Over-Coaching

"I think just about all teams are over-coached.  They have a lot of defenses, but not one which they do particularly well.  They have several offenses, but too often fail to take advantage of openings and mismatches.  They have handfuls of out-of-bounds plays but seldom screen well or make sharp, well-timed cuts. 

I don't think there's a grand formula for how many offenses, defenses and special plays any team should have.  But I do know that most teams spend too much time going over movements and not enough time imporving their execution.  I am often astonished watching TV and seeing big-name college teams look completely baffled trying to attack a common 2-3 zone."

 - Dick Devenzio, Runnin' The Show

Gregg Popovich and the Spurs: Intentional Fouling

Gregg Popovich, as far as I can tell, is the only NBA coach who routinely fouls bad foul shooters on the opposing teams to gain a strategic advantage. The reaction to this from fans and media has been to paint Pop as sort of rascal — the kind of guy who will game the system without shame or apology. But the real mystery isn’t what makes Popovich so brazen and inventive, but why the rest of the NBA hasn’t figured out that it should be doing the very same thing.

It’s instances like these that make me wonder if Popovich is as smart as we make him out to be (and I kind of think that’s the case either way), or if everyone else in the NBA is just being stupid by not following his example.

Here’s what John Hollinger said about the intentional fouling during the 2008 playoffs:

For years, coaches have tripped all over themselves with how to use the Hack-a-Shaq. In the first-round series against Phoenix, Gregg Popovich became the first to really master how to use this weapon to his advantage. He used it in second quarters, when he had guys like Jacque Vaughn and Robert Horry in the game anyway and didn’t care if they picked up fouls, and used it when he had the lead to eliminate the chance of a 3-pointer.
Most of all, he used it at the end of quarters to get the last shot, and is continuing to use it with Tyson Chandler and Melvin Ely in the New Orleans series. If New Orleans has the ball with 25 seconds or less left, Popovich simply fouls intentionally so he can get the ball back for the Spurs. This should be a Eureka! moment for other coaches, and I expect it will be the league’s most widely copied tactic next year.

Mr. Hollinger, consider your expectations disappointed.

As pointed out above, Popovich has sorted out the three best times to use hack-a-whoever. It’s not, as Mark Jackson mistakenly believed, a tactic to be used any time a bad freethrow shooter is on the court. The risks of excessive fouling are sundry; there’s a reason Popovich’s teams, as a rule, don’t foul. See even a bad freethrow shooter, if he makes 60 percent in one game, is providing a points per possession rate that would be the best in the NBA for a team, not to mention that putting your team in the bonus on purpose is exceedingly problematic.

But, like any implement, when handled precisely by experienced hands, intentional fouling can have great benefits.

It would be defensible for NBA coaches to be wary 5 years ago, but by now Popovich has already done all the R&D on this issue!

He has proven the three times in which it is smart to foul: when you lead by nine or 10 with two minutes left and want prevent the other team’s 3-point shooters from catching fire and leveling the game (which is what he did in Game 3 against the Clippers), to break up the rhythm of a game and force a team to beat you in a way they are unaccustomed to, and to steal an extra possession at the end of the quarter (used throughout the second round).

These first two ways are trickier to pull off, but the third is plain logic.

Possessions are traded back and forth throughout the game except for at the start of the quarter. That’s when one team gets the ball irrespective of who had it last. By fouling to get the ball back at the end of a quarter, then starting the next quarter with the ball, you give your team the chance to have more possessions than the other team. In a way, it’s like wasting a meaningless foul from a non-essential player to get an extra offensive rebound.

Remember, this strategy was sorted out four years ago, when Hollinger thought every coach in the league would start using it.

It’s a no brainer.

And what does that say about everyone else?

by Beckley Mason

How to Rebuild a Program - Stephanie Norman, Louisville Basketball

The Most Beautiful Offense in Basketball....

The Triangle Offense. Fundamentally sound, difficult to defend and an equal opportunity offense, Tex Winter's triangle has won NBA coach Phil Jackson 11 Championships and has also been a part of collegiate women's basketball programs at Stanford, Tennessee, Connecticut, Hartford and countless others.

What makes the Triangle Offense so good? It's a detailed system that requires all 5 players on the court to know each position in the offense so that when the defense takes something away (for example, high pressure on the perimeter or sagging onto your posts) there is an automatic counter to expose what the defense is giving up.

