Five Practices That Help Motivate Individuals and Teams (by Sean Conrad)

I remind you that this is a section of zF Coaching and Training dedicated to basketball (in general) and Roseto Sharks in particular.
Today a great post from Sean Conrad.
A very useful pentalogue you can use in your own team.

Team players don't need to be hard-spoken, show-man, hyper-active, ecc... They could be soft-spoken, shy, good-listener, ecc... but this doesn't mean to be passive. They really care about the team and they give their contribution to its success, without pushing...

This is a real innovative section connected with Roseto Sharks through mental-body-emotion tools to get your higher meanings and better performances!

Please share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestion below.

Anyone as best as he can!

Have Joy

Giannicola

READ THE POST IN ITALIAN IF YOU NEED...
Copy and Paste... and click here

Here are 5 management practices we normally associate with driving individual performance and motivation that I think should be applied to teams:

1. Set Clear Goals: A lot of teams flounder because of a lack of direction or deliverables. They know they are supposed to work together; they are just not clear on their deliverables, schedules, performance expectations, etc. The lack of a clear direction and purpose can easily “demotivate” a team, making it hard for them to be engaged and productive. Just as individual employees need goals to help motivate them, teams also need SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) goals. So make sure your teams are given one or more clear, common SMART goals. This can go a long way to making them more accountable and driven.

2. Give Them a “Big Picture” Context: Everyone needs a context for their work so they understand its value and larger impact. It is one of basic needs identified by research into employee engagement. Without a larger context, our work becomes purposeless. We are left wondering: “who really cares about what I do?” The same applies to a team. Just as it is important to connect each employee’s goals to the organisation’s high-level goals, it is important to connect your team’s goals to organisational goals. This motivates them by helping them understand the impact of their efforts on organisational success.

3. Assess and Cultivate Teamwork Skills: Research tells us that teams are organic units that go through development stages and struggles. To become high-performing, teams and team members need to develop core skills in communication, negotiation, dealing with conflict, etc. So in the same way that you assess your employees’ demonstration of key competencies and assign them development plans to help them further develop these competencies, you should assess a team’s demonstration of key teamworking competencies, and provide them with learning activities to help them address any skill gaps. Encouraging team and employee development can be an important driver of engagement and motivation.

4. Gather Performance Feedback from Team Members: If you are going to assess a team’s performance, you are best to start by asking them to rate their performance first. Asking employees to complete a self-appraisal as part of their annual performance appraisal is shown to increase their engagement in the process as well as their motivation overall. The same principle can also apply to teams. By asking team members to provide feedback on their own performance, as well as their colleagues’, can help improve their engagement in the team, and their motivation.

5. Provide Ongoing Coaching and Feedback: To be high-performing and stay motivated, every team can use ongoing coaching and feedback. It is just human nature; we want to know how we are doing and how we can do better. Just as employees need regular, ongoing feedback about what they are doing well and areas for improvement, teams as a whole need feedback on how they are functioning and performing. They need someone who is external to the team to give them perspective and guidance, and help motivate them.

Motivating and managing teams can be a lot like motivating and managing employees. The same solid management practices that support employee high-performance can be used to help keep teams motivated and drive their performance.

Sean Conrad

FRESHTRACK homepage

TEAMBUILDING: da chi dipende?

Cos’è il team-building?

Questa è una bella domanda che spesso mi viene rivolta!

In molti credono che il team-building sia un'attività specifica, singola, e ci lavorano in modo specifico.

Ora ti chiedo: "si può lavorare nello specifico su un processo complesso?"

In altre parole, si può lavorare sull'orchestra senza lavorare sui solisti? 

Credo di no!

Il team-building è un processo, è l’insieme di diverse abilità finalizzate al conseguimento di un obiettivo comune. Nel basket è molto interessante osservare questo aspetto in quanto i solisti, anche se hanno caratteristiche specifiche, hanno la necessità di adoperarsi in differenti situazioni per il bene della squadra: sia in attacco che in difesa.

