Who Are You Coaching For?

By Don Kelbick

Coaching is teaching. New ideas, new thoughts, trying to find ways to improve your players is all a part of coaching.

Coaching is also about control. Many coaches have become so involved with “my way or the highway,” that they miss the overall objective.

The objective is to maximize the players’ ability, not to get them to do what you want. All players are different. The way they learn and perform is unique. Trying to fit a player into a preconceived notion of the way he plays will almost always produce the opposite of the intended effect.

There was a story in the Miami Herald newspaper, recently, that caught my eye. The story was about a freshman player at the University of Miami named Shane Larkin. The reason that it sparked my interest was not because of who he is or how good a player he is (which is pretty good), but rather why he turned to basketball.

When he was younger, Larkin was a pretty good multi sport athlete. In fact, according to the story, baseball was his favorite sport. At least it was, until he ran into a coach who, after watching him bang out hit after hit, said to him that his hitting technique was based on luck and his good fortune would not last. If he wanted to be a good hitter, he had to change the way he hits the ball. The story said, after that discussion, he quit baseball.

On its surface, you might say that Larkin lacked the ability to accept criticism, learn new ideas or adapt to situations. But, in learning about his decision, you have to look beneath the surface.

For those of you who are not familiar with American baseball or are too young to remember some names, Shane Larkin is the son of baseball royalty. His father Barry Larkin is one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game. For 19 years, Barry Larkin was the shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds. In those 19 years, Barry was an All-Star 12 times and won the Most Valuable Player award once. His fielding prowess was second to none and his hitting production compares favorably to the game’s all time greats. In 2012, he was the only player elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Growing up in that household would produce enough knowledge for any aspiring baseball player. But Shane went further than that. He lists his hitting instructors, in addition to his father, Tony Perez and Pete Rose. I would think that they would know a little bit about hitting. Perez is a Hall-Of-Famer who is one of the all time leaders in runs-batted-in and a number of other power hitting categories. Pete Rose is hitting. He, simply, has more hits than any other baseball player in history.

These are the players that taught Shane Larkin how to hit. I would think that the coach that recommended that Larkin change his hitting theories could probably learn from him.

My question is this; what was this coach trying to accomplish? Was he really trying to teach Larkin to be a better hitter? Or was the coach get him to hit his way, whether it was good for him or not?

That really is something to think about. Coaching should be about teaching, adjusting and maximizing players. Unfortunately, for many coaches, it is about control. I read it in comments and hear it in conversations every day. I also see it in practice and it can be destructive. Too many times I see coaches try to work with absolutes, pass this way, shoot this way, etc. They lose sight of the fact that all players are different and they are unique.

I have learned that there is no “right” way to do things on the basketball court. What is right for Billy might not be right for Bobby. There is, however, effective. Method 1 might be effective for Billy and method 2 might be effective for Bobby. As a coach, we should be open to evaluating which method is best for which player. Allow them to explore what works for them.

More importantly, as a coach, evaluate yourself as to what you are teaching and why. Be honest, are you teaching to improve your players or are you teaching to soothe your own ego? Are the issues really that of deficiency in your player or your own control issues?

As coaches, these are things that we have to decide every day. Keep perspective, teach your players, allow them to learn.

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

When You Evaluate, Be Sure To Evaluate What You Evaluate

By Don Kelbick

Here in the land of “LeBronica” (formerly know as Miami), a Miami Heat game is occasion to reinvent the game. Nowhere, in my memory, has a team been over-analyzed, over dissected, reconstructed and otherwise ridiculously evaluated.

Each loss is a reason to fire the coach and break up the team. Each win is a reason to cancel the rest of the season and hand them a championship.

The latest evaluation is the fact they are 5-14 (at this writing) in “close” games (decided by 5 points or less) and 1-19 when taking the last shot for the game (keep in mind that some of the games were tied and went into overtime).

While that statistic might be true, keep in mind that in this world there are 3 kinds of people, liars, damn liars and statisticians. Statistics like that are useless unless put in some type of context. As I listen to the radio every day, watch ESPN, NBATV and other analysts discuss their ideas, as usual, mine are different.

I have sat in countless coaching meetings, listening to coaches massage their egos with statistics, trying to find reasons for wins and losses. Usually the answer is not found in statistics. I remember Jim Valvano, the late great NC State coach and TV broadcaster telling me a story about the football team when he was the athletic director at NC State. Their team had just been beaten 44-3. In the press conference, the Head Football coach was answering questions about the loss in the press conference with, ”I don’t know. I have to look at the film.” Valvano stood up in the back of the room and said, “I’ll tell you what happened and I don’t have to watch the film.” The coach said, “Okay, what happened?” Valvano said, “You got your ass kicked!” Sometimes it is just that simple.

