How to Rebuild a Program - Stephanie Norman, Louisville Basketball

Creating the Perfect Tomorrow

Before going to bed, ask yourself: What will tomorrow look like?

Would you take a test before reviewing your notes? Coach a game without scouting the opponent? Then why would we start a day without thinking ahead of what we want to get out of it?

Step One: Review your personal and professional long-term goals (big picture)

Step Two: Envision success in working towards those goals (small picture).

Step Three: Start with the small tasks (action steps) that can be done TOMORROW to work towards your goals.

Step Four: Do the uncomfortable...that's how we grow.  

Step Five:  Focus and follow through. Set notes/reminders. Email the plan and print it to yourself. Putting ideas into actions is the HARDEST PART!      

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).

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.

S.M.A.R.T Goals

"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion.  You must set yourself on fire." 

~Arnold H. Glasow

Follow these guidelines when helping you, your staff or your student-athletes to set goals. Remember to write them down, set a timeline, reevaluate, and refresh:



Specific: Is the goal very specific, or broad and general?

                        “To improve my mid-range jump shot” vs “Be a better shooter”

Measurable: Is the goal able to be measured?

                        “I want to shoot 65% from mid-range” vs “Be a better shooter”

 Attainable:  Can the goal be achieved by this person?

                     Post wanting to shoot 50% from 3pt vs guard wanting to shoot 50% from 3pt

Realistic:  Is the goal realistic; is there high potential for reaching it?

                        “I want to run the 1.5 mile in 10min…..(but my fastest time was 21min)”

Timely:  Is there an end-point; a deadline?

                        “I want to be a better shooter”- how much better, and by when?

Common weak goal statements…

“I want to get more confident” –Confident in what? How will you do this? By when?

“I want to work hard and get prepared”- Huh? What is hard work to you? How? When?

“I want to work on my left hand”- Ok…by doing what? How will you measure improvement?

“I want to get in really good shape”- By doing? How? How will you know if you’ve improved?

A goal without a plan is just a dream…

 

Quote of the Day:

"Time spent 'preparing properly' often eliminates time spent worrying and doubting. Successful people live off preparation!" -Kevin Eastman, Boston Celtics Assistant Coach

Quote of the Day:

“There's 22 practice days between today and our first game. You would like to lay the foundation, like you would with a house, and the success of your team depends on what you build those 22 practice days." -Geno Auriemma