A Coach's Diary

Martha Burns is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University. She says, "Our goal as teachers is to get our students addicted to learning." Learning something new releases a chemical in our brain called dopamine that activates the same brain reward areas as drugs and gambling. While drugs and gambling are artificial triggers and lead to severe consequences, the dopamine that comes from learning something new and exciting is a much healthier and more rewarding way to feel good. Dopamine also helps us retain new information. When dopamine is present, we remember things better, and when it's not, nothing seems to stick. Help your students and athletes release the dopamine needed to learn and retain information by bringing energy and enthusiasm to everything you do, and making new information exciting. You can hook your students and athletes in by teaching them something new they can use quickly. Remember - dopamine can be addictive, and our goal as teachers and coaches is...

What do you do when your students or athletes don’t act or respond how you want them to? What do you do when they aren’t living up to your expectations? What do you do when you need to discipline them or redirect them? In our school district, we are learning about Restorative Practices and the power of community building and relationship restoring circles. Restorative practices are a process designed to build and sustain meaningful relationships, and to restore the relationship when it is harmed or damaged. Frank Martin is an old-school basketball coach, meaning he is tough and disciplined. But even a no-nonsense, old-school coach like Coach Martin can see the importance of being what our kids need, and the importance of teaching, teaching, teaching. When I was a kid, when you did something wrong, the coach would yell at you and make you run. They would yell at you and run you until you learned your lesson, or until he lost his voice.  You can’t get away with that today. Today’s ki...

I don't know too much about physics, but David Cowan once said that the gravitational pull on earth is so strong that most of the fuel that spaceships use to get to the moon is used just getting them beyond earth’s gravity. After they leave the earth’s gravity, the scientists rely heavily on lunar gravity to pull the space ship toward the moon. In her book, The Path, Laurie Beth Jones writes, that similarly, it is ‘escape velocity’ that requires most of the energy needed to pull us away from the bad habits that we have so that we can become the people we want to become, do what we want to do, and live the life we want to live. She says that we must have a compelling vision that is so powerful that it's very magnetism and gravitational forces will literally pull us toward it. She also writes that physicists are now aware of subatomic particles that hover in and around everything that exists, and that one characteristic of these particles is that they seem to take on the properti...

One off season, I was teaching my young athletes new moves to help grow their game, but when we would scrimmage and they would use the moves and mess up, I would get on to them. I realized that I was stunting their growth by not allowing them to be creative and try the things that we were teaching. I forgot that failure was a part of the learning process. Now, I try to say, “Nice try,” when they try something new that we have been working on, and I try to provide clear feedback on what they could do better next time. Sometimes, I just say, “Nice try,” smile, and let them continue exploring (when we were growing up and playing unorganized sports with our friends in the streets, we didn’t have our parents or coaches critiquing every single play).

“Work hard.” “Bring energy and enthusiasm.” “Talk, talk, talk.” Coach Story was getting tired of repeating the same motivational slogans every day with little results. Coach Story was the new head girls’ basketball coach at Desoto High School. Desoto was once a state powerhouse, but they were now struggling to make the playoffs and have had 5 straight losing seasons. Coach Story was hoping to change the culture in her program, and after leading her team to their first playoff berth in 5 years and being only 2 games away from the state tournament in her first season, she thought she was going into the off-season with a lot of positive momentum, but she was frustrated with the effort and attendance of her athletes. Coach Story was explaining her situation to Coach Mills, one of her trusted coaching friends. Coach Mills told her, “You need to create a shared purpose or vision statement for your team.” Coach Story asked, “What is that?” Coach Mills replied, “We spend so much time t...

