Keep it Simple ... or Simple to Learn

I think a lot of times coaches get paralyzed by the phrase “K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). This does not mean we have to give up on teaching the game. It shouldn't scare coaches from implementing additional strategies or tactics that they feel necessary. What we can do is ensure that we are as concise and consistent as possible with terminology, principles, and tactics. If you are able to do this you can still take a pretty complex package and make it palatable for your players.

“The Princeton Offense” is looked at as complex, but that memorable backdoor to beat UCLA, in vintage Pete Carril lingo, was called "center-forward…because the ball goes to the center and then to the forward. Complex - but taught simply. Albert Einstein explanation of the complicated conversion of mass to energy is expressed in a formula so simple as E=MC². He once said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

We should keep that in mind when we coach. We don’t have to BE simple, but we CAN coach simply.

Kansas BLOB for a LOB

Nice Baseline Out of Bounds play run by Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks against the Memphis Tigers to get Cole Aldrich a dunk.



I see too many teams pass on this great scoring opportunity and simply run a play to get the ball in. Unless you are running some clock - take advantage and run a play to SCORE!

Ultimate Medicine Ball

One of my favorite conditioning activities in the off-season is a game I call Ultimate Medicine Ball (like Ultimate Frisbee). You play the game with a medicine ball (obviously), and play 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 with a 30 yard field, about the length of a basketball court. At each end of the field create a 15’ square end zone, about the size of the key.

The object of the game is to advance the ball up the field with a series of passes & score a point by passing the ball to a teammate inside the end zone. You may set screens or run offensive patterns to help get teammates open. You must only throw
two-handed passes – and encourage two-handed catches – they might even be necessary depending on the weight of the medicine ball. You may not run with the ball and you must maintain a pivot foot – just as in basketball.

Use this and skills such as pressuring the ball, denying passes, moving to get open, understanding spacing, passing catching, pivot feet, and advancing the ball up the floor are all skills that can be learned through this alternatbasketball principles. Plus it's fun and a great conditioner.

JUST ME

From the time I was little I knew I was great
`cause the people would tell me -"you`ll make it - just wait."
But they never did tell me how great I would be
if I ever played someone who was greater than me.

When I`m in my backyard -I`m king with the ball.
To swish all those baskets is no sweat at all.
But all of a sudden there`s a man in my face
who doesn`t seem to realize - I`m king of this place.

So the pressure gets to me - I rush with the ball.
My passes to teammates could fly through the wall.
My jumpers not falling - my dibbles not sure.
My hand is not steady - my eye is not pure.

The fault is my teammates - they don`t understand.
The fault is my coach`s - what a terrible plan.
The fault is the call by that blind referee
but the fault is not mine - I`m the greatest you see.

Then finally it hits me when I started to see
that the face in the mirror looks exactly like me.
It wasn`t my teammates who were dropping the ball
and it wasn`t my coach shooting bricks at the wall.

That face in the mirror that was always so great
had some room for improvement - instead of just hate.
So I stopped blaming others and I started to grow.
My play got much better and it started to show.

And all of my teammates didn`t seem quite so bad.
I learned to depend on the good friends I had.
Now I like myself better since I started to see -
I was lousy being great - I`m much better being me.

Tom Krause - Copyright 2000

Why The Elephants Don't Run

The following was forwarded to me and written by Jim Donovan

Do some coaches do this to young players? Have others done it to us?

A number of years ago, I had the rather unique experience of being backstage in Madison Square Garden, in New York, during the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. To say the least, it was a fascinating experience. I was able to walk around looking at the lions, tigers, giraffes and all the other circus animals. As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They think the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free."
I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they could not, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us are being held back by old, outdated beliefs that no longer serve us? Have you avoided trying something new because of a limiting belief? Worse, how many of us are being held back by someone else's limiting beliefs? Do you tell yourself you can't sell because you're not a salesperson?

