Quote of the Day:

"A person really doesn't become whole, until he becomes a part of something that's bigger than himself." -- Jim Valvano

Don Meyer: Life Lessons

"The behavior of your players in their acceptance of fatigue, bad calls, turnovers, missed shots, being open and not getting the ball, harassment from opposing fans, trash talk from opponents, and teammates failures and successes will tell a coach all s/he needs to know about how well he is teaching the lifelong lessons of toughness." -Don Meyer

Quote of the Day:

"What to do with a mistake--recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it." -- Dean Smith

Is your team a family?

At the WBCA National Convention at the Final Four in Indianapolis, Kyle Rechlicz (then at Dayton, now at Wisconsin) had a terrific roundtable presentation about team building.

She asked one basic question, "When you have recruits on campus, how many of you tell the recruit that your team is like a family?". Naturally, we all raised our hands. Then her next questions stumped us, "What do you do to make that happen?'. 

In other words, how were we practicing being a family? Was it only talk and no action? You can declare yourself a fast break team, but if you don't work on your transition game daily- what kind of fast break team will you be?

Kyle sends out "Motivational Mails", otherwise known as M&M's, and presents different team building exercises to help improve your team's feeling of being a family, improve communication, trust, etc. I highly recommend emailing her and ask to be put on her mailing list! (KAR@athletics.wisc.edu) Here's an excerpt from one of her emails:

M&M #2:  CAMARADERIE REVIEW
Is it possible to be a “Family” without trust? How do you build something so quickly that takes some people years to develop? In this M&M you will find helpful activities to guide your team towards the trust and camaraderie it takes to believe in each other and be successful with one another.

1.    Buddy System

·      Split your team up into groups of 2 or 3 (underclassman with upperclassman and not with someone they are already close to).

·      Give them the following rules:  Once every 2 weeks you need to do an activity with your buddy (and only your buddy)!  Be encouraging on and off the court and attend their extra workouts. If your buddy is late...you are late…if your buddy breaks a rule…then you have also broken that rule! Occasionally, you may be popped quizzed about your buddy, so truly try and get to know each other.

·      Keep up with your team by asking them how their buddy is and simple questions that they should know the answers to. 

·      Explain to them that they have to learn to pull together to be successful even when it isn’t their closest friend on the team!

2.    Past, Present, Future

·      At the start of the year, when your team is working to get to know each other better…bring in the Past, Present, Future Team Building Activity.

·      At a place outside of the gym (coaches house, restaurant, etc.), have each player bring something that reminds them of their past, something that is relevant to their present, and something that represents what they want for their future.

·      It can be anything from pictures to stuffed animals to a magazine article (believe me, I have seen it all).

·      Instead of having them present their items to the team, pair them up with someone new and have them explain their items to each other.

·      Then have their partner, explain to the rest of the team and coaching staff what each items means to that individual person. 

·      Let people ask questions, as well, because this will further build your team’s trust and the discussion.

"Crimson" Zone Offense

As featured by @FastModel...

http://fastmodelsports.com/playoftheday/index.html?article_id=204

Practice makes perfect? NO.

From Tom Buchanan...an accomplished author, photographer, sky diving and snow boarding instructor, world traveler and a good friend.

The secret is in developing the proper technique first.

Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect permanent.

Quote of the Day:

Repetition leads to habit which leads instinct. This is known as "the third law of learning." You must first develop the proper technique. Begin with knowledge, apply that to technique, and follow up with repetition. Only through repetition will good technique become habit. Only through even more repetition will habit become instinct. The difference between habit and instinct is that habit requires thinking. Instinctive play flows without concious thought. Instintive play is the level that we aspire to acheive and is what separates good players from great players. -- The Teacher, Marvin Harvey

A simple way to be an effective leader...

The bottom line is this: if you want to inspire someone to give you their best, you have to stop looking and acting like a theater critic and, instead, come across with empathy and appreciation. To do that, you first need the mindset that the discussion should be less about you and more about the other person… and then you need to practice (with good help) to make it happen.

-Michael Hume
http://wisdomalacarte.net/blog/inspirational-leadership-its-about-them-not-you/2011/05/

NCAA Cream Cheese Rule

Thanks to @JustinScanson for turning me on to this! A perfect video highlighting the crazy rules set forth by the NCAA....

