A Coach's Diary

US Men's Basketball u16 head coach Don Showalter gives some advice to those trying out for the national team on how to separate themselves from their competition. 4 Things That Separate Talented Players 1 – Choices – Make choices that will help you get where you want to go 2 – Comfort zone – How do you react when you are out of your comfort zone 3 – Communication – Being able to communicate effectively is a  separator 4 – Compete -   Don’t be afraid to compete for your spot

O'Sullivan remembers when youth sports was about children competing with other children instead of adults competing with each other through their kids. Following nearly three decades as a soccer player and coach, O'Sullivan began working to reshape youth sports and inspire a major shift in culture. After serving as a youth coach for the Portland Timbers in Bend, he founded the Changing the Game Project and is now an international speaker and national best-selling author of Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports back to Our Kids. His writing has also been featured in the Huffington Post, Soccer America Magazine and The Soccer Wire.

We see it all the time - that one parent out there barking orders from the sidelines at their kid.  Maybe you are that parent.  Here is a great video from the kids themselves about what goes on in their minds when we yell at them as parents. Here is a link to a great article where a former major league baseball player answers this simple question: What is the point? His simple answer is: The heart of the child is the point. A coach can either be a stepping-stone to success or a stumbling block.  It is important to build up a young athlete through relationships first and foremost.  Teaching fundamentals and discipline through sports should be a by-product of a relationship.   Do everything you can to help foster and grow the love and creative expression of your athletes.  Don't over teach or coach so much that you lose their heart.  Don't focus so much on winning that they lose their love of the game.  Don't push them so hard so early tha...

This is 10 of the best minutes you can spend on the internet today, as former Indiana and Marquette head basketball coach Tom Crean gives life advice through basketball. - To have success, you have to love to compete and love to get better. - Everything you do is going to impact your future, so work hard and eliminate what doesn't matter so you can spend your time focusing on what does matter for your goals. - Kids really do want to learn, but we have to figure out how to give it to them in a way that they will accept and buy-into. - Always show up and bring your best and don't let the distractions get you away from what's really important - making guys better, bringing value, and building life-lasting relationships.

DJ Sackmann is one of the rising basketball trainers in the world.  He does a really good job of breaking down moves to the smallest parts and building them back up so that they are easier to learn and so that you can use them in games. This video is a great example of how he breaks down and teaches the ' Bradley Beal Hip Swivel .'  Did such a good job that former Indiana head coach Tom Creane was taking notes.

Buzz Williams, the head men's basketball coach at Virginia Tech, talks about icing the ball screen.   At the end of the video, around the 5:30 mark, he talks about how important it is to teach and coach toughness and playing hard everyday for basketball and for life. - Any time a rotation is forced you are at a disadvantage.   So, they use ice so they don’t have to have an extra defender to rotate over.   You have the handler and the screeners man to contain the ball so that the other 3 guys can stay on their other 3 guys.   - The more simple and precise you can make anything, the better.   You get slippage any time you make stuff personnel specific, so having a set system or plan helps with consistency and limits mistakes and game slippage. - Make sure you spend time on other coverages that are different than what you do.   The % of icing the ball screen, even in college, is still low.   So he has to work on the other coverages.   ...

What Is The ‘Mamba Mentality?’ No matter what happens, come hell or high water, no matter what obstacles you meet, or negativity you may face, or injury you receive, or form of resistance that you encounter, you have an inner belief and an inner confidence that you are going to figure it out and you are going to get this done.   It’s a never die attitude. How Can You Apply The Mamba Mentality? It’s about wanting to be better, and in whatever you do, try to be the best at it.   It doesn’t matter what it is.   If you are doing something, why not try to be great at it.   If you are preparing for a test, or you want to be a great carpenter, or whatever it may be, study every great carpenter that came before you and try to be great at it. Greatness has not limit to industry.