Challenge your own limiting beliefs by questioning them. If you begin to question a belief, you automatically weaken it. The more you question your limiting beliefs, the more they are weakened. It's like kicking the legs out from under a stool. Once you weaken one leg, the stool begins to lose its balance and fall. Think back to a time when you "sold" someone on yourself. We are selling all the time. You have to sell your ideas to your spouse, your children, and your employees - even your banker. Maybe, as a child, you sold Girl Scout cookies or magazine subscriptions to raise money for your school team. That was selling too!

There is a technique called "fake it until you make it" that works well. I am not suggesting you live in denial, just that you begin to see yourself succeeding. Visualize your successes. See yourself vividly in your minds eye making the sale and reaching your goals. Affirm, over and over, that you are succeeding.

Write your affirmations daily. Of course, make sure you take the appropriate action. As it says in the Bible, "Faith without works is dead."

Remember that your subconscious mind does not know the difference between real and imaginary. Before you go on a sales call, take a moment and mentally rehearse the scene, just like actors and athletes do. Tell yourself, "I'm a great salesperson. " Do this over and over, especially just before a sales call. See the sale being made. See and feel the success. You will be pleasantly amazed at the result. Don't take my word for it. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It has been said throughout history that what ever you believe, with conviction, you can achieve. Don't be like the poor elephant and go through your life stuck because of a limiting belief you were given or developed years ago. Take charge of your life and live it to the fullest. You deserve the best!

© Copyright 2001 Jim Donovan
Visit Jim at His Website:
www.jimdonovan.com

Permanent Pivot Foot or Inside Pivot Foot

In a "catch and shoot" situation. We feel that a player must KNOW if he is open before the catch, when he/she is on the move. If he KNOWS he is open, he should plant the inside foot and rise into the shot. As he is heading towards the pass and he plants the inside foot, and it squares you to the basket a lot faster and is probably more comfortable. Quickness is the key to getting off a good shot. The emphasis on preparing their feet and being "shot ready" gets the player to be thinking about shooting on the catch - that's when a player should be most open. Also emphasize that this is a great time to use the defenders positioning against himself. Making a move to attack that defender is more often than not the best time to do so.

If there is any question that he is not open for a shot or immediate attack, he should establish his PERMANENT pivot foot and "free his shooting foot". This enables him to go into a "rocker series" of moves to attack the front foot (the one that is closest) of the defensive player. Establishing a pivot foot when catching the ball out on the floor is essential to "squaring up" (facing the basket) and getting into triple threat position (the ability to pass, dribble or shoot effectively) The pivot is a fundamental skill that can get a player relief from pressure defense, and can be a great skill to have to begin an offensive move.

HOW to square up (although I don't think you really want to be 100% square) is the question. There are a couple of schools of thought. The conventional method is to plant the inside foot (the foot closest to the middle of the floor when you are moving to the ball. Contrary to that is the method that many coaches and players are using today, and that is to use a "PERMANENT PIVOT FOOT". A permanent pivot foot simplifies the learning process, especially with younger players, and cuts the number of moves to learn in half. In this method, the player plants the SAME foot all the time.

The object is to "free your shooting foot". Now, you don’t shoot with your foot - it’s the foot on the same side as the hand that you shoot with (right handed-right foot). You plant the opposite foot, and now your shooting foot can move to either step into a shot, or use foot fakes (rocker moves) to attack the defense. I think this is a far more comfortable action that allows the player to develop the best rhythm. Given a choice I think most players would prefer to have their shooting foot free. If we watch the NBA, Some of the best perimeter players of the era (Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, Mcgrady, etc) are using the PERMANENT PIVOT FOOT and always have their shooting foot free.

All other things being equal, the players with the best feet are usually the best players.

Effort Goals

Coach Sallie Guillory, Assistant Womens Coach at McNeese St posted the following on Twitter:

Coach Crean has these boards up in locker rooms and watch film after games so they are updated when team comes in the next day...
1.) Deflections (Individual)
2.) Charges taken (2 deflections count as a charge)
3.) Forced turnovers
4.) M.A.’s (missed assignments)
5.) 50/50 Ball + or - in getting to
6.) Shot challenges. Use charts to get percentage of challenged shots
7.) Block outs. Strive for 85%
8.) Blow Bye’s- 1 on 1 defense