I've spent a lot of time reading and watching the Triangle (sometimes called the Triple-Post offense or Sideline triangle) and also seeing elements of it in most offenses.

Below are a series of videos to give you an overview of this great system. I have 2 pages of detailed notes on these videos as well as diagrams, principles and vocabulary. If you would like me to pass them on to you please send me an email at ChrisPassmore@uri.edu

I think you'll enjoy!

A great tip when preparing for opponents

I heard this from Nikki Caldwell (LSU):

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? 

Is your coaching style adaptable to the new generation?

Here's a simple fact with huge effects: you cannot coach today's kids the same way you coached a team 10 years ago. Are you making the adjustment?

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).

Vic Shaefer's talk at the Final Four

Below are some notes I took when Texas A&M Assistant Coach Vic Schaefer spoke at the WBCA Convention at the Final Four last year (the day his Aggies won the National Championship!).

-Assistants and Head Coaches can agree to disagree...but, when you disagree, it should be about what we think is best for the program or team.

-The Head Coach should talk to parents about intangibles, but let the Assistants handle the crises that arise.

-Knowledge of the game is so important!! WATCH THE GAME!! (See my post on "deliberate practice" here)

-Professionalism is so important...what you say, how you dress...

-Know you're stuff- we aren't paid to be wrong.

-Be a voice to your Head Coach. Sometimes, bosses need to think it's their idea about a game plan or something that will benefit the team/program.

-Go to work early and stay late.

-Emotionally invest in your team!

-Teach kids to be accountable and to hold each other accountable (it's not personal, only work!). For example, run on the 3rd missed block out.

-It's not WHAT we do...it's HOW we do it

-Trust is the foundation of A&M's defense....tight ball pressure = susceptible to penetration. Need to trust your teammates' rotations, etc.

-Post defense is played 35' from the basket (bump and get position early)

-Make your team uncomfortable in practice so they are better prepared to face adversity in games (and life!)

-Clear minds make plays. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

-A&M has a foundation of the same 3-5 drills everyday

-BE WORTH POINTS EACH GAME (on defense!)

-Defense is a LEARNED response.

Making & Breaking Habits

 The hard must become habit.  The habit must become easy.  The easy must become beautiful.  ~Doug Henning

We are all creatures of habit; basketball players are no different.

Using the left hand on the left side of the backboard...applying ball pressure...sprinting the lanes...boxing out. All of these are habits that can be established or demolished.

Coaches get frustrated when players continuously do the same (wrong) thing over and over again. How do you break the chain?

The answer is simple but the time and focus on the process of forming a new habit is the challenging piece. First, I have a basic philosophy that I cannot hold players accountable for something that I have not taught and drilled. For example- boxing out. Sure, you can preach boxing out for 3 hours every day at practice and discipline the team if they fail to box out. What kind of results will this get you if you do not actively practice boxing out and follow through with reminders? Not what you are looking for I bet.

To truly form new habits for players, you must drill boxing out every day AND make it a point of emphasis during scrimmages, positional work, etc. I'm in favor of having a visual cue at practice with 6 or 7 "priorities" for play on the court that you and the players can constantly glance over at to remind everyone of what is expected (ie, ball pressure, boxing out, communication, etc.).

So, if you want better close outs- drill close outs everyday for 3 or 5 minutes. If you want better ball pressure, then drill ball pressure every day.

EVERY DAY.

I read this story in one of John Wooden's books: members of the media attended UCLA's open practice at the NCAA Championship game. They were surprised to see that 25% of the practice was dedicated to really basic fundamentals: catching and shooting without a basketball, slow and steady defensive slides, ball handling and basic transition drills. The reporters asked Coach Wooden why his team was practicing such elementary drills and his reply indicated that one of the reasons his team was in the Championship game was by perfecting the basic fundamentals of the game by practicing them every day.

EVERY DAY.

Culture beats strategy...All day long!

How Do You Weigh Strategy, Execution, and Culture in an Organization's Success? -Article from Harvard Business School by Jim Heskett

Strategy, execution, and culture: Do we have our priorities right? 

"An outstanding strategy weakly executed will always be trumped by a weak strategy with outstanding execution.

