I think we've all heard the expression before- "don't assume, because it makes an ass out of u and me". But how does that relate to the work we do with student-athletes?
When I was coaching in '09-'10, I found myself saying to the team "I can't blame you for not executing something I haven't taught you". In other words, I never assumed they knew a particular skill.
There are two classifications of errors that players can make:
1) Learning error
2) Performance error
A learning error occurs when an athlete does not know how to perform a skill; in other words, they have not yet developed the correct motor program in the brain to perform the particular skill (American Sport Education Program).
A performance error is made not because the athlete doesn't know how to perform the skill, but because they made a mistake in executing what they do know.
Coaches are teachers. A teacher doesn't just "wing" their semester with their students and test them on knowledge they "think" their students should know. Instead, teachers make a teaching plan from Day 1. They incrementally build lesson plans to teach their students step-by-step the knowledge required in the class. On the court, it's no different.
Part of the art of coaching is being able to sort out which type of error each mistake is.
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