The key is that our coaching is authentic*. Athletes have really good B.S. detectors. We must be our authentic selves if we want to earn and keep their trust. And coaching is all about trust!
*Obviously our coaching should not harm our athletes, be it physically, emotionally, or mentally. There not being one way to coach is not a license to coach in a way that harms people.
#2: Bond Before You Battle The strength of relationship between coach and player is crucial to the health and success of the team and the individual athletes.
Having a trusting relationship established, which takes lots of time and intentionality, before going into the "big games" your team will play makes our athletes more open to the coaching and negative feedback we will likely have to deliver at some point during competition.
Bond before you battle. We have to earn