The Geometry Of Coaching

If you are a coach, issues will be unavoidable. You will have to deal with parents, administration, and politics. When you are faced with these issues try to remember that both coaches and those who bring their issue see the team as a triangle. The difference in the orientation of that triangle is what causes the conflict. For argument’s sake lets say the person with the issue is a parent. They will see the triangle upright with the apex of that triangle representing their child and what, they see as the best interest for their child. A coach looks at the team as an inverted triangle putting the needs and best interest of the team first.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the ancillary things that are required from a coach. You can’t go wrong if you put the needs of the team first. It’s one of life’s lessons to learn that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves.

Belly-Fire

How often do we look outside ourselves to find inspiration? It’s pandemic to look to someone else for motivation. Where is the fire in your belly? Where is the intestinal fortitude to work through obstacles? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s a weakness to ask for help, and maybe the term self-made-man or self-made-women is a bit of a misnomer. No one achieves without some help, but in the micro-wave style of society of wanting instant success, it seems rare for someone to sit down without distraction, determine what they want, set their sites on the goal and map out how to get there. Have we all forgotten that working towards a goal is the success?
Coach Paul

Watch Game Footage Of Sean Patrick

Watch Games and Highlights of senior player Sean Patrick

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

No doubt that sports provides and emotionally charged atmosphere. Have camera operators become that skilled and crafty they can determine when someone is about to drop the F bomb, or have we become so loose with language that where ever the camera is pointed, we see it. Coaches you can’t expect your players not to conduct themselves in this manner if you don’t follow the same.

Freedom To Fail

Famous football coach Vince Lombardi once said, "If you can accept losing, you can’t win."
This quote must have applied to never giving up in a game. I don’t think the philosophy applies to teaching the game. It is important when coaching and teaching your players that they have your acceptance to make mistakes. They must embrace the freedom to fail, but fail moving forward. They must recognize their mistakes, and treat them with the correct perspective. There are important lessons with failures. Can you learn from them, but more importantly how do you deal with them?

If your players have a fear of failure, it can lead to creative paralysis and inhibited growth. Players need to understand the odds are small that they will perfect a skill absolutely right the first time. Only through persistence and adjustment and the correct attitude can they hope to use the skill in a game.

They need to look at failures as part of the process of learning. It should be thought of as feedback. They don’t need to feel bad and loose focus. I’ve seen players put so much pressure on themselves, that any small mistake, they become frustrated, angry and demeaned the mistake. Their state of mind should be one of being motivated and empowered to learn. They should be looking for a more flexible behavior that allows them to adjust to make a correction and keep the frame of mind that will allow them success on future attempts.

Remember the very best 3 point shooters fail 60% of the time. Do you think they are focused on the misses or the makes?

Kicking and Screaming

Coaches who constantly scream do so because they believe it helps make the message clear and will motivate players to improve. They believe it will make their players better. Coaches need to yell simply to be heard over the noises in a gym especially when the crowd can be the sixth man. Under pressure some players loose their focus. Instructions stated firmly in a time out, or while they are on the floor can help them focus on that task, and reduce their pressure.

It’s the content that matters most not the volume. There is a huge difference between calling out an instruction and yelling out insults, or negative comments to players. There is no excuse for berating players and not treating them with dignity. There are always other options.

It is easy to be fooled by the short-term benefits of yelling and screaming at players. But there is a law of diminishing effects with yelling, or berating. The yelling must increase, the insults/threats must become more outrageous and the language must become harsher over time to have the same effect. Ask yourself is this the way you want to conduct yourself?

Don’t tell me you haven’t seen players start to tune this type of coaching out. It has less and less meaning, because, you become a cartoon. I’ll go one further you become a buffoon. Players want to have respect for the position of coach, but become disenchanted with that type of demeaning approach even when it’s not directed at them.

Have you so poorly prepared your teams that you need to draw that type of attention back to you? Do you think your antics of loosening your tie; running up and down the floor, yelling at your bench has anything whatsoever to do with basketball or coaching? Did you not prepare your team for the game?

Think hard about how you want to present information. Don’t leave your feet versus Keep your feet. Do you think the player really doesn’t know he made a mistake when he left his feet? You can reinforce this behaviour with positive messaging and working on it in practice. Coaches find another way!

This weekend I have watched some pretty appalling behaviour from coaches.Conversely, I also witnessed some outstanding coaching and behaviour. Thanks to both groups for teaching me a lesson. Thanks for confirming what I want to continue to strive towards, and what I want to distance myself from.

"The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.”- Martin Luther King Jr

Strength Training For Basketball

I am asked often by players and coaches, if players should be working out with weights during the season. The quick answer is yes. Probably no other sport has the physique of the player changed more drastically in the past 20 years than basketball. I rarely ever get asked if basketball players should lift weights but more when and how. It was once believed that basketball players, boxers etc. should not lift weights. The thinking was it will make them slow, and bulky. Basketball players need to follow a basketball-specific strength training program that will improve their game. You do not want to loose the gains you made in the off-season. If you do not do in-season work, with a grueling season of games and practices you could be your weakest during paly-offs, when you need to be strong.
Player's should have goals in mind when when working out. The sure way to get no where is to not have a plan.

The reasons for strength training for basketball include improving your game by
1.Help ward off injuries
2.Increasing explosive power
3.Improve agility
4.Improve speed
5.Improve quickness
6.Improve your vertical jump
7.Mental toughness. Players that are stronger are more likely to play stronger.

Over the course of a year, strength training for basketball should follow several distinct phases. Each of these phases or periods has a specific objective and helps build the foundation for the next phase of training.

Periodized programs provide a progressive buildup to peak fitness and performance. Programs are often broken into 3 periods, but each of these can be broken into smaller periods or cycles.

1.Pre-Season
During this phase players will focus on building up after the off season. They will first concentrate on strength and hypertrophy. Players will work on power, moving a load at high velocity.

2.In-Season

During this phase players should be concerned with the maintenance of Strength and Power gained in the Pre-Season. This can be achieved by alternating phases of strength and power training. Appropriate recovery should be build into the phase to assist with recovery. Players need to be fully functional for competition.


3.Off-Season

It’s time to relax for several weeks. This is important time to refuel physically and emotionally. Stay fit by having light workouts or cross train.

For more specific details, don't hesitate to contact me.
Coach Paul

Before I'd get in the ring, I'd have already won or lost it on the road. The real part is won or lost somewhere far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights." -- Muhammed Ali