Marquette offensive board
1.) Missed Layups- 10 push ups/after a loss 25 pushups
2.) Bad shots vs. open shots
3.) Missed Assignments. Ex: screens, cuts, spacing of penetration, positions
4.) Assists
5.) Offensive rebound attempts

Goals are great. It’s hard to know if you are improving if you don’t set goals and keep track of how well you are doing in moving toward the goals. Most coaches set Outcome Goals, which are highly dependent on the quality of one’s opponent and tend to reflect the results and the scoreboard. Positive Coaching Alliance talks alot about effort goals. Effort goals are largely under one’s control regardless of the competition and tend to reflect a players personal excellence. Effort is everything that leads up to the possibility of having a successful outcome.

Things like Deflections, Contested Shots. Block Outs, and Offensive Rebound attempts are all Effort Goals. If you contest enough shots (we would strive for a 90% contested shot rate) the opponent will probably shoot a low percentage - the desired result of your efforts. If you block out 85% of the time - you'll get the defensive rebounds you should. And if you just attempt to get enough offensive rebounds - some are bound to bounce your way.

Chart an equal number of *Effort Goals* & mental or lack of effort errors...then use "symbolic rewards" to acknowledge those players with cumulative positive results. Try to make it equal - players need to know there are at least as many *positive behaviors* you will praise as there are negative behaviors you will scold. There should be as many ways to get to the penthouse as there are ways to get in your doghouse!

If you strive to reach your Effort Goals you have a better chance to achieve your Result Goals!

BE BIG ON THE LITTLE THINGS!

During the preseason, as basketball coaches are introducing the offensive and defensive game plans, philosophies, and strategies, it is easy to forget some basic actions that can improve players and the team. There are some fundamental things that ANY player can commit to doing, simply by putting their mind to it, without needing to get better at any "basketball fundamentals". These "commitments" can make the player more effective IMMEDIATELY without getting any better at “basketball skills”.

➢ PLAY WITH YOUR KNEES BENT.
Always stay in an athletic stance. It is your point of maximum explosion. Be just like a track sprinter coming out of the blocks. Have your knees bent. Be on balance. Be ready to move. You will get open on offense more often. You will guard your man on defense easier. The player with the lowest active stance usually wins.

➢ GET A HAND UP ON EVERY SHOOTER
The only person who can score is the one with the ball. Go guard him even if he is not your man. Help your teammates when their man is open. Go guard him. Contest the shot even if it means leaving your feet, but don’t fall for a head fake too easily!

➢ GAIN POSSESSION WITH TWO HANDS
Always catch the ball with 2 hands--concentrate on the catch before you do anything else. Rebound with 2 hands--and try for every one. Pick up a loose ball with 2 hands--pick it up, don’t dribble it. You will get more possessions for your team and each possession is another chance to score.

➢ TRY TO OUT RUN YOUR OPPONENT EVERY TIME
You will usually break their will with your first three steps. Get ahead of the defense and your teammates will throw you the ball. It will help you get easy shots on offense with your fast break. If you beat the offense back, they may not even try to run their fast break. Getting back on defense will help stop their fast break and cut down on their easy shot attempts.

➢ PASS TO THE FIRST OPEN PERSON
Passing the ball is faster than dribbling it. If you move the ball, you make the defense adjust and they might make a mistake and leave someone (maybe you!) open. If you see an open teammate--throw them the ball. Don’t wait for a better pass. Remember - "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

There are some more "little things" that you can do to be a more effective player for your team.

➢ OFFENSIVE EXTRAS
Establish a pivot foot
When you catch the ball, plant one foot and establish a pivot foot. Now that you have a pivot foot you can use the other foot for a "rocker move" that can fake out a defender, set up another move, or to create a better passing angle.

Face the basket
When you catch the basketball, turn & face the basket, read the defense and make a move on the catch if it is there. If not get into "triple threat position". This is the position that you will be able to shoot, pass, or dribble from. Then the defense has more things to worry about and you will be hard to guard.

Dribble for a reason
If you dribble the basketball, only dribble for a good reason. Good reasons to dribble are: to dribble the ball up the floor, to drive to the basket, to get in better position to make a pass, or to relieve some defensive pressure.

