Is Less More? Jim Valvano's Shocking Practice Approach
I have been coaching for a long time. Every day I spend in this business, I learn something new. For 41 years, I believe I have been evolving as a coach.
One of the things I have learned and believe is that coaches coach the way they were coached. I was no different. I played for a couple of yellers and screamers in my HS and college playing career. When I started coaching, I became a yeller and a screamer.
Through my assistant coaching career, I worked for a couple of guys who felt it was important to show the team how much basketball he knew, every practice. The result of that was our practices were ridiculously long. When I became a head coach, I was looking to run 3 - 3 1/2 hour practices. That's what I knew. That's what I did.
I had the privilege of gaining some overseas coaching projects as well. I've been to 18 different countries. There are countries where, culturally, yelling, screaming and 5-hour practices are the expectations. Players go through it, because they are professionals and they are used to it.
However, privately, both players and coaches complained of loss of enthusiasm, passion concentration and the drudgery of the long season. That's all they know, it is the norm. The circle will be unbroken.
Jim Valvano and the Non-Scrimmage Practice
As a young coach I had the privilege to have a relationship with the late, great Jim Valvano. Jim was all about making the game fun. His players always played hard, played well and were very loyal. He would tell me things that I didn't agree with, but always remembered.
Let's get our perspective right. I was 23 years old, at the beginning of my career, never coached a game and he was 2 years away from winning a National Championship with North Carolina State. So, naturally, I knew more basketball than he did.
I was a practice freak. I wanted to be able to run the best practices of anyone in the world. I was constantly asking more experienced coaches what they did in their practices at certain times of the year.
I was shocked when Valvaono told me that, in February, his practice schedule looked like this:
- Fouls Shots
Scouting Report
Go Home
I was shocked. Remember, I was a yeller and a screamer. I wanted to give my team everything I knew about basketball, every day. And, I knew more about coaching than he did (remember?). I asked him about it.
No scrimmage? "Well, we're playing 3 times a week.. How much more scrimmage do you want?
No offensive repetitions? "If they don't know what we are doing by now, another day isn't going to help?"
No running or conditioning? "There comes a time in your season when rest is more important than work."
Jim Valvano's Most Important Thing In Practice
Then he asked me what I thought coaching was about. I talked about winning, losing, teaching, etc. The same things that my coaches did when I was playing.
Valvano said to me, "That may be involved, but, the most important thing a coach can do (in regard to basketball) is, when your team leaves practice on Monday, they look forward to coming back to practice on Tuesday."
Because I knew more about coaching than he did, I didn't really buy in but I did store it in my memory.
I went about my coaching life, yelling and screaming, having 4 - 5 hour practices, not being able to figure out why my teams looked so exhausted at the end of the season and the end of games. Why were they so sour when they were in the gym?
In the middle of one particular objectionable season, his words came back to me. We started to shorten practice and inject a little fun. My team started to play better.
I spent the off-season talking to my players. I always talked to them but this off-season there was a slight change, I actually listened to them.
Every Season Started With This Agreement
The result of that was this.
Every season started with the same statement, "I will never ask you to come into the gym and waste your time. If I do, you have to tell me."
I tried to get rid of all the crap that had no purpose that coaches did, simply because it was expected or I wanted to prove how smart I am.
I stopped filling spots on my practice plan just because I knew how.
I stopped yelling and screaming and I talked to people. They talked back to me and they actually learned.
Because practice became a productive and, dare I say, a fun place to be, players looked forward to coming, got better, the team got better and we started to win some games.
I was doing a little research on my profession and came across these two articles that illustrate my points more eloquently than I could.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/charlotte-49ers/article240686231.html
I am not saying that you should do what I do, become what I have become or evolve the way I have. You have to do what is right for you. I simply wanted to relay my experience to give you a perspective that you can use to become a better coach.
I hope it helps you and your teams.
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