Nel calcio, ad esempio, gli attaccanti sono attacanti e i difensori sono difensori!

Quali skills per riuscirci?

Le capacità sottostanti, per un eccellente lavoro di team-building, sono: 

1) definire i presupposti;

2) dare e ricevere feedback.

Facciamo un esempio: sapere che "le persone sono più dei loro comportamenti" aiuta ad offrire maggiori possibilità a chi ci sta davanti e, in più, offre uno sguardo mirato al miglioramento delle performance piuttosto che alla svalutazione dell'individuo. Ne segue che il saper dare e ricevere feedback lavora sui comportamenti, eliminando il dare giudizi sulla persona. Insomma, diventa un'occasione di confronto e di crescita continua.

Rafforzare le singole e più forti abilità di ognuno mentre si migliorano quelle più deboli, predispone lo sviluppo del singolo potenziale, nel rispetto del valore comune (dato dalle abilità di ognuno).

Il Coach gen Y...

Il Coach (l'allenatore) innovativo non è il capo ma è il “Maestro” (nel senso del più forte) di questo processo di team-building. 

Questo lo rende il leader che sa come ascoltare i suoi collaboratori e i suoi ragazzi, sa come entrare in rapporto aperto, sincero, onesto, intimo con loro, sa come trattare e negoziare bisogni e ambizioni, sa come definire e condividere obiettivi con la sua organizzazione, sa come parlare a tutti loro per risvegliarli, per motivarli, per sfidarli e per spingerli oltre i limiti fisici-mentali-emozionali di ognuno.

Il Coach innovativo sarà colui che riuscirà a trarre dalla sua squadra, come risultato finale, più della semplice somma tecnica dei singoli componenti. 

Sa come coinvolgerli nelle scelte, sa come coinvolgerli nel processo decisionale, sa che senza confronto non c'è crescita. Insomma, il Coach innovativo è il tramite di una leadership partecipata e situazionale che spesso lo definisce come modello non solo per la sua squadra ma per l'intera organizzazione (anche a livello giovanile, anche a livello dirigenziale, ecc...) in cui offre il suo contributo.

E chi ce l'ha... se lo tiene stretto!!!

Ognuno come può!

Abbia Gioia

Giannicola

10 Tips For Getting Your Basketball Team Focused, Motivated, And Playing Hard! (by Jeff Haefner)

I remind you that this is a section of zF Coaching and Training dedicated to basketball (in general) and Roseto Sharks in particular.
Today a great post from Jeff Haefner.
A very useful decalogue you can use in your own team.

This is a real innovative section connected with Roseto Sharks through mental-body-emotion tools to get your higher meanings and better performances!

Please share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestion below.

Anyone as best as he can!

Have Joy

Giannicola

READ THE POST IN ITALIAN IF YOU NEED...
Copy and Paste... and click here


"Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their players and motivate" Vince Lombardi



One of the biggest challenges that basketball coaches of all levels face is the challenge of keeping your players focused, motivated to play, and playing as hard as they can. The following are 10 tried and true tips to keep your team motivated.

1. Set a precedent on the first day of practice. Establishing your expectations from the very beginning is the best way to not only establish your role within the team but to also let your players know what kind of coach you're going to be.


For example: As your first practice starts and players are milling about blow your whistle and call them to the center of the gym. If they don't sprint to you, they get to run right then and there. After they've run, blow the whistle again. This time all your players will enthusiastically sprint to you. And more importantly, you'll have their full attention for the rest of the year.

2. Show your players that they matter. Probably the most effective method for getting your players to work hard for you, and for themselves, is to let them know that you care about them.


Show interest in their lives outside of basketball. Get to know your players as individuals. Spend time talking to them one on one. It doesn't have to be for hours; a couple minutes will do the trick. The point is to let them know that they're important to you on and off the basketball court.


3. Model motivation in all of your actions. Have fun, remain positive, and let your players know what is expected of them immediately. Your players will pick up on everything that you say and do and they will respond accordingly. Verbalize your philosophy so your players know what to expect and to what to strive for. 