Andre Iguodala went to 6 NBA Finals in a row and was the 2013 NBA Finals MVP, so he knows what it takes to be a great team. On his podcast, JJ Reddick asked Andre Iguodala, “Aside from talent, what do the great teams have in common?” Iggy said, “On the really great teams, everyone is happy for everyone’s success.” He said that it is important to teach the game the right way, to play the game the right way, and to focus on a winning style of play. GREAT TEAMMATES ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE SOME INDIVIDUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEAM SUCCESS To be happy for someone’s success and to do what it takes to win requires some level of sacrifice. It can’t be, “I want to do what it takes to win as long as it is on my own terms.” On great teams, you really can’t do that. To be a part of a great team, you have to be willing to sacrifice some individual success for team success, and we can’t get in each other's way. DON'T GET IN THE WAY OF YOUR TEAMMATE'S SUCCESS. HELP AND EMPOWER YOUR TEAMMATE...

What can I learn today? How can I be better tomorrow? Baseball manager Earl Weaver said, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." Legendary football coach Knute Rockne said, "Build your weaknesses until they become strengths." By asking yourself, "What can I learn today," and, "How can I be better tomorrow," you are starting the process of learning, growing, and getting better by learning how to learn (Mind Gym). Your mind is like a parachute. It only works when it is open. Be open to teaching and constructive criticism. Be self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses. Know what you are good at, and know what you need to work on. Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, known as The Big Unit, said, "You never stop learning in this game. If you ever think you know everything, it will jump up and bite you. Hard." Michael Jordan said that every summer, he wanted to add something to his game. When you stop working and adding...

We build great teams and experiences so that our athletes never forget that they are capable of greatness. Coach James was taking over for the basketball program at New Hope High School, but the first time he visited the gym he realized that the team and program needed a lot of new hope because there wasn't a lot of hope there. He saw an old, unkept gym and a team full of players who looked uninspired and discouraged. As he watched his team scrimmage, he saw athletes not competing, pointing fingers and giving excuses, blaming others, and dragging their feet with their heads down after each mistake. Coach James thought to himself, "Why do they think it is okay to not compete, not to play through mistakes, and not be great teammates?" Coach James realized that the athletes were just living up to the expectations set by the adults who were in charge before he got there.  New Hope was far from a basketball powerhouse, and most coaches ended up leaving the school after a year ...

Set your athletes (and their families) up for success with a great and effective onboarding experience. Onboarding is an HR term referring to the process of introducing a newly hired employee into the organization (BambooHR). In sports, onboarding would be the first practice of a new season or when you have a new team member joining the team. Onboarding can set the tone for a new athlete's experience and can impact how well they perform and how long they decide to stay. Harvard reports that a quality onboarding experience creates 54% greater new hire productivity (Kierstead). How does this affect how we coach and run our teams? If we create a positive experience when new athletes join or when the new season starts, we can set our athletes up for success and for a great experience. Use the onboarding process to clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations for your athletes and their families. Clearly define team goals and individual expectations. Help your athletes and t...

Have you ever been on a team where a leader needed to step up or have you ever wanted to be a leader but you felt like you didn't have the voice to lead? When Michael Jordan joined the Bulls as a rookie, they were a struggling team and a struggling franchise. They needed a jolt of energy and leadership, and Michael became that jolt and provided that leadership. The culture of the team at the time wasn't what it needed to be and felt like Jordan needed to do something about it because he wasn't used to losing. The Bulls didn't handle adversity well, and they would put their heads down and give up when they faced challenges or got down in a game, but Jordan's character wouldn't allow that to continue. His teammates quickly learned that Jordan wouldn't let them lose. Within the first couple of weeks, MJ proved to his teammates that he was the best player on the team and a leader worth following. Michael Jordan said, "My mentality was - whoever was the tea...

A 9th-grade basketball coach was struggling with team chemistry and the relationships on his team. The athletes had formed cliques, and some felt excluded and bullied on the team. The coach tried running the athletes, talking to the athletes, and even threatened the athletes' spots on the team, but nothing made a difference. A coaching mentor, Coach Josh, was brought in to help. He arranged the athletes in a circle. The coaches were also present. Coach Josh started with a quote from Pat Summitt: "A champion is someone who is willing to be uncomfortable, but teammwork is what makes common people capable of uncommon results." Coach Josh gave every person in the circle a pen and two notecards. He said, "Think about the best teammate that you ever had. What is one or two words to describe that teammate."  Coach Josh gave them a few minutes to think and write, then he said, "I want to get to know a little more about you all. I have in my hand a talking stick. It...