Confidence

My definition of confidence is….. a result of repetitively and optimally executing a task to the point where one has many accumulations of positive outcomes. Confidence has two parts: the tangible (practicing the task to gain confidence) and the intangible (acquiring a confident attitude).

From "The Art of Coaching" by Dr. Carolyn Savoy:

A relaxed and confident performer is also a superior performer (Orlick, 1986).

 

When a team is confident you will see that...
-they are prepared for games and fully understand what needs to be done.
-they carry themselves with a little "strut"
-they have a focused look in their eyes
-they are not afraid to ask questions in practice
-the players sound like extra coaches at practice, in the locker room and in games.
-the players encourage each other to do what they have to do to win games.

When a team lacks confidence you see...
-losing streaks....red flag if your team losses three games in a row
-slumps...dry spells where players don't perform to their abilities
-lethargic practices
-player's shoulders slump
-inability to make eye contact

Three keys to exercise confidence:

1) Positive praise and recognition:
-Sincerity is key!
-Give recognition immediately after proper execution by a player or team; it's very powerful to praise someone in front of the team (single out players who do not play regularly...starters and high scorers get enough public recognition)
-Make a special attempt to recognize players that do the "little things" or "dirty work". If you praise and recognize great rebounding, a great assist or lockdown defense...the message will be sent to the team that these qualities are very important to you and do not go unnoticed.

2) Tangible means:

-If your team is having a problem scoring....use 7 offensive players against 5 defenders. This way players will achieve success and their confidence will improve. You can adapt drills to fit this concept.
-Create a highlight video of your teams success. You can also use tape from previous years to help players feel connected to something bigger than this years team.
-Have graduates come back and talk about their success and what the program did for them (especially their confidence).

3) Team bonding:
-Kyle Rechlicz used this at Dayton and I'm sure she will use this in her new job at Wisconsin: Confidence Cards for each player. A colored piece of construction paper is decorated by the team and highlights a particular team member’s strengths and positive qualities. This can be on-court and off-court analysis. Have each sheet laminated and have each player post in their locker; a great reminder of their team’s belief in them!
-At the end of practice, have the entire team stand in a circle and have one player turn to their left, make eye contact and say one thing that player did well today. The player receives the compliment, says "thank you" and compliments the next player. Your players will leave the gym feeling good about themselves.
-Have each player name one of the team’s strong points. The coach takes notes and then reinforces these same points during future practices and games. This is very powerful because the team members themselves identified these strengths.
-Have each player choose an inspirational reading to share with the team at the end of practice. Collect these so players can post in the locker room or their notebooks.

Quote of the Day:

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein

Habits of The Best

From Training Camp by Jon Gordon (assist to Bob Starkey for the notes):

THE BEST KNOW WHAT THEY WANT
“I think a lot of people spend their life being average or good at something, but they don’t strive to be great.”

“The best of the best not only know what they want, but they want it more.”

THE BEST WANT IT MORE
“We cannot measure desire in terms of merely thought and wishes.”

“The best not only do the things that others won’t do and invest the time others won’t invest, but they do so with passion and intent to get better. The best are never satisfied with where they are.”

THE BEST ARE ALWAYS STRIVING TO BE BETTER
“If you are striving to get better, then you are always growing. And if you are always growing, then you are not comfortable. To be the best, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable, and embrace it as a part of your growth process.” It’s a process…

“The best see where there is room for improvement and their humility and passion drives them to improve. The average ones however, don’t see it or don’t want to see it.”

“The fact is past success does not determine future success. Future success is the result of how you work and prepare and practice and how you strive to improve everyday. It’s a commitment that the best of the best make every week, every day, every hour, and every moment. Force yourself to be uncomfortable.”

THE BEST DO ORDINARY THINGS BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
“Vision without execution is hallucination.”

“Work hard on the right things. It means you must identify the very ‘little things’ that are fundamental to your success, and then you must focus on them, practice them, and strive to execute them to perfection.”

THE BEST ZOOM-FOCUS
“There is no secret recipe.”