For example: If you tell your players that the best rebounders will be starters, then players will all strive to be good rebounders. You've told them through your words and actions that rebounding is important to you.


It's all about what you emphasize! If you're constantly talking about rebounding, you're players will pick up on that and become good rebounders.

4. Offer verbal rewards. Rewards grab attention - players and people love compliments. Whether you're running beginner basketball drills or drills that require more skill, give praise for improvement and for working hard.

Occasionally, for significant effort, praise players in front of the team. Public praise is often well received and players will work hard to earn such praise. Remember that if negative feedback is required to sandwich it between positive feedback. For example: "You did a great job hustling down the court, next time wait for a better shot. Keep up the great hustle and the good shots will be there for you."

5. Offer occasional non-verbal rewards. Players can be motivated to achieve goals by occasionally offering tangible rewards like a Gatorade or by utilizing a tactic of the great Morgan Wooten. Wooten offered "Permissions" to his players.

Permissions were rewards granted to players based on outstanding efforts or reaching set goals. The permissions are earned throughout the practice and then totaled up at the end. Each permission resulted in one less lap, suicide, or other conditioning drill.

You can also add laps to players for not meeting expectations. For example you can set up a basketball rebounding drill and players that get 5 or more rebounds pick up a permission and those that get less than 4 pick up a lap.

6. Coach the success of the team. When it comes down to it, it is more fun to win together than it is to win alone and basketball is a team sport. Your players are more likely to give greater effort if they know the team is counting on them. By reminding players, through your actions and words that they are a team, they'll be motivated to work together to succeed.

Often this can be accomplished by verbally praising players that are working well together or by offering a non verbal reward for practices where they work together particularly well. Also, by knowing your players strengths and weaknesses you'll be able to keep an eye out for potential conflicts and enforce a team attitude.

7. Add competition to your drills. A great way to spice things up and keep players working hard is to add competition to your drills.

As an example, you could establish teams for a shooting drill and reward the team or individual player that makes the most shots successfully.

With a little imagination, you can come up with ways to make almost all your drills competitive. Just remember that comparisons between teammates can make some players feel badly about themselves and can spur rivalries between teammates. In short, it can squash a player's motivation. If you need to compare teammates, do so only to model a desired behavior or skill. For example, "Watch how Joe follows through with his free throw shot, try that next time you're at the line and see how it feels."

8. Teach visualization. Visualization is a valuable coaching tool and it is the one skill that all athletes can take away from their sport, no matter what level they perform at, and use the skill to attain success the rest of their lives.

Teach your players to visualize reaching their goals. Visualization teaches focus. It teaches planning, executing, and succeeding. Incorporate a few minutes of visualization in each practice by asking the team to visualize a play that they're having difficulty perfecting, a shot that they need to work on, or executing the drill of their choice.

Teach them to utilize all their senses in the visualization so that they can hear the ball bouncing, see the ball bouncing, and feel their gym shoes squeak on the floor.

9. Don't punish, discipline with the intent to teach. Punishment for poor or inappropriate behavior only serves to fragment the teams focus and hinder their motivation. Instead, discipline with the intent to teach your players how to conduct themselves appropriately.

Rather than yell or punish players that aren't living up to their potential, ask them, "Is that the best you can do? Are you trying your hardest?" Often simply by acknowledging to you or to themselves that they're not trying their hardest, players will try harder, particularly if they know that you notice.

Additionally, discipline with consistency. For example, if it is unacceptable to be late to practice then all who are late to practice receive the exact same consequences no matter what.

10. Set the right type of goals for your team and for your players. Players and teams need goals so that they know what to focus on and they know what to strive for. But the key is the "type" of goals you choose...

I'm a firm believer that you should NOT set goals for the prestigious statistics, like scoring the most points and even winning games. Players already want those things without setting goals. Not to mention, it gives them the wrong idea.

However, if you set goals for other critical aspects of the game you will see huge success!

