Skill Acquisition with Damian Farrow
March 2nd, 2012Steve Jobs, CEOs and Basketball Coaches
October 10th, 2011In 2009, I asked if CEOS and basketball coaches were similar. I cited an article by Stanford professor Bob Sutton who wrote:
Jeff Pfeffer published a paper in 1977 in the Academy of Management Review showing that leader’s actions rarely account for more than 10% of the variation in organizational performance, and often, account for much less. Read the rest of this entry »
We should all have a coach
September 26th, 2011In his article, “Coaching a Surgeon,” Atul Gawande writes about the use of a coach for himself, a world-reknowned surgeon, and wonders why more people do not have a coach. When describing the coach, starting with the sports professions, Gawande writes: Read the rest of this entry »
Beginning the Coaching Process: Think, Plan, Do
March 17th, 2011Clive Woodward is the British Olympic Association’s Director of Elite Performance. Previously, he led England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. After the World Cup victory, he wrote Winning! about the experiences leading up to the triumph.
“Think, Plan, Do” was something of a personal mantra or philosophy that he used whenever presented with a new opportunity. When he accepted his first job coaching a club rugby team – Henley – he writes: Read the rest of this entry »
Defining a Good Coach
December 26th, 2010I taught an undergraduate class titled “Coaching Basketball” in the fall semester with a curriculum based on the Level 1 Youth Basketball Coaching Association certification.
On the final exam, one question asked the students to describe the qualities and characteristics of a good coach. While not a scientific study, and possibly influenced by what the students felt the professor wanted to hear, the most common responses were:
Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts Learning from NFL Coaches
September 5th, 2010Coaching in the NFL and coaching youth basketball differ in innumerable ways. However, a youth coach can learn from players’ comments about the best coaches in the NFL.
Sporting News recently rated the NFL coaches and asked a player to comment on his coach and his position in the rankings. What types of characteristics and qualities do NFL players like about their coaches and associate with their coach’s success?
- Tom Brady about Bill Belichick: “In terms of his work ethic and his preparation, he’s as diligent as he’s ever been.”
- Drew Brees about Sean Peyton: “I would say, more than anything, the way that Sean Payton is able to complement and combine that very disciplined, fair but stern attitude, with, ‘Hey, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to enjoy what we do,’ (is what makes him a great coach).”
- Vincent Fuller about Jeff Fisher: “He is the longest-tenured coach, so he has the respect there. And he takes care of his players.
- London Fletcher on Mike Shanahan: “He’s a proven winner. His approach to the game, the way he handles this team, is great. … He treats us like men .”
- James Farrior on Mike Tomlin: “His first year, he was a little hard on us, but he learned from that and the next year he changed a couple things and we were very successful. ”
- Jim Leonard on Rex Ryan: “Look at the X’s and O’s. He’s as good a coach as there is in this league.”
A few interesting points:
First, as the list continued, comments moved further from personality traits or qualities and concentrated more on wins as evidence of one’s coaching ability. This easily could say more about the player than the coach, but the players speaking about the coaches at the top of the list were more effusive with their praise of the coach’s process, not just their results.
Second, the bolded adjectives give an idea of the traits and qualities one needs to be successful as a coach at any level:
- work ethic
- preparation
- diligence
- diciplined
- fair
- stern
- fun environment
- enjoy what we do
- respect
- takes care of players
- treats us like men
- changed approach (flexibility)
- X’s and O’s (knowledge)
This is not an exhaustive list for successful coaching. However, it hits several key points:
- Successful coaches show players respect and earn their players’ trust.
- Successful coaches are prepared and demonstrate the same work ethic toward their craft as they expect of their players.
- Successful coaches are fair toward all players, though they do not necessarily treat all players the same.
- Successful coaches create an environment where players want to be there, and they enjoy the hard work.
- Successful coaches know the game.
- Successful coaches are not afraid to admit mistakes and make changes when necessary.