What if you had a plan to be president of the USA? You could have a perfect plan. A brilliant one! One, that if put on practice, it would give you a 100% chance of being the next president of the USA.

There is a catch. It's extremely hard to accomplish and you can't do it alone. Actually, you need the best people available, you all have to be believe you can do it and above all, you have to learn how to work together.

Other than that, the plan is perfect.

It's all about people. It's all about making ideas become reality.

Reality is made of people, doing small things, every day. It's not about abstract ideas that in the realm of imagination look good.

Is strategy good? Of course it is. It gives us a goal, direction, things to care about, helps us to work together.

But it's not everything. And actually, it's not even a must.

You can win without a strategy. You could be lucky. You could have other people who care about you and help you in your objectives. Your competitors could make the wrong choices.

There are an infinitude of variables that just makes every good strategy a good guess.

Strategy gives you an edge, but it's nothing without people (culture).

10 Proven Teaching Methods for Coaches (Part 2 of 2)

 from Winning Hoops March/April 207

6. Effective Motivation
Find something positive to say ti every athlete at every practice. This satisfies the athlete's need for attention, recognition and appreciation. Be specific with your praise- specific praise is used to reinforce the "WHY" of pracitce. Always attempt to find more positives than negatives while constantly praising effort.

7. The Hoopla of Success
 When an athlete or team finally masters a skill or concept, don't hesitate to stop practice momentarily to recognize the achievment. Praise their effort and remind your players why master of the skill is so critical.

8. Model What You Preach
Most coaches talk to players about certain values and characteristics they hope to see in them. Coaches really are the best positive role models for these values. When stressing good sportsmanship, coach with honor, respect for the game, officials, etc. When stress tenacity, never give up on yourself with your athletes. And, when stressing organization, conduct practices that are structured. Players look to you for guidance, so don't say one thing and do the opposite.

9. Encourage Cross-Over Sports (for high school)
Coaches who are overzealous sometimes encourage their athletes to play only basketball on a year-round basis. This possibly leads to overuse injuries and burnout. Participating in other sports improves the way your athletes play basketball. The movements and skills required for many sports are similar. Consider the footwork necessary for soccer and basketball are almost identical.

10. Summary
Productive coaching is highly dependent on the coach's ability to teach basketball. Teaching isn't just blowing a whistle, barking out orders and heading home after a couple of hours. Being a good teacher takes time, effort, practice, patience and a passion to make a difference in the lives of your players.

10 Proven Teaching Methods for Coaches (Part 1 of 2)

"Productive coaches spend 75% of their time teaching the sport to their players and the other 25% of the time coaching."

1. Understand Your Passion For Basketball...First.
Before jumping into coaching, coaches first must understand their passion for the game. Having a high level of passion for basketball tremendously influences your energy, creativity and ability to motivate players. Passion is contagious. If one player, one assistant coach or you come to practice excited and fired up, that emotion and passion easily is passed onto every other member of the team.

2. Setting The Stage For Teaching.
Prior to the first practice, meet with your athletes and explain your role as a coach and teacher of basketball. Let them know your purpose is to help improve their athletic skills. Impress upon them that you care about them as people and that you are concerned about their lives even beyond athletics. Feeling cared about makes a player more coachable- effort and concentration increase. If you care enough about them, they'll walk through walls for you. Part of you caring is to work through players' mistakes. Tell them mistakes are part of the learning process and the only true mistakes are ones of lack of effort or concentration- both of which are easily corrected.

3. The Importance Of "WHY"!
Don't assume players know why you are asking them to practice a certain technique or to perform a skill drill. Explain how everything has a positive effect on their ability to play. Be as detailed as possible.

4. Fundamentals First, Then Complex.
Know the fundamentals of the sport you teach. This enables you to design practice for your players' appropriate skill level. It also becomes easier to assist an athlete who cannot perform a certain skill. After grasping the fundamentals, players move on to practice drills focusing on more than one skill at a time. Don't expect to each complex basketball skills to players that have not mastered the basics. 