You can set goals for a low number of turnovers, team shooting percentage, your opponents shooting percentage, team rebounds (not individual), defensive stats, and possessions per game. You always want more possessions that the other team and that comes from rebounding and taking care of the basketball.

You could even have conditioning goals like 100 push-ups or run a mile in less than 5 minutes. Just be careful about the message you send your players when setting goals. When used properly, goals are a powerful motivator.

Don't forget to reward players for achieving their goals.

If you'd like a ready built system to motivate your players with goals and statistics, try out the Value Point System. It's one of the most effective ways to motivate players and keep them working hard all year round.

Know that what motivates some players will not motivate others. It is important to get to know your players as individuals and to know how they will respond individually and as a team to motivational tactics. In the end, if you're involved, excited, and willing to take the time to keep practices interesting, then your team will respond.

For more motivation tips, check out the Ultimate Guide to Player Motivation.


What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

Jeff Haefner

BREAKTHROUGH BASKETBALL homepage

Anyone as best as he can!

Have Joy

Giannicola

Il "Grazie"... che fa squadra!

Ti ricordo che questa parte, con lo squalo nella foto, del blog zF é dedicata al basket (in generale) e al Roseto Sharks in particolare.
Un'innovativa sezione di Coaching e Training che offre strumenti pratici per migliorare la tua/vostra performance di squadra (sportiva e non)!

Sono gradite idee, suggerimenti, commenti, ecc...

"Perché devo farlo io per primo?"

Questo é quello che comunemente si sente uscire dalla bocca delle persone che fanno parte di un gruppo di lavoro, sportivo, ecc... Retaggio di vecchi schemi mentali che si trasformano in azioni inutili. Certo, questo é un giudizio ed é solo il mio!

Come conseguenza c'é che si osserva molto poco e si dice ancor meno "grazie" e si critica per lo piú (siamo abituati a sputare sentenze e accusare ma molto poco a proporre, ringraziare, sostenere, ecc...)!

Insomma, per riassumere: "Perché devo farlo io per primo? Che lo faccia lui/lei, cosí se sbaglia la colpa é sua. Io non voglio dire grazie a nessuno...!"

Credo che questo sia un modo "ottimo" per creare barriere nel gruppo, separazioni, clan, ecc... ed evitare di andare tutti verso una stessa direzione.

Ma a chi spetta uscire da questo gioco?

Non c'é una figura precisa (il Coach), un ruolo (il capitano), ecc...; c'é invece bisogno di buon senso! E chi ne ha di piú lo metta a disposizione degli altri (questa é la regola generale).

Sta a noi (a chiunque) assumersi la respons-abilitá di educare i nostri compagni, i nostri amici, i nostri giovani, i nostri bambini, ecc... ma a volte, quando meno ce lo aspettiamo, sono i nostri bambini, i nostri giovani che ci danno grandi lezioni (i miei figli sono, per me, i piú grandi educatori in questo campo molto piú di quanto credo di esserlo io - Coach patentato!!! - per loro!).

Cos'é la gratitudine?

Oscar Wilde ha detto: "Il più piccolo atto di gentilezza vale più della più grande intenzione". La maggior parte di noi dà per scontata (sottovalutandola) la forza del "grazie" e/o di un sorriso (per non parlare della travolgente risata di Enzo Santarelli!!!), che in realtá sono alla base nel promuovere il lavoro di squadra. 

Pensaci un momento: se si parla a qualcuno e quello non vi ascolta nemmeno, siete disposti a farlo di nuovo e/o ad ascoltarlo quando vi parla?

Probabilmente no! 

Lo stesso vale per un sorriso o per un ringraziamento. 
C'è una persona nel tuo gruppo, squadra, organizzazione con il quale non vai proprio d'accordo, che non sopporti?  
Quando è stata l'ultima volta che l'hai ringraziata?  

E, mi chiedo, cosa cambierebbe in meglio se lo facessi?

Un ringraziamento può avere la stessa forza dirompente di un sasso in uno stagno! Può rivelarsi la piú forte strategia collaborativa nella tua organizzazione. 

