Be Mindful of Coaching Speed and Structure

This article was originally posted on the HoopSpeak Coaches Forum on November 21.As coaches constantly cultivating our craft, we start out the season with myriad ideas concocted from a long off-season of watching, debating and theorizing. Then we attempt to integrate possible new schemes and skills into our philosophy and overall vision.Many coaches tend to move fast, not necessarily in their physical movements, but in their teachings. The John Wooden maxim, “Be quick, but don’t hurry” that was intended for player pace has applicability to coaches as well. Coaches who move too quickly – especially when it comes to the implementation of new plays and skills – may end up behind.According to Dr. Justin Anderson, a sport psychologist for Premier Sport Psychology in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., groups often move too fast without understanding how to connect the dots, specifically between an individuals’ intrinsic motivation, team goals, and players’ roles and responsibilities. “If a team...