“If you incrementally improve each day, each week, each month, by the end of the year you’ll see remarkable results and growth. When you zoom-focus on the process, the outcome takes care of itself.”

“Master the fundamentals.”

THE BEST ARE MENTALLY STRONGER
“Being mentally strong means you stay positive through adversity. It means you are resilient when facing pressure, challenges and change.”

Weed and feed: “Each day you need to weed out negativity and feed it positivity. You need to weed out the self-doubt and negative talk and feed it positive thoughts, memories and visuals.”

“Pay attention to your thoughts…weed out negative thoughts.”

“Being positive or negative is a habit, and you choose the positive.”

THE BEST OVERCOME THEIR FEARS“Those that succeed, those that reach the pinnacle of greatness, are able to face this battle (overcoming fear) and win.”

THE BEST SEIZE THE MOMENT
“Ironically, even the best have a dream and a vision within their sights. It is the journey, not the destination that matters the most to them. The moment is more important than the success or failure.”

“When the best are in the midst of their performance they are not thinking ‘What if I win?’ or ‘What if I lose?’ They are not interested in what the moment produces, but they are only concerned with what they produce in the moment.”

“Rather than hiding from pressure, they rise to the occasion. As a result, the best define the moment rather than letting the moment define them.”

“You define the moment.”

“Make every moment of your life count. Realize that this is your one shot, yet don’t focus on the result of the outcome of the shot. Just focus on the shot.”

“Seize the moment.”

THE BEST LEAVE A LEGACY“You leave a legacy by living and working with a bigger purpose, you leave a legacy by making your life about more than just you. You leave a legacy by moving from success to significance.”

THE BEST MAKE EVERYONE AROUND THEM BETTER“The point is to strive to be your best and inspire others to be their best, because it’s in the striving where you find greatness, not in the outcome.”

Phil Jackson: Triangle Offense Video

One of my FAVORITE videos! Excellent teaching on pieces of the triangle offense but, more importantly, how each athlete plays a roll in developing a cohesive and motion-directed offense.

Quote of the Day:

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

-Anon

Quote of the Day:

"Five years from now, you're the same person except for the people you've met and the books you've read." -John Wooden

Inspirational Video

The power of sport! 

Why trust your coach?

A tennis coach, golf coach, swim coach, personal coach, business coach, executive mentor, financial planner, personal trainer, sport psychology coach. What do all these coaches have in common? Why work with a coach? A coach won't do the work for you, but here is how a coach can help launch you to the next level:

1. A coach can be a confidant. You can tell your coach things you wouldn't tell others, because a coach is trained to understand and be non-judgmental.

2. A coach can help you see your blind spots. Everyone, even the coach, has personal areas that are out of view or awareness until someone points them out. A coach is perfectly poised to perform this critical function.

3. A coach can provide objective feedback. Other people may have agendas. Your coach has your best interests in mind in providing feedback and counsel to you.

4. A coach provides another set of eyes. Even the top performers in the world have coaches to help them see what they themselves can't see.

5. A coach can keep you accountable. Your coach can help you take on more responsibility by having you report weekly on your accomplishments and initiatives.

6. A coach can be a sounding board. Your coach can be another set of ears as you talk about the things that are bothering you. As you hear yourself have a conversation new personal realizations emerge.

7. A coach can be another source of creative ideas. You can brainstorm and try out new ideas, behaviors and mental processes as your coach provides a safe place to experiment.

8. A coach can help you create your vision. Your coach can assist you in developing your plans for success based on your values, personal strengths, background and assets.

9. A coach can help celebrate your successes and be a source of strength when you fail. Your coach can be a supportive and nurturing source of energy.

10. A coach can help you process life. Life is a process and a good coach can assist you in reviewing and reframing what happens in your business, your sports and your life!

http://www.peaksports.com/success_tips.php

Quote of the Day:

"In 1948, I began coaching basketball at UCLA. Each hour of practice we worked very hard. Each day we worked very hard. Each week we worked very hard. Each season we worked very hard. Four fourteen years we worked very hard and didn't win a national championship. However, a national championship was won in the fifteenth year. Another in the sixteenth. And eight more in the following ten years." -John Wooden