Here at Rhode Island, in light of our tough record, Coach Inglese is always asking "what can we do that other programs are not?". That's a great question.
I watched the movie "Moneyball" last night...GREAT film! I highly recommend it. Without giving away much of the movie, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) realizes that his team's salary cap ($39 million) cannot compete against his opponents (Yankees: $129 million). In essence, Beane is playing in an unfair game so he resorts to an entirely new method of drafting players...which upsets a lot of people in the process because they feel he is disrespecting the tradition of baseball.
See how this line of thinking has influenced and brought great success for the women's basketball program at St. Bonaventure.
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7479925/coach-jim-crowley-moneyball-approach-lifts-st-bonaventure
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Focus on the 2x4
Bob Walsh (BLOG.COACHBOBWALSH.COM), Head Coach at Rhode Island College, posted this great excerpt from NFL coach Jimmy Johnson talking about how he prepared his team for the Super Bowl in 1993:
"I told them: if I laid a two-by-four across the room, everybody there could walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be that we were going to walk that two-by-four. But if I put that same two-by-four ten stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling. Then I said, your focus right now has to be as if we're playing on the practice field in front of nobody. If you let it overwhelm you that it'll be the most watched sporting event in the world, that there will be 3,000 media people here - if you make it bigger than life it will be a distraction. And that's the crux of this game. Focus on the two-by-four."
"I told them: if I laid a two-by-four across the room, everybody there could walk across it and not fall, because our focus would be that we were going to walk that two-by-four. But if I put that same two-by-four ten stories high between two buildings, only a few would make it, because the focus would be on falling. Then I said, your focus right now has to be as if we're playing on the practice field in front of nobody. If you let it overwhelm you that it'll be the most watched sporting event in the world, that there will be 3,000 media people here - if you make it bigger than life it will be a distraction. And that's the crux of this game. Focus on the two-by-four."
Quote of the Day:
In honor of Mozart's birthday:
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings." -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A great tip when preparing for opponents
During practice when you are running your opponent's offense and reviewing individual players' tendencies, keep it simple...
Green Jersey = shooter
Red Jersey = driver
White Jersey = all-around
This is a simple trick that can have a great effect. It can be a challenge to explain to your team that Susie is your opponent's #23 and she is a left handed kid who always takes the ball off the bounce (even though Susie is right handed and her strength is shooting from the outside). Then, during the defense of your opponen't offense, your players forget who Susie is supposed to be and therefore do not guard her properly.
This makes a great transition to the game- you can simply ask your kids: what color is #23?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Don't Be Beaten
Great read making the rounds lately:
He got up early. You slept in.
He trained with purpose. You did a few push-ups.
He made 500 shots a day. You played H-O-R-S-E.
He watched his diet. You went to Burger King.
He worked on his weaknesses. You ignored yours.
He studied film. You watched Family Guy.
He went to bed early. You stayed up all night.
He took notes. You just doodled.
He worked on his game. You worked on your tan.
He got to practice 30 minutes early. You came 2 minutes late.
He studied his playbook. You played Xbox.
He went the extra mile. You took the shortcut.
He craved the uncomfortable. You enjoyed the warm & fuzzy.
He put his heart into everything he did. You just did enough to get by.
He dreamed of success. You feared failure.
He wanted it. You didn't.
He won. You lost.
He is a champion. You are not.
He left a legacy. You are left with regret.
You can choose between the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
Don't let 'him' beat you!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Is your coaching style adaptable to the new generation?
Below are 5 characterizations from the article The Most Technologically Advanced Yet by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin that pinpoints how today's "Generation Z", "Generation @" or "iGeneration" cohorts (generally born between 1991-2001) experience the world and what effect this has on how we teach and motivate them.
1. Technology has led students to expect instant results for all things, says Daniel Watts, a computer graphic arts teacher for at-risk youth at Elinor Lincoln Hickey Junior/Senior High School in Sacramento. “I gear my curriculum so students can experience success as quickly as possible. It’s motivation for them to want to learn more and take it to the next level.”
How coaches and teachers can adjust: emphasize the importance on the process and focus on small victories every day. Set them up for success- break complex drills/plays into bite-size chunks so they can experience success early; then, challenge them little by little every day, slowly moving them away from their comfort zone.
2. “They need constant feedback because of the immediacy technology has given them,” agrees Duane Mendoza, a technology resource teacher at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: provide them with a measure of their success every day. For example, 2 years ago I worked out with a great young basketball player getting ready to play for a nationally ranked team in college that fall. One weakness was obvious: the player lacked quickness. The first 20min of our workout was dedicated to improving quickness with line-jumps, defensive slides, and sprints, as well as other basic basketball drills like Mikan layups, x-outs, ball handling, etc. I bought a handheld clicker-counter (I think it's used for baseball) and tallied each repetition in a specified time frame (example: how many right foot line-jumps in 30 seconds? How many slides, x-outs or Mikans in 45 seconds?). As the weeks went on, I charted and graphed the player's progress. I gave them a visual graph showing each workout and the time/number of reps in each drill, and the player could see their improvement day by day!
3. Every generation, for better or for worse, has a set of characteristics that define them. For Gen Z, the dominant trait is that they are masters of multitasking and can talk, text, listen to music and look up information on the Web without missing a beat.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: if you are talking, and one of your players is chewing their nails and not making eye contact, are they being disrespectful? Are they not listening? It seems like this multi-tasking may actually help them focus on what you are saying!
4. Some mental health experts believe that a constant stream of electronic information is causing a form of technology-induced attention deficit disorder. John Raley, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, uses the term “acquired attention deficit disorder” and says that technology is rewiring the modern brain.
How coaches and teachers can adjust: Drills (for coaches) or lesson plans (for teachers) should be quick, concise, packed with information and have a clearly defined time limit. On the practice court, instead of reviewing 25 minutes of zone defense, it is probably beneficial to break that into 9-10min segments throughout practice.
5. Elias Aboujaude, director of Stanford University’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, has expressed concern that young people are losing the ability to analyze complex information.
“The more we become used to just sound bites and tweets, the less patient we will be with more complex, more meaningful information,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I do think we might lose the ability to analyze things with any depth and nuance.”
How coaches and teachers can adjust: vocal teaching, pre-game talks, half-time adjustments, explaining new ideas and concepts, and teaching something brand new should focus on a few simple points and be communicated clearly and simply (KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid).
Quote of the Day:
Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. " -Steve Jobs
Monday, January 23, 2012
Quote of the Day:
"Enough shovels of earth- a mountain. Enough pails of water- a river." -Chinese Proverb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)