Good shot or Bad shot?
Don’t ever surprise anyone with your shot. If your teammates and coach expect you to shoot, it’s probably a shot that they think you can make. They also will be ready for an offensive rebound or to get back on defense. That makes it a good shot. A rebound gives your team another chance to score. If your team is not back on defense, you might give up an easy fast break basket to the other team.

➢ DEFENSIVE EXTRAS
Pressure on the Basketball
Always try to put defensive pressure on the player with the basketball. Pressure makes the offense worry more about the defense than what they are supposed to do in their offense. Rick Majerus, when he was the coach at the University of Utah, said that pressure is when the referee is counting. If the defense is within 6 feet, the offense can only hold the ball for 5 seconds each. Play close enough to the ball to try to get a "5 second count"

Jump to the pass
When you are on defense, every time someone passes the basketball, take a few steps in the direction that it is thrown. This will put you in a position to stop your man if he tries to cut to the basket. You also will be in the right spot to help your teammates, if their man dribbles by them.

See your man and the basketball
Always be able to see your man & the man with the basketball. You need to be able stop your man AND help your teammates if they get beat on the dribble.

Stop the basketball
When on defense, react to the basketball and help your teammates. The only man that can score is the man with the ball. If he’s open - go guard him. If he passes the ball back to your man, sprint back and be ready to pressure him again.

➢ THE BOTTOM LINE
On offense, make sure that your team gets a shot every time.

On defense contest every shot the other team takes.

More on the Mistake Ritual

The beauty of the mistake ritual is that it allows players to flush, brush off, throw away, or put mistakes behind them. The only part of the mistake a player needs to remember is that part that teaches them. So we don't want players to simply "forget it" we want them to learn from it. Depending upon the sport you have 5, 6, 9, 11 players to coach and any number of them may have made some mistake on each and every play. You don't have time to make all those corrections so a simple sign or symbol says the rest. If they don't KNOW you saw it - they also don't KNOW it's OK... so you have to do something. If that something is a verbal barrage they'll be afraid of making a mistake next time and if it's a litany of instructions we run the risk of "Paralysis by Analysis". If it's a simple "mistake ritual" it may say, and do, all you need in mere seconds.

I wrote about the few things that have to happen In order to learn from mistakes. The most important thing is that the player must Recognize that a mistake was made. If the player recognizes it on their own, there is no need for the coach to pile on. As a coach, most of the time you can tell whether they know or not - if not you may need to let them know, and thats alright. A player must also have some Reassurance that it's OK and they can play without the *fear* of making another one. That's why I like the word "encourage". It EN-ables players to play with the COURAGE to try... without the fear of making a mistake.

Sometimes, if a player doesn't know what they did wrong, they may need some of that Re-instruction. This works best if it's a short "trigger word" rather than a long explanation. Communicating your terminology and an economy of words is key when it comes to coaching - especially during games. A word or two and they should know what correction they need to make. Whatever your "ritual" is, if the players know it means, "I saw you made the mistake, it's OK, (insert trigger word here), now let's go!" they can learn AND move on. At that point the most important thing they need to get Ready for the next play. They can't do anything about the last one. Except learn from it.

You might ask, "Do we want to treat a mental mistake the same as striking out with the bases loaded? That would lead me to consider "when a mistake is *not* OK". By using a "mastery" definition of winning where trying your best, learning what you can, and bouncing back from mistakes is more important than the scoreboard, it is simple to define what mistakes are not OK. Those that come from lack of effort or repeated mistakes that indicate a lack of learning. Those need to be dealt with. But it's not the "mistake" and how it effects the score that is the problem - it is the action that caused the mistake. So we go back to the drawing board put in more effort, learn some more and try again. Without the worry that accompanies scoreboard watching.

Mistake Rituals

Do any of you use a "mistake ritual" with your players? You probably do and just don't know it. But if not... why not? When a player looks at the bench after a mistake What are they looking for?And what does he or she see? Does it help them 1) recognize it was a mistake, 2) reassure them that it's OK, 3) re-instruct them , and 4) help them get Ready for the next play? Anything else is defeating the purpose. I wrote about it here a little more than a year ago, during the Lakers/Celtics final. The Lakers sure put that one behind them and learned from it.