If you want your team to perform better, create an inclusive culture and climate. Research shows that when team members develop a shared understanding of the team's goals and align each team members' contributions to the shared goals, those teams outperform teams that don't. Research also shows that when all team members feel like they belong and when they feel valued for the uniqueness that they bring to the team, and when they feel safe, the team members are work harder, smarter, and more together. When a team has the right climate and culture, it can outperform other teams. How do you know if you have the right culture, what do you do if your culture needs to improve, and what do you do if you already have a strong and inclusive culture? Assess Your Current Climate The first step to shaping an inclusive culture and climate is to assess the current levels of inclusiveness of your climate. Observe your team so that you can plan your strategy for how you can communicate inc...

Research supports that expectations might be the most important key to success. When you believe in yourself, you do better, and when coaches believe in their athletes, they do better. Years ago, a study was done that showed something remarkable about a teacher's belief in students. Researchers told teachers that some of the students in their class could be expected to be 'growth spurters,' based on the students' recent test results. The test never happened, but at the end of the year, the students' scores on IQ tests matched the teacher's false beliefs. This study shows that our expectations and beliefs about our athletes matter in how we teach and coach them and in how they perform. In a more recent study , hundreds of students were involved in a study where they wrote essays and received critical feedback from their teachers. Half the students received an extra sentence at the bottom of the feedback. The students who received the extra sentence earned higher...

Have you ever tried coaching your athletes hard and they give you attitude or shut down on you? It is frustrating when I can't coach my athletes the way that I need to coach them, and sometimes I don't understand why they won't let me teach them the way that I need to teach them without shutting down. But the NCAA transfer portal is one of many indicators that let us know how important it is to think about the way we communicate to our athletes in today's world. One simple thing that I have learned to do is sandwich the meat of the conversation - the hard stuff - between the positive stuff. As often as I can, I try to sandwich my coaching and criticism between positive comments. It helps. At the end of many practices, I do let my athletes know that many coaches in their lives won't be as nice in the way that they deliver their messages, and they have to learn how to find the message in the coaching, criticism, or yelling so that they are prepared for different coach...

Have you ever had an athlete whose default mode when learning something new and difficult was to shut down? I have had a couple like that. They would just shut down, pout, and sometimes cry and quit when they would have to learn something new or practice something that they weren't good at. It was a lack of confidence and a feeling of hopelessness that was equally sad and frustrating as a coach. We know and try to communicate that the path to getting better is filled with obstacles and failures and misses. These athletes didn't want any part of the failure process that is necessary to get better. So, what do you do with these athletes? I was reading a book called, "Building a Bridge from "I Can't to I Did.'" They named this 'Learned Helplessness.' Learned helplessness is when an athlete believes that they have no control over their ability to improve and master something. Every great athlete needs self-efficacy - the belief that they have the abi...

Great teams are teams that have coaches who are truth-tellers and players who can listen, take coaching and criticism, and use it to help them be and play better. There is a team in Texas that was known for having a lot of talent, but they were never able to put it all together to create successful, winning seasons. When they were on, they were on. But when adversity hit, they would start to fight with each other by pointing fingers and blaming others for mistakes. Coach Rod was ready for a change, so he read Jon Gordon's book, the Power of a Positive Team. Toward the end of the book, a story about Pete Caroll and his time coaching the USC football team stood out and inspired him. When Carroll was at USC, the Trojans enjoyed an amazing run of success that included a record of 97-19 and winning the 2003 and 2004 AP National Championships. Carroll created "Tell-The-Truth Mondays." The team would get together on Monday's after their game and talk about what they did wron...