them wrong.  Compete to prove yourself right.  Compete to prove that you are good enough. Nobody can stop you from competing, and if you just compete, then you will alway...

The word compete  comes from the Latin root word competere , which means to strive together. Your competition is not the enemy – they are your growth partners and you are striving together to make on another better. You want your teammates and your competition to be his or her best so they challenge you more so you’ll be pushed to be at your best. As a coach, be careful about how you approach competition because you don’t want to pit players against one another to the point where teammates have dysfunctional relationships by trying to defeat and establish superiority over each other. Change the opponent by redefining what competition is.   Competition: a partnership to challenge each other. Instead of being fueled by negative energy (fear that the other is going to be better) be fueled by positive energy knowing your competition is helping you be your best and knowing that your competition is your growth partner.

When asked how long it would take to win: "We'll be good when we're good.  My goal is to win right now." "Talk is cheap right now - we have to get to work.  My teams are going to play hard, they're going to play with enthusiasm, they're going to play with great intensity."  We competed in everything we did, from practice to teaching to showing up early.  We worked to gain confidence and erase fear by practicing for every contingency.  And we stayed constantly focused on maximizing the potential of everyone in the organization.  We applied ourselves and our philosophy diligently, and we started to win. http://www.amazon.com/Win-Forever-Live-Work-Champion/dp/1591844169 Carroll, Pete.  (2011).   Win Forever.   New York: The Penguin Group.

Always Compete - Win Forever - by Pete Carroll Among all of the great competitors that I have had the good fortune of working with or admiring from afar, Jerry Rice is the greatest individual competitor I have come in close contact with.  Jerry would give everything he had to beat you.  When I say Jerry competed at everything, I mean it. As a great competitor, Jerry understood that by staying in the mind-set of always competing, he could develop the awareness to capture the 'opportunities within opportunities' that other people might miss.  In other words, he was constantly seeking a competitive edge.  It helps to always be searching for that tiny edge in whatever you're doing - even if it's small, silly stuff - because that's how you are going to catch things that someone else might not when it really matters.  It's an extremely power tool. Just as important as that competitive intensity was the fat that you cold see without a doubt that Jerry was ...

This post is several notes that I have taken from the Always Compete chapter of the book, Win Forever , by Pete Carroll. -  Competition to me is not about beating your opponent.  It is about doing your best; it is about striving to reach your potential; and it is about being in relentless pursuit of a competitive edge in everything you do. -  Our stated goal would be to "do things better than they have ever been done before." -  If you want to win forever, always compete. -  Competition is a mentality, an outlook, and a way of approaching every day. The traditional definition of competition requires having an opponent.  For players, the real "opposition" is not necessarily the team they are matched up against in a given week - far from it.  The real opposition is the challenge to remain focused on maximizing their abilities in preparation for the game. -  The essence of my message about competing has nothing to do with the opponent. ...

"As a great competitor, Jerry Rice understood that by staying in the mind-set of always competing, he could develop the awareness to capture the "opportunities within opportunities" that other people might miss.  In other words, he was constantly seeking a competitive edge.  It helps to always be searching for that tiny edge in whatever you're doing - even if it's small, silly stuff - because that's how you are going to catch things that someone else might not when it really matters.  It's an extremely powerful tool." Pete Carroll on Jerry Rice being a competitor Taken from Pete Carroll's book Win Forever http://www.amazon.com/Win-Forever-Live-Work-Champion/dp/1591844169 Carroll, Pete.  (2011).   Win Forever.   New York: The Penguin Group