A "mistake ritual" can help players put that mistake behind them and play without the fear of making another. Some good examples of rituals and those who uses them are here in this blog. But it's really about Positive Coaching Alliance starting a National Conversation on best practices. Read and comment here if you have any thoughts on the "mistake ritual". Take part in the Conversation. Nationally.

And thanks to those who signed the petition already, others if you could take a minute and do your part to creating an official National Coach Appreciation Week

While coaches are teachers coaches deserve a separate week just as teachers do, to bring schools and communities together to honor those that teach life through sports to our next generation.

Three Posts

The typical basketball lineup in recent years has been three perimeter players with two post players, maybe one more comfortable on the block and another able to step outside a bit. A recent trend is going 4-out around a single post and many teams are even playing open-post, due to the shortage of bigs or the versatility of their players. However, many coaches ask, "What if THREE of my best players are posts and I want them ALL on the floor?" Here is an offense that might fit those needs.

This offense can also be run with three perimeter players and two post players out of a 1-4 set, but here is an option with two guards and three forwards/posts. Coaches should work to develop enough perimeter skill in your post players to catch the ball on the perimeter, look to feed the post, and be able to reverse the basketball. Any more than that and it is a definite bonus.

This creates some great post up opportunities by erasing the help, off cross screens and then getting the ball to your posts on the move. All screens are big/little screens which make them difficult to switch. It also has some classic screen-the-screener movement to get your guards perimeter shots and offers more post ups off the screening action. This can be run as a continuity/track offense – or it can reset to a 2-3 after each cycle.

Mindset and Developing Confidence

A players confidence, generally, comes from experiencing REPEATED SUCCESS. This success begins in practice. When a player has worked in practice enough, and done all that she can, she should KNOW that she has prepared enough to play, and that's what's really important. Too often success tends to be defined by results and the scoreboard. The great basketball coach John Wooden uses the definition of success as "Peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable." In much the same way, at Positive Coaching Alliance we strive to redefine and reinforce a more complete definition of "Winning" or success.

The traditional definition of a winner is the person or team that does the best on the scoreboard. Even a team that is outplayed in every facet of a game but comes away with more points on the scoreboard is declared the winner. Whereas the scoreboard definition is concerned with results over which no one has complete control, what we call Mastery focuses on effort over which one almost always has control. The scoreboard framework focuses on comparisons with others, and it spawns counter-productive thinking. "Am I better than she is?" "Is she better than me?" "Are we going to win? Lose?" These are issues over which an athlete has no immediate control and tends to cause anxiety.

The Mastery focus, instead, falls on learning and improvement. It fosters this important line of thinking: "How hard am I trying? How much of myself am I giving? I may not be able to control whether I am better than someone else or whether I can win the game, but I can control whether I continue to learn and improve." This mental framework, which takes work to develop, gives the athlete a sense of mastery, bolsters self-confidence and, as a by-product, improves performance. What is important to know is that a focus on mastery tends to decrease anxiety and increase self-confidence. When athletes experience less anxiety, they tend to experience more joy in sports. And when self-confidence increases some very good things happen.

As parents we can set an example with our conversations. Have a good attitude and it may be contagious. Continue to believe in your daughter and she may believe in herself. There are some great Parent Tips and Tools on our website at http://www.positivecoach.org. Some recommended reading would be a book titled "Mindset" by PCA Advisory Board Member Carol Dwek. Some players may have developed a "fixed" mindset, that thinks performance is based on talent or whether we are "on" that day - and either we "have it" or we don't. What is preferable is if we can transition that to a "Growth" mindset that looks at obstacles as challenges to overcome.

The most important aspect of competition is to continue to have fun in the process. Foster that fun. If a player isn't having fun they tend not to work as diligently as they could to really improve. Make sure she has a GREAT time, and continues to work as hard as she has. With a Mastery focus and a Growth mindset she will know that she has given her all, to be all that she can be, and that there are no problems that she can't work to overcome. Then she'll have CONFIDENCE for sure!