5. Use The WHOLE-PART-WHOLE Method.
In anything you do- offense, defense, showing film or diagramming plays- this method is priceless. It is often necessary to teach skills in parts or steps. Once again, in-depth knowledge of fundamentals gives you an advantage. Teaching a skill in part keeps the player motivated because he or she is forming a mental checklist for performing the skill correctly (educators refer to this as "task-analysis"). Moving from one step to the next puts the focus on process and progress, which allows you to praise the player for grasping a skill and working with the player in areas that need more practice. A good barometer to know if a player is mastering a certain skill is to see if that player is teaching the skill to another teammate. 

4 "MUST HAVES" in Your Drill Work

1. Weak Hand Development

2. Footwork and balance emphasis

3. Playing through contact

4. Contesting shots

-Kevin Eastman

The Theory of Two

It takes 2 minutes to show you a new skill.

It takes 2 weeks of practicing the skill before you are comfortable.

It takes 2 months of consistent practice and execution before it is "game ready".

9 Important Teaching Points for Your Drills

The following are notes from Morgan Wootten's Basketball Camp around 2005...these were given to Joe Wootten from Kevin Eastman (Boston Celtics Assistant Coach) and passed on to the camp staff:

1) Basketball is a game of inches (John Stockton; slow, but sure)- Attack ankles/Attack hips, etc.

2) Pound dribble for better handle on the basketball

3) Play the game low to high (on screens: cutter's shoulders should be at screener's hips. Quite a bit happens away from the ball so shooters, be ready on the catch to go up into your shot without hesitation)

4) It's a shoulders game (Posting up and defense)

5) Shoulder- Hip through contact

6) Feet first, ball second (go by- not around)

7) Find your feet on shots (if you have to look down to find yourself on the floor, don't shoot it!)

8) Use your eyes more: when setting screens, see back of defense's head, "eye" the game in setting yourself up in a scoring position)

9) Be ready for the next play

Rebounding & Defensive Balance

While on offense, your players know what to do- they have plays to execute and patterns to run. When a shot is rebounded by the opposing team, your players know what to do- they sprint back in transition, protect the hoop and match up defensively. But what do your players do when your team takes a shot and the ball is in the air? 


I'm a huge proponent that rebounding balance leads to defensive balance. Most teams will simply "crash the boards" in an attempt to gain an offensive rebound. I believe this isn't good enough; a few adjustments can have a huge impact.

I would teach my players the following:

1) On offense, when the ball is in the air, the 3 4 and 5 players should sprint to the rim, with their hands up, and form a "rebounding triangle"; one person centered on the hoop and the two others on either side. It doesn't matter who is in which part of the triangle, as long as we have a triangle.

2) As the 3 4 and 5 are sprinting to the rim with their hands up to form a rebounding triangle, we would ideally like to have our 2 guard play "safety" by patrolling the free-throw line for long rebounds. There are three reasons for this- one, how many rebounds is your 2 going to get in the paint? Second, the 2 will be more likely to get long rebounds and also tap-outs from missed rebounds inside. Finally, if possession changes, the 2 will act as the first line of defense to prevent a fast break attack (and they also may be able to pick off outlet passes).

3) The final piece is your point guard. They should be at or beyond the 3 point line to play "protector".

The 2 and 1 are interchangeable, depending on who takes the shot.

So, now what we have is strong rebounding positioning with our 3 bigs balancing their positions inside while one guard is seeking long rebounds/picking outlet passes/slowing down transition at the free throw line and our other guard is protecting the backcourt and hoop.

"They'll Walk If You Let 'Em"

Thanks to Bob Walsh for the assist on this post:

I was recently reminded of an article about the San Diego Chargers from a few years back.  This is the first paragraph:

Philip Rivers drives a Ford pickup truck with a custom-made bumper sticker on the back window that reads, THEY'LL WALK IF YOU LET 'EM. It was a message that former Chargers linebacker Carlos Polk used to shout at the end of long practices on hot summer afternoons when he knew that some players might be tempted to loll through the final special teams drills. Rivers became so taken with the saying that he logged on to makestickers.com early this season and had it printed up. Standing in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot last Saturday night after the Chargers' 23--17 wild-card defeat of the Colts in overtime, Rivers said, "That bumper sticker has meant different things to me at different times. But right now it makes me think about when we were 4--8, and we could have walked the rest of the way. We didn't let each other walk."

It's a great phrase to remember when thinking about your team.  Most teams and players will give you what you demand.  But if you leave it up to them, they won't give you maximum effort.  They'll walk if you let 'em.