Da quel momento possono partire tutte altre dinamiche e scopri che, forse, si trattava solo di un banale equivoco... solo di una differenza di stili comunicativi... solo una diversa interpretazione della stessa "scatola", ecc..., che con un "semplice" "grazie", con un "semplice" FARE IL PRIMO PASSO, con una "semplice" assunzione di respons-abilitá, con un "semplice" sorriso, porta a riavvicinare delle posizioni fino a quel momento tanto distanti.

Coraggio!

Tutto questo ha bisogno di una cornice ancora piú ampia ed elevata: il Coraggio!

Ecco una proposta pratica da sperimentare da subito: cerca l'occasione per ringraziare qualcuno. Invia un sms, una mail, se puoi farlo di persona (e te la senti) tanto meglio, ai compagni della tua squadra per mostrare il tuo apprezzamento per qualcosa che hai ammirato (in cuor tuo) ma hai evitato scientificamente di sottolineare a chi l'aveva fatta, detta, ecc... 
Sarai sorpreso di quanta forza e di quanto lontano un piccolo ringraziamento può avere e puó andare.
 

Il Segreto sta tutto qua...

Il "grazie" é un ottima base per costruire il tuo team e rappresenta un'abitudine positiva anche al di fuori di essa, negli altri ambiti della tua vita. Prova ad immaginare come essere riconoscenti può cambiare il tuo mondo. 

Perché in ogni squadra, piú che di bravi giocatori (molto utile per il risultato numerico), c'é bisogno di Persone coraggiose (fondamentale per creare risultati inimmaginabili...)! 

Sull'argomento, leggi il post "L'IMPORTANZA DI RINGRAZIARE" e guarda il breve ma intenso video al TED di Laura Trice - CLICCA QUI

Ognuno come puó!
Abbi Gioia
Giannicola

10 Amazing Success Lessons (from Michael Jordan)

Every masterpiece begins first of all with choosing the right subject. 

This is the key! 

This has been the key with the person in today's post.

This choice alone, the right subject, can determine how much you are willing to get your goal. 
I remind you that this is a section of zF Coaching and Training dedicated to basketball (in general) and Roseto Sharks.
Today a great lesson from the greatest basketball player ever: Micahel jordan. 
A great lesson we can use in our teams and in our lives.

A real innovative section by tools for your better performances!

Please share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestion below.

Anyone as best as he can!

Have Joy

Giannicola

 

(Written by Mr.SelfDevelopment on October 14, 2010)
Michael Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active businessman, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, National Basketball Association (NBA) team.


Jordan was extremely instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.


His biography on the NBA website states, “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.”


It takes a very special person to become the greatest basketball player of all time, so today I want to talk about 10 success lessons from Michael Jordan.


10 Amazing Success Lessons from Michael Jordan:

1. Make It Happen

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen”


In order to succeed you’re going to have to kick down the door and make it happen on purpose. You’re not going to “luck up” and succeed, success won’t come with the passage of time. If you’re going to succeed, you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves, put your head down, and make it happen at all costs.

2. Passion

“Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game”


You must have passion in order to succeed. If success is to be yours, it will be yours while you are following your passion. You won’t succeed doing something you despise, you won’t even succeed doing something that you like doing, you will succeed when you do what you love, what you’re passionate about.

3. Try

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying”


How can you succeed if you never try? How can you go to your grave knowing that you never tried? You may not know what paths will work best for you, the only way to discover the right path, is to try. Try and try, until you discover your difference. Try until you learn where you can be a success.

4. Work

“I’m not out there sweating for three hours every day just to find out what it feels like to sweat”


If success is to be yours, you can rest assured that you’re going to have to work at it. To be the best you have to give your best. You have to work harder than the rest. While people are resting you have to be working. Success is a game, you have to play hard, you have to out-smart the competition, you have to put in the work. Jordan said, “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come”

5. Fail

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”


Never fear failure; fear not trying, fear not giving your best, fear losing focus, but never fear failure. Failure is the path to success. Failure is the sign that you’re headed in the right direction.


