Quote of the Day:

"Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. " -Stephen Covey

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.

Quote of the Day:

"Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you'll be able to see farther. " -JP Morgan

2 types of errors players make....

I think we've all heard the expression before- "don't assume, because it makes an ass out of u and me". But how does that relate to the work we do with student-athletes?

When I was coaching in '09-'10, I found myself saying to the team "I can't blame you for not executing something I haven't taught you". In other words, I never assumed they knew a particular skill.

There are two classifications of errors that players can make: 
    1) Learning error
    2) Performance error

A learning error occurs when an athlete  does not know how to perform a skill; in other words, they have not yet developed the correct motor program in the brain to perform the particular skill (American Sport Education Program).

A performance error is made not because the athlete doesn't know how to perform the skill, but because they made a mistake in executing what they do know.

Coaches are teachers. A teacher doesn't just "wing" their semester with their students and test them on knowledge they "think" their students should know. Instead, teachers make a teaching plan from Day 1. They incrementally build lesson plans to teach their students step-by-step the knowledge required in the class. On the court, it's no different.

Part of the art of coaching is being able to sort out which type of error each mistake is. 

Quote of the Day:

"High expectations are the key to everything. " -Sam Walton

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.

Thought...

Successful people often do things that are common sense, but not commonly practiced. 

For example, all basketball players know they should get extra shots up, or they should work-out with a purpose.

Coaches know that they should read more coaching books or watch more instructional DVD's, or they should continue to advance their knowledge in their field everyday.

However, it's a difficult thing to put into practice because other things seem to take priority (but remember- 20% of your efforts will lead to 80% of your success!).