5 Tips to Become a More Effective Coach

The best basketball coaches are as much psychologists as they are strategists or teachers of the game. I was fortunate over my time as a player to play for many good coaches. Although I played at both the University and College levels my favorite coach was someone who coached me at ages 10 and 11. His name is Ron Dawson.

From what I remember Coach Dawson was adequate at teaching the game but his real strength was connecting with his players. He had an expression he would use sometimes, “let’s play animal ball.” On paper it wasn’t a strategy that would be considered effective since it mostly resulted in everyone chasing the ball but we won a TON of tournaments. We didn’t win because we played ‘animal ball’, we won because he made us believe in him. He built relationships with all of us. I always felt important around him. I always felt I was better than I actually was. He would always yell “Who’s a Team?” to which we would respond “WE ARE!” To this day I use that same rallying cry with my teams. It is inscribed inside the band of our National Championship rings.

Coach Dawson was in the minority. When I grew up there seemed to be less worry about finding the right buttons to push to get the most out of someone. There was a common theme of dictatorship and the majority of coaches yelled at everyone within range. That was their one and only move. The players responded out of fear. There is still some of that today but a growing sector of the population would now consider that bullying (and rightfully so). Old school coaches usually counter that by saying today’s generation is soft. As in most discussions about topics that span generations the truth probably lies somewhere between the two extremes.

The reality is that everyone is different. The more you talk to someone and observe them, the more you understand them. Simple, right? As we’ll discuss in this article the process of gaining that understanding is critical for success. Your goal as a coach is to build a relationship with each player. The foundations of your relationships are based on how much you genuinely try to connect. If you truly care about your players it will show through. Relationships with players are strengthened with every question you ask about them as a person, not just a player.

A coach’s ability to challenge players becomes a huge piece in the team dynamic. How successful you are at it will have a dramatic impact in your team’s success. You need your players to respond to challenges with focus, a sense of responsibility to the team and a desire to overcome. What kind of response would you expect to this scenario? It’s the biggest moment of a game, you call timeout and look a player in the eyes and ask “we need you to stop your man on this possession, can you do that for us?” Yes, every player will accept that challenge, but there is a huge difference in how hard they try when they truly feel a sense of responsibility to more than themselves. If you have put in the time to build strong relationships and genuinely care for your players as people, you will get the result you desired more often than not.

I’d like to challenge all the coaches out there. Below is a list of five coaching tips to help you become more effective. Go to practice this week and use these tips. Help build relationships with your players and develop their trust in you as a coach and a person. That trust is required for your players to not only accept your challenges but to thrive while doing so. If you’re currently not using these tips you will love the new energy your team finds in the coming weeks.

“The foundations of your relationships are based on how much you genuinely try to connect. If you truly care about your players it will show through.”

ASK A LOT OF QUESTIONS. Even when you know the answers, still ask the questions. You want players who are always on their toes, focused and engaged. You want them to think about the answer before you even ask. The activity of a player thinking about a response is much more memorable than you dictating the answer.

This goes for your players too. Encourage them to ask questions when they’re unsure – if one player has a question that usually means others have the same question. Players remember their peers’ questions more than they will remember you talking at them. Besides, the whole team benefits when everyone’s questions are answered.

YELL WITH A PURPOSE. Most coaches yell because they are angry about something. Channel that anger and focus on the message. Your job is to communicate that message in a manner that will be received with open ears. Yelling derogatory things at a player does not build upon that relationship. One quick tip: don’t correct in the moment, emotions are usually too raw, wait for a better, quieter time.

That being said, I also believe yelling can be a very effective tool. Be careful though, the more you reach for that tool the less receptive your players become. Limit yelling to four or five times a year. There is magic to infrequently raising your voice. One word of caution, do not EVER make it personal… EVER. Remember, whatever it was that upset you there is something to be learned from it. Find a way to make the yelling meaningful.

HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH EVERY PLAYER EVERY DAY. You don’t need to go into deep and time consuming conversations. What was your favorite class that you had today? Are you doing anything fun this weekend? It is your job to make time for these conversations. Have them while everyone is waiting for the practice before you to end, during warm-ups or cool down time. Every time you talk to a player one on one about something other than basketball you connect. It matters to them that the coach sees them as more than just a player.

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YOUR GOAL IS TO GET PLAYERS BUYING IN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO. You will always have better results when someone does something they also believe in. Forcing a player to do something they don’t want to do or aren’t comfortable doing rarely works out well. Put your players in situations they can succeed in. While talking with your players you will learn more about their personalities, preferences and interests. This will make it much easier to understand which player will succeed in which situation.

Sometimes you won’t have a single player on your team that can succeed in a certain situation. Maybe you don’t have any shooters on your team. Don’t give up, find the hardest working player on your team, tell him/her you need a shooter real bad this year and you believe it could be them. That player may not become the shooter you need but you can bet they will work hard to impress you and improve a lot more than they would have otherwise.

FIND THE MAGIC BUTTON FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL. Some players respond well when yelled at. Some recoil. Some respond to being centered out and others will go into a shell. Some players only respond to positive reinforcement. That’s not for you to change. And it’s not the players’ role to adjust to your style. Part of your job description as the adult, the leader and the coach is to adapt to your surroundings. The previous four tips will lead you directly to the answers for this one. Not all players are created equal. Similarly, you can’t expect their personalities to be the same either. Learn about your players, find out what makes each person tic and vary your approach accordingly. Your team will overachieve on all levels.

Being a great coach doesn’t always require you to be the strongest at the X’s and O’s but ALL the great coaches find a way to connect!