That Basketball Life

Over the past two and a half months, I’ve had the privilege of coaching my daughter’s basketball team. Coaching has always been something I enjoy, but this season in particular reminded me just how meaningful it can be — not only for the players, but for me as well. I’ve been fortunate to coach many of these girls since they were much younger. As they’ve grown, so have their skills, confidence, and understanding of the game. Naturally, our biggest rivals have improved as well, and what used to be evenly matched battles have, in recent years, tilted slightly in their favor. This season tested us in many ways. We lost a game early that we shouldn’t have, and we fell twice to our rivals. Still, the team stayed committed, worked hard, and earned a spot in the playoffs. After finishing third in the regular season, we faced a tough semifinal matchup against a team we had split with earlier in the year. We built a big lead heading into the fourth quarter and managed to hold on for a two-poi...

 The difference between a player who plays well in big games and the one who doesn't comes down to his ability to embrace playing outside his comfort zone.  If you listen to the successful pros in their interviews before and after big games the one common theme they all share is how important it is to embrace the opportunity that is in front of them.  They all will say how they put their trust in the thousands of hours they have spent in the gym honing their craft.  They will also say that failure never crosses their mind.  They prefer to focus on the opportunity that is before them. How does this translate to kids and how can you as a coach instill values in them so that they can embrace such opportunities?  I think there are a few steps that coaches can take to build up confidence in their team. Find competitive games for them to play in.  Teams and players need to learn how to win.  This is especially true the older the child gets.  It is ...

I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get a team ready to play a difficult game.  You know the types of games I'm talking about.  The types of games where the opposition is a big rival or is a superior team to yours in terms of skill.  How do you keep the players focused on the game at hand and not the potential consequences of having to play a tough team?  I like to use some of the following methods: Remind the kids to have fun out there.  Basketball is just a game.  There will be a tomorrow regardless of what the score ends up being (it should be noted that I don't usually bring up score results in this conversation).  What I usually like to remind the kids is to take a deep breath and have fun. Place key words on the white board and mention them during pre-game.  These are process behaviors which help the team get into a focus mentally for the game.  The words/phrases should be simple and preferably words that you use r...