Do you deserve to win?

Rick Pitino opens his book Success is a Choice with the following: "Winston Churchill's rallying cry for the British people during WWII was simple and succinct: hoping and praying for victory was fine, but deserving it was what really mattered.

What does it mean to 'deserve victory'?

According to Churchill, victory comes only to those who work long and hard, who are willing to pay the price in blood, sweat and tears. Hard work is also the basic building block of every king of achievement: Without it, everything else is pointless. You can start with a dream or an idea or a goal, but before any of your hopes can be realized, you truly must deserve your success. This may sound old-fashioned in this age of instant gratification, but from the Sistine Chapel to the first transcontinental railroad to today's space shuttle, there's no mystery as to how these things of wonder were created. They were created by people who worked incredibly hard over a long period of time."

Tex Winter: Essentials of Coaching

 Read this post on another great blogger's website. Enjoy!

What makes Tex Winter so great is that his principles regarding the game of basketball remain true no matter what era. Because of his principles, he was able to remain influential as a coach his entire career which was over 50 years. Here are Tex Winters Essentials of Coaching:




A. The answer to success in coaching does not lie in some form of super strategy, or some ultra super plan.

B. Success, overall, does rely on basic sound teaching abilities. The ability to teach the fundamental skills (basic basketball) to the individual athlete is critical. Your players must understand that their natural ability can take them only to a certain level.

C. Athletes must strive to break those physical barriers of endurance, speed, coordination, reflex action, jumping ability, etc., to truly become a better athlete.

D. As coaches we must develop and organize out of season programs that promote greater total development of our athletes, so that they can break those physical barriers.

E. Total preparation of the mental, emotional and physical aspects of athletes then permit greater technical preparation.

F. A player has not learned a fundamental until it becomes second nature (a habit). Automatic reaction is the goal of skill execution. No thought process necessary: react.

G. Basketball is a game of total quickness; a game of reaction.

H. Athletes are in the process of learning and have not learned a skill until they can perform a skill correctly and quickly while involved in game situations, automatically.

I. The coaching objective is accomplished through continuous repitition of drills and exercises.

J. Practice does not make perfect--only if the proper techniques and mechanics are being practiced. Proper techniques become movement habits.

K. Repetition must be done with high levels of interest, enthusiasm and in an exciting manner until it becomes an instinctive reaction.

L. One thing that highly disturbs me is the fact that I see so many bad habits being practiced today at all levels, from the junior high to the professionals.

M. We must demand correct execution of basic skills.

N. Design practice time and situations so that it provides the technical know-how for the individual and the team of all the phases of the game that we plan to use in the total game plan.

O. Practice sessions must be so designed to lead to superb physical conditioning. Basketball is a game that cannot be played properly, unless you are in the very best possible physical condition.

P. Evaluate your practices to determine if they are designed to prepare the individual player; physically, technically, mentally and emotionally. If these factors are included then we should be able to visualize victory

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.

How brain science can change coaching...

I love evidence based, scientific research about coaching and sports...here's a summary of a great article from "Psychology Today" called Wired for Success: How to fulfull your potential by Ray Williams (full article here).

• Because the brain operates in a quantum environment, our perceptions and self-talk alter the connections and pathways in our brains. Whatever we focus our "attention" on changes or creates new brain connections; you think, you feel, you act. 

• The connections in our brains form "mental maps" of reality. Whatever we expect to experience, is what we actually experience; goals, goals, goals! Positive outlook. Optimist.

• Focusing our attention on solutions or new thinking is a better strategy than focusing on analyzing problems from the past, because the latter will only reinforce the problems; "next shot" or "next play" mentality.

• If leaders want to become more effective coaches themselves they need to learn to stop giving unsolicited advice to people, or if it is given, to be unattached to their ideas and present them as options to people; we do not own ideas; we share ideas, are open to other's ideas, and are constantly seeking new and better methods for improvement.

• Coaches need to be adept at reading peoples' body language, particularly when they have "insights" about their behavior. These insights are visually accompanied by changes in facial expressions which can be an indication of employees' mental state. Non-verbal communication; "a picture says a 1,000 words".

Coaching has evolved into a much more sophisticated profession based on knowledge from many other disciplines. Now brain science research has potential for having the greatest impact on coaching individuals and leaders in organizations.