In evaluating teams, others will evaluate results. As coaches and players, we should evaluate process. Statistics (and score is a statistic), are meaningless unless we relate them to something. Is losing at the buzzer by missing a shot really losing a close game? Maybe you think that is a strange question. But, let’s look a little deeper.

In examining the Heat’s close losses look like this. Against the Knicks, they had a 23 point lead in the third quarter, lost by 3. Against Orlando, had a 24 point lead in the 3rd quarter, lost by 2. Against the Bulls, had a 12 point lead deep into the 4th quarter, lost by 2. Against Utah, had a 23 point lead in the 3rd quarter, lost by 4 in overtime. In fact, in 11 of their 14 loses, they had double digit leads deep in the 2nd half. Now you tell me, are those really close games?

I am not evaluating the Heat’s play, players, coaches or anything else. Nor am I criticizing the evaluators. What I am saying is you have to look beyond the final score to get at what the real problems are.

Last second shots are rare. Some go in, some don’t. Walk into a gym, pick up a ball and throw it at the basket. Some will go in, some won’t. It is not an indicator of talent or ability. But when you consistently have the same problem, and it is a bigger problem but not a bigger situation, true causes, effects and fixes are often hidden. It seems to me, if the Heat are able to get at the cause of losing such large leads consistently, what happens at the end of the game will straighten itself out.

In the Orlando game, they were outscored 41 – 19 over the last 14 minutes of the game. That is not very good play. So, was the fact that they missed the game tying jumper indicative of not being able to play in the last minute or was it just a continuation of the poor play over the last 14 minutes. Though we try, we really can’t isolate the last minute or 30 seconds or 10 seconds from the rest of the game. When you have missed 12 shots in a row, why do you expect you will hit number 13? Because it is the last one? When you have played poorly for 13 minutes and 50 seconds, why would you be surprised by playing poorly in the last 10 seconds?

I am not talking about the belief that the next shot will go in. We all have to have that belief or we can’t play. I am talking about evaluating the game and improving your team. If you have not screened well the whole game and you miss the last shot, don’t work on last second plays, work on screening. If you haven’t defended over the last 10 minutes of the game and miss the last shot, don’t fix your offense, fix your defense.

Here is the danger in evaluating the result instead of the game. I was listening to an interview with Chris Bosh after the Chicago lost. In this game, they missed a box out on a defensive foul shot and Mike Miller fouled on the rebound giving the Bulls 2 foul shots for the game. Bosh said it is difficult to get over the fact that they missed 1 box out and it cost them the game. No Chris! You lost because you lost a 12 point lead with 5 minutes to go by taking bad shots and turning the ball over. That is why the last play was significant. Not a bigger problem but a bigger situation. If they hadn’t lost the 12 point lead, the last play is incidental.

By focusing on the last play, the bigger, more consistently occurring issues will never get solved.

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

8 Secrets To Success & How They Relate To Youth Coaching / Parenting

By Joe Haefner

Here are the 8 secrets to success mentioned in the video:

1. Passion
2. Hard Work
3. Get Good
4. Focus
5. Push Yourself
6. Serve Others Value
7. Ideas
8. Persist

Is it a coincidence that passion is listed first?  I don’t think so and I think almost everybody would agree that being passionate about something is probably the first step in being successful.  If you’re passionate about something, it’s a lot easier to work hard, get good, focus, push yourself, serve others value, come up with ideas, and persist through the “CRAP”.

If this holds true, why do so many coaches and parents push their kids into organized sports, make them practice, and act like drill sergeants?  I don’t know about you, but this treatment would  most likely cause me to resent the sport rather than love it.

Do you think MJ would have loved basketball if his dad was yelling at him every day to get on the court and practice?

Let the kids develop their passion and help guide them to succeed.

When a parent loves doing something and makes that same activity enjoyable for the child, the child will be more likely to pick up that same passion.  Is it a coincidence that my dad and brother were coaches before me?  I don’t think so.

What do you think?

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Are You A Leader?

By Joe Haefner

View this video on leadership from walkthetalk.com : Leadership Video.  It has some great stuff. 

Here is my favorite quote from the video:

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams 

It doesn’t matter if you are a coach or a player, you are a leader to somebody.  It could be your players.  It could be your teammates.   It could be your family.  It could be your co-workers.  It could be a schoolmate.  It could be anybody.

www.walkthetalk.com has some fantastic videos and motivational quotes. If you haven’t signed up for their free newsletter, I would highly recommend it.