By Brian McCormick
Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League
Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts Things that Great Coaches Think
June 2nd, 2010The big story in women’s basketball over the past couple days has been the culture of fear and intimidation created by Oregon State University women’s basketball coach LaVonda Wagner, who ultimately was fired.
Perhaps Wagner could have learned a lesson from Stanford professor and management expert Bob Sutton, author of Weird Ideas that Work. In a recent article for the Harvard Business Review, he listed “12 Things Good Bosses Believe.” The 12 things provide a good starting point for a discussion of coaching and a coach’s relationship with his or her players.
6. I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I am in charge, but humble enough to realize that I am often going to be wrong.
This is an important aspect of coaching, and one thing that many coaches never grasp. If a coach appears unconfident, players will not follow his lead. However, a coach who believes that he is never wrong will lose his players as well.
As a coach, I am willing to admit mistakes and tell players that I do not know everything. I often seek players’ input and advice before making decisions. I do not ask for players’ opinions because I have no ideas of my own, but because I am willing to admit that they may see something differently, and possibly better, while on the court than I do on the sideline. I may feel that our mistake is one thing, but when I ask the players, I find that it is something entirely different. If I stubbornly tried to fix the problem that I saw, I may have never solved the problem and the players may come to doubt my ability. Rather than showing weakness, I feel that empowering players through the decision-making process illustrates confidence – unconfident coaches tend to take the “my way or the highway” approach to silence any chance of dissension. I embrace different ideas because I want to find the best one, not my favorite.
8. One of the best tests of my leadership — and my organization — is “what happens after people make a mistake?”
My coaching philosophy basically boils down to this question. I run practices and teach in a way that prepares players for imperfection. I do not expect everything to go as planned during a game, so I need to prepare players to adjust and adapt to mistakes. If I stop practice every time there is a mistake and solve the problem, how will players solve the problem in the game? Practices may look disorganized sometimes, but so do games. It is better to have players prepared to deal with the disorganization, than to run a neat and tidy practice.
11. How I do things is as important as what I do.
This is another big part of coaching. We often focus so much energy on the plays that we run and our defensive adjustments that we forget that what we do on the court is not as important as how we do it. I often tell players that it is better to make the wrong decision aggressively than to make the right decision passively because the aggressive play is tougher to defend than the passive play. As a coach, it is often not what you say to a player, but how you say it.
If you take a player away from the group and critique a performance, you are more likely to have success than criticizing the player in front of the group, where he ignores the information present in the critique and thinks that the coach is picking on him.
This year, I wanted to emphasize competition, so we scored each drill. To make the competition meaningful each day, the day’s winner avoided post-practice conditioning. Rather than punish the losers, I rewarded the winners. Essentially, I did the same thing – the top scorer skipped conditioning and the bottom scorers did the extra conditioning. However, rather than feeling like they were punished, the girls congratulated the daily winner – they focused on the positive, not the negative because of how I introduced and approached the conditioning.
The other nine ideas complement the coaching process as well. I’m curious which things other people think fit most closely with coaching.
By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League
Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts Great Coaches and Doubters
January 26th, 2010In First Break All the Rules, What The World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Marcus Buckingham writes:
It turns out that great teachers say they love being doubted. They cherish those moments. Great teachers instinctively interpret the “doubters” as students, and they see doubting as a sign of an active, inquisitive mind. For great teachers, then, doubting means learning. Conversely, the average teachers say they don’t like to be doubted. Their first point of reference is their own competence, not the students’ learning. Being doubted means having their own competence challenged, and for them, there is nothing worse.
Since coaches are teachers, the same should be true for great coaches. If true, it’s impossible to find a great coach. Coaches tend to be absolutists, interested in doing things their own way, and they do not react positively to questioning. In fact, I met a coach who will not allow a question during practice; players write their questions on a piece of paper during a water break, and the assistants evaluate whether or not it deserves the head coach’s attention.