To succeed twice as fast, fail twice as much. Fail often, fail daily, and soon you will succeed. Jordan said, “I’ve never been afraid to fail”

6. Go Around

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it”


Obstacles are what prepare you for success. How can you go to the 10th grade unless you pass the 5th grade? The 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades are obstacles to the 10th grade. They are there to keep you out until you’re “ready” to proceed. They are there to ensure you don’t arrive prematurely; they are there to ensure that when you arrive, you are ready. Obstacles aren’t a bad thing; they’re the training grounds to success.

7. The Mind

“My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn’t stand the sideline”


If you go there in your mind, it’s only a matter of time before you go there in body. You have to see it; if you can see it, if you can perceive it, then you will find away to get it. The question is “How bad do you want it?” If you don’t “want it,” you won’t get it! If you can live without it, you will. To succeed you have to be hungry; you have to thirst for success.

8. Perspective

“Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation”


Every negative situation contains the seed for a great outcome, but you must recognize it. To succeed you must turn negative situations into positive ones. You can’t focus on the negative, you must see the positive, it’s the only way up the ladder of success.


You must see the positive, you must become positive, in order to experience success.

9. Loyalty and Responsibility

“The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace”


Success demands loyalty and responsibility! Are you loyal to your duties, do you faithfully complete the critical tasks that are requisite to your success?
Are you consistent? To succeed, you must be loyal to your passion; you must give it your all.

10. Expectations

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them”


Jordan said, “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome”


In life you will get what you accept and what you expect. What are you expecting? What are you accepting? When you change the answers to these questions, you will change your life.


Mr. Self Development


MR.SELFDEVELOPMENT homepage

Watch What You Teach (Roseto Sharks)

Here we are!

This is a section of zF Coaching and Training dedicated to basketball (in general) and Roseto Sharks.

The thing that got me to think around was a great, brilliant idea included in that following post.

Both players, coaches, supporters, basket-friends, etc... will benefit by reading to this post and I hope this can help clubs to develop their HR (players, staff, bosses, even if still young).

Posts written by zF (in English or in Italian) or picked up from the best web sites to be helpful on your real basketball team. 
A real innovative tool for better performances!

Please share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestion below.

Anyone as best as he can!

Have Joy

Giannicola

When we step on the floor to teach our players, what is it that we feel is important, what is it that we really teach? Are there lessons inside of the ballhandling, shooting, etc?

Over the years, I have had great success in facilitating player's improvement. I have worked with NBA All-Stars, high school, college and youth players. If I had not been successful, the player would not have come back and I would not have new players asking me for my time.

I don't believe I know any more basketball than anyone else. I don't think that I am better than anyone. I just know what works for me and I know it has been very effective. My teaching style is different than most. I have different priorities and different methods. Some agree with it, some don't. I am not saying it is any better than anyone but I am saying it is just different.

While others teach jump shooting, ball handling, passing, etc., I try to teach something different. No matter what level of player, regardless of age or sex, I teach one thing. I think it is the most important skill any player can learn. I try to teach players not to fear failure.

I believe the fear of failure is the single largest impediment to learning and improvement. I think that the way we teach what we teach might help instill fear of failure.

I grew up with the same work ethic that we all did, "Practice makes perfect." Then, I was introduced to the saying that, "Only perfect practice makes perfect." For a long time, I bought into that, full force. I was so intent on "perfect practice" that I made players afraid to act.

My insistence that players make every shot, commit no turnovers, allow no scores on defense actually forced my players further and further away from what the objective was. I decided that maybe I should look at my methods.

Here are some things I have come to realize. Shooters that miss 55% of their shots are considered good shooters. In baseball, if you fail 70% of the time, you have a chance to be a Hall of Famer. The greatest golfer ever, Tiger Woods, loses 79% of his tournaments (if you are a Jack Nicklaus person, his win percentage is 9% - and that is the 2nd highest win percentage ever). On the whole, sport is an exercise in failure. It's how you deal with that failure that determines how good a player you are. You can either fear failure or you can accept it as part of the game and move on.

