Building Team Confidence in the Coach

As a coach you wear many hats.  It is your job to be able to manage the team, prepare the team, get the team up from lows, and keep them from getting overconfident.  It's your job to make them understand what the goals of the team are, teach them how the team is going to get there, and then keep them focused on the task during the long hard grind of a season.  It's like a tight rope that you need to carefully manage.  One false move and you will fall off.  The price you pay when you do fall off is that you lose your team.  From the outside looking in, some may think that coaching a team of players is easy but it's not.  In many ways you are like a good symphony conductor who is able to bring all of the wonderful talent that surrounds him into harmony.

So how do you get started on this task of bringing a group of players and form a team?


The key is having your players buy in to what you are doing.  The trust between a coach and his players is of vital importance.  You can't expect a player to do anything that you say without establishing a confidence in them that what you tell them is worth doing.  The best way to do this is by establishing attainable goals for your team to reach and then re-establish them making them more difficult as the season goes on.   In addition, it is always best for a coach to let the players know what they can expect from him during the year.

At the beginning of the year you may have them try to reach a goal of a certain number of baskets to make in a layup drill.  Once this is achieved, you can up the ante and make things a bit more challenging.  This whole process of setting challenging yet achievable goals should keep the team interested and hungry to do more and more.  By the end of the year they will have reached heights that they probably couldn't even imagine.

As good as this accomplishment might be the real reward for doing this is that your players will be looking at you with a respect that a coach needs in order to have players attention.  This respect should continue to grow as the year goes on and these mini goals are set, met and re-established.

In addition to establishing attainable goals, a coach has a specific code of conduct that he needs to follow.  This code should be established and expressed at the beginning of the year.  Some of the things that I like to include in my code is the following:

• Always encourage the kids.  Stay positive.  
• Inform the kids that you want them to try things in practice that they need to get better in.  That's what practice is for.  Don't be afraid to dribble with your weak hand.  Don't hesitate to make a move that you may not be comfortable with.  This is what practice is for.  Step outside your box.  Expand your comfort zone. 
• Don't just applaud the made baskets.  Compliment them on every good play that they make whether it be a pass, a steal, a block, a rebound, or diving for a loose ball.  Made baskets earn the obvious applause but by letting them know that you appreciate the great pass, or steal it makes them understand that there is more to the game than just a made basket.
• Don't come down on a player for a bad play.  A poor play needs to be corrected but there is a right way and a wrong way of doing it.  The wrong way is going off the deep end in front of everyone.  The right way is sitting down with the player involved and talking it through with them.  Get them involved by asking them the question "what would you differently the next time you're in that situation?"
• Tell your team that the only thing you can't tolerate is when they do not pay attention while you are instructing.  This is a valuable lesson for the kids not just for basketball but also for school and many endeavors that they are involved in.  Listen you might learn something.

By establishing attainable goals and by explaining to your players what they can expect from you throughout the year, you will be on your way to establishing a trusting relationship with your team. This relationship is so valuable that without it your team will lack the confidence it needs in it's coach, a confidence that is vital for success.