A Coach's Diary

If you want to be good at anything, you have to PLAY!  If you want to be good at sports, you have to play sports.  A lot.  I’m not talking about practice or games; I am talking about playing.  Playing on your own with your ball, having fun, and learning what you can do with it.  If you want to be good at basketball, you have to play with the basketball the same way kids play with toy race cars and barbies.  The more you play with it, the better you get.  You have to learn all of the tricks and moves and shots that you can do with it.  The more you play with it, the more ‘tricks’ that you learn, and the more your skills and talent grows.  But, you have to play. If you want to be a great quarterback, you have to play with how you can throw the ball.  You have to play with how hard you can throw it, you have to play with how many different routes you can throw to, and you have to play with how many ways you can throw the ball....

Noah Webster once defined joy as the passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good. Joy is being happy about what is going on in your life and being excited about what is about to happen. Do you bring joy to those around you?  Do you bring joy to those you coach?  Are others excited to play for you or to be around you?  Find joy for yourself first and then be a joy to others.

Two athletes transferred to a new school and new team.  The parents of both athletes asked their new coach if he thought their kids would like the new team. The coach responded to both parents with a question:  ‘How did they like their old team?’ Player A’s parents’ response:  He didn’t like the coach, he didn’t get along with his teammates, and they didn’t get along with the other parents. The coach’s response:  ‘Then there is a good chance he won’t like it here either.’ Player B’s parents’ response:  ‘He didn’t want to leave!  He loved his coach, he got along great with his teammates, and they loved the other parents.  We HATED to leave!’ The coach’s response:  Then he will probably love it here as well! Not every team is great, not every coach is great, and parents won’t always be best friends with other parents, but your attitude about the situation is the biggest predictor of success and enjoyment.

Question: What does 'basketball is mental' mean? Answer:  So as you think, so will it be .   Your thinking affects your behavior and you have to have the right mindset.  Making the decision that this is what you want to do is the first step.  From there, you develop a strategy, and it has to include working harder than anyone else is working.  Working harder and smarter.  Don't put yourself in a box - play with the game and think outside the box.  The fundamentals are building blocks for the advanced stuff, but use your creativity to take your game to the next level.  The mental influences those decisions that you make and how you see the game. Then you have to have the effort, the stamina and the strength to handle the competition.  There is a difference between wanting to be mediocre and wanting to be great.  If you are training, and you aren't contemplating quitting or you are close to death - you aren't pushing yourself hard en...

Notes from one of the best shooters of all time - Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf teaching how he shoots! 1 - Follow Through 2 - The arc of the shot 3 - The feel of the shot - Hand is not too close; fingers comfortable and natural, not too spread out - Finger tip control - have a gap so you aren't palming it - Off hand guides the ball; not too close and not underneath; be comfortably strong so it feels good but they can't knock the ball away - Its good at the beginning to line up the seams to help with your follow-thru - The follow through softens up the shot and lets it hang around the rim - Legs shoulder width apart to create a balance - Elbows in so your elbow and follow-thru is aligned with the basket - Index finger to the basketball and the rim - Backspin on the follow-thru - Focus on a target - right over the front of the rim Find what is comfortable for you and repetition.  Do it over and over again and pay attention to details.  The best shooters shoot the same s...

Doc Rivers talks about when one of his sons complained about playing time: No coach wants to lose.  If you do the right thing, minutes go up. Kids need to learn how to fight for it and need to hear the truth father than hearing you bash the coach.   "I support you and I know you can play.  But, you have to keep working and earning your spot [while respecting the coach and your teammates and while being a great friend and teammate].

If you want to be the best, start by being the best that YOU can be. You have to practice, you have to work on yourself and your game .... everyday.   There are always people out there better than you, so you have to work hard knowing that someday you will meet and play against them. Will you be ready? You also have to find someone that believes in you, someone who has a plan for how to help you be the best you can be - and then you have you trust them.  You have to accept constructive criticism as just coaching and helping you to be your best.  Be happy when you have a coach that yells at you when you start walking or jogging because you have someone that won't let you fail.  If left to ourselves, we might not work as hard as we need to.  But when we have the right coach, they won't let us settle.  So be appreciative and thankful when you get that coach that yells at you to get better. Finally, find the best and go play th...