You haven't taught until they have learned...

The title of this post is from a book by the same title written by John Wooden. I hope you enjoy this post because I think it's one of the most important ones I've put up here!

When I was getting my Master's Degree in Education, I did a project focusing on the different ways that people learn. Essentially there are 3 groups:

1) Visual learners
2) Auditory learners
3) Kinesthetic learners

Visual learners learn by seeing; auditory by hearing; kinesthetic by doing.

Coach- you have 15 players on your team. I can guarantee that you have at least one of each type of learner on your team. Are you maximizing your teaching effect?

Here are some ways to incorporate techniques to suit each student-athlete's hard wired learning system:

For VISUAL learners:
1. Bring a dry erase board to practice and keep it on the court. When you are going to put in a new play, take 5 minutes to first draw it out.
2. You can give players a DVD showing the offense you run, drills they need to execute, etc.
3. You can give them a playbook packet outlining your offenses, BLOB's, drills, etc.

(also, have you heard the saying "it's not what you teach that matters, but what you emphasize"? I'm an advocate for having a board/signs on the court with reminders for the players of the habits you expect from them. For example, I would write box out/rebounding triangle, keep offense out of the paint, help and recover, etc. The point is that student-athletes, you and your staff will see your points of emphasis constantly, forming a mental tattoo of what's most important to you.)

For AUDITORY learners:
1. As you draw the play, you should be talking it through. Dictate to the team the movement, screens, etc. Also let them know what you want to cover that day (ie, on this ball screen we are really looking for our posts to hedge hard, guards slide under then recover up and out as out post sprint back to their man).
2. Some kids may honestly benefit from listening to a recording of the coach talking through a play or drill they don't understand; most everyone has an iPhone, iPod or other portable recording device that they listen to on the way to class.

For KINESTHETIC learners:
1. The method coaches use 99% of the time; show the whole-part-whole method on the court. First, run through the whole play. Second, break down the play into different sections to practice. Finally, bring it back together again to demonstrate the whole. These types of learners "learn by doing".

As you are on the court, be aware of the different types of learners. You can even Google this subject and find short 10min tests that your athletes can take that will identify how they learn best.