When I questioned a college coach on a message board over her unwillingness to answer a question during a game because she is “too busy,” many coaches rushed to her defense and agreed. These “coaches” expect college players to ask stupid questions, so they justify a no-question policy, a practice I find unacceptable in an educational capacity.
If coaches are teachers on the hardwood, their acceptance of questions and doubts by their players is a first step toward inspiring learning and thinking on the court, not just rote memorization of the coach’s demands.
By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League
Key Coaching Concepts with Mike Woodson
January 17th, 2010Earlier this week, Henry Abbott linked to an article by Lang Whitaker about Atlanta’s Head Coach Mike Woodson. The article describes a scene that we rarely see (team meeting at the hotel on the morning of a game), but is an essential aspect of coaching, especially at higher levels.
This team has a chance to do something special if you believe in each other. If you feel like what we’re trying to do on the court isn’t going to work, speak up! I have zero ego as a coach, none. If you think you see something that’s going to work better than what we’re trying to do, speak up! Say something to me!
I take this approach though many coaches will not. I want my players to feel comfortable making decisions and making the play that they think is best. I want to run things that are comfortable for them. I have no problem discussing (arguing) with a player about something and I don’t hold a grudge. That would be silly. Coaching is not about job preservation: it’s about getting the most out of a group of players. Too many coaches seem to make adversaries of their own players.
But what I’m telling you guys is that if you guys will just consistently do what we’re asking you to do on defense, we’ll win games. I don’t give a s— about the offense; you guys can score more than enough points to win games. The offense isn’t the problem. But you have to get stops on defense, and if you’ll listen to what we’re telling you, I promise you’ll get stops. The s— works, okay? The s— works, but you guys just have to have the pride and the heart to buy into it and do what we’re asking you to do every time down the court. …
It’s not the X’s and the O’s, but the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s. I forgot who said that. However, in my league, coaches yell out play after play, but their players cannot shoot, dribble or pass. They play multiple defenses and none works. We run the same offense against man and zone, and it works becuse the players believe that it will work. I hear other teams telling their coach that “this play isn’t working” and they are right; however, it’s generally not the scheme, but the way they run the play. If they bought into the scheme, they would be fine. Seriously, we run a middle pick-and-roll against 2-3-zones and it works. Almost anything works if you have players who believe and players who can pass, shoot and dribble.
After a win against the Mavericks, the following transpires in the locker room:
“Guys, great win,” Woodson rasped. “Remember what I said? You can win playing defense! We struggled with the offense but your defense was terrific.”
“The s— works!” blurted out [rookie Jeff] Teague, cracking up the entire room.
“That’s right, it does, it works,” Woodson said, smiling. “Alright guys, let’s get home. You’ve got tomorrow off, and then we’ll come back in on Monday and get back to work. No more let ups, guys!”
“No excuses!” yelled [Al] Horford.
“No sir, no excuses, guys,” Woodson said. “Oh, and guys, today is Josh Smith’s birthday. Jeff Teague, get up here and sing Happy Birthday, rook.”
For some reasons, coaches often seem to think that humor is bad and that basketball should be a solemn experience. Why? A coach showing a sense of humor is humanizing and players develop a better relationship with the coach than one who stands aloof. It’s basketball. It’s a game. Players and coaches should have fun.
In this excerpt, Woodson shows a willingness to communicate openly with his team without ego, empowers his team to come to him with ideas, creates a sense of belief in their system and uses humor to relate to the players and develop a better bond.
By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League
Simplicity of Coaching
January 14th, 2010In Wednesday’s Los Angeles Times, I read an obituary for legendary El Segundo High School baseball coach John Stevenson, who won over 1,000 games and coached George Brett, among others.
His long-time assistant coach, Craig Cousins, said:
“He felt if you could prepare your players to the best of your ability and they went about their actions thinking they knew exactly what to do, they would do exactly that.”