When I catch a player getting frustrated or angry because he has missed some shots, I will ask him, "If I could give you some advice in the form of 3 words and tell you if you follow this advice you will never miss another shot, would you like to hear it?" Invariably, the answer comes back, "Yes." So, I give them the 3 words, "Don't shoot any."

If you don't shoot any, you won't miss any. As long as you shoot, you will miss. That is part of shooting. Accept it and move on. As long as you play, you will make mistakes. Accept that premise and move on. Make the next play.

I think most of us will accept that line of thinking. But, do we, as coaches, contribute to instilling that fear of failure? Do we insist on "perfect practice" and thereby point out all the times we are less than perfect? Do we lose patience with players after multiple imperfect repetitions? Do we jump on players every time they make a mistake? Do we tell our players, "I want you to play loose and free. I don't want you to worry about me. I don't want you to play the game looking over your shoulder."? And then jump off the bench at the slightest mistake.

We, as coaches have to understand our complicity in creating players who play out of fear. Do we want players who are afraid to fail so they are also afraid to try? In the guise of teaching, do we instill fear?

Perfection is a fine ideal, but to use it as a goal will lead to endless frustration and even resentment of the game because nobody is perfect. If you expect perfection, you will always be let down.

A great illustration of this is 7th game hero and noted psychologist Ron Artest, of the L. A. Lakers. I was listening to him on Dan LeBatard's local Miami radio show. He spoke of career, his psychiatrist and the playoffs. The conversation came around to his shot in the 7th game. He spoke about his confidence in making that shot. He said that he really did not understand why teams give him that shot. He pointed out that he is a 40% shooter from 3, which is one of the best in the league (so he misses 60% of his shots but he is considered one of the best). LeBatard then says, "Maybe so, but you still have thrown up some memorable clunkers, haven't you?" To which Artest responded, "Sure, but that doesn't mean I can't make it. It just means I'm not perfect."

Interesting thought.

Don Kelbick

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.
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“TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL COACHES” (by Coach DeForest) - Roseto Sharks

Here we are!

This is a section of zF Coaching and Training dedicated to basketball (in general) and Roseto Sharks. 
From here, from today, we start posting 1 article/week that gives you advices on many fields about this loving sport. 
Posts written by zF (in English or in Italian) or picked up from the best web sites to be helpful on your real basketball team. 
A real innovative tool for better performances!

Anyone as best as he can!
Have Joy
Giannicola

(posted by Coach DeForest - August 12, 2010)

This list was developed by Patrick Hunt, the coaching education director for the Australian Institute of Sport. I have read some of Coach Hunt's material in the past and thought it was excellent.

Great technical knowledge – understand the intricacies and dynamics of their sport which allows them to effectively train and teach players

Good communicators – like being around people, honest and open with their communication

Care for players – genuine care and investment in developing players to achieve their potential. The old saying “players don’t care what you know until they know that you care”

No Bad attitude policy – have clear criteria about the type of people they allow into their team. Value good culture too much to let “bad eggs” infiltrate their system

Recruit players who want to learn – successful coaches are always striving to improve, both themselves and their players. Players must be willing to learn and commit to improvement

Eye for detail – believe in the “power of small”. The smallest detail can sometimes have the biggest impact in the long run.

Seek opinions – secure enough to be challenged and seek opinions from others. Open-minded to innovation and change.

Understand the “why” of their game plan – good coaches don’t just copy another system or game plan. They understand the reason why they use a particular game plan and all the little things that go into executing it. This ties into traits 1 and 6.

Coach with enthusiasm and passion – this approach rubs off on players and makes them enthusiastic about the task of learning and improving

Life-long learners – always looking for better ways, new information. Seek out other coaches. Study other sports for training and playing methods


"One who gives less than what he has to give is telling you what he thinks about both you and him. " (Pete Carrill former Head Basketball Coach at Princeton University)

Posted by Coach DeForest


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