A coaching Philosophy
When it comes to managing and coaching a team, it is essential that each player feels successful and confident to build a better all-round morale in the team. You must understand that any emotions of failure or arrested growth can adversely affect players’ motivation levels. This turns into something of a whirlpool that pulls players only towards further failure.
It starts with you
However, as a basketball coach, you have the onus on you. You also have great power over mindsets of players which call for responsible actions. However, in order to help your players do well in the game, the development and adaptation has to begin from you. You need to forget about winning and concentrate more on building a team that works well in tandem. Make sure you acknowledge and appreciate each players unique set of characteristics and skills. This will help in making each player feel important and an equal part of the team.
Get the right set of drills
You need to formulate a practice pattern that includes a large range of drills touching various aspects of basketball as well as fitness. This will also give players a chance to exhibit the areas they are good at. This is one of the most scientific methods to find each player’s strong and weak areas. Once you are able to pin point a player’s weakness, help him/her work on it and do not forget to appreciate their efforts.
Equality is the key to cooperation
If you are looking for committed efforts from each player of the team, you must learn to treat them as equals. One player might be good at offence while the other might prefer defense. Ensure that you acknowledge the significance of both roles and shower your players with compliments as and when required. Irrespective of the player’s stature, show of encouragement always motivates players. If a player has made any improvement or progress in any area, make sure you are vocal about it and praise their effort. This will also help them spot techniques and methods that might be working for them on the basketball court.
Do not ignore the technical aspect
Ensure that you possess a tool to measure the performance of each player on a comprehensive basis. Technology has offered us with many such tools that make tracking a player’s progress much easier. This is the hard work that has to be put in from your side. Collecting data about player performances is invaluable in building a team. It also has a lot of long term benefits. The smallest of details such as number of assists per player, game rebounds etc. should all be noted so you can develop better strategy. Again, share this data with players so they can work on aspects that they may be lacking in. At the end of the day, Basketball is a game of numbers as well.
Correct, don’t criticize
While it is imperative that you keep encouraging your players with praises and rewards, it is your role as a coach to tell them where they are going wrong. This is very different from criticism. Make sure you do not hurt a player’s confidence levels when putting simple facts forward. Dealing with the human element of coaching for basketball is probably the toughest of all. In fact, apart from skill and knowledge, it is communication skills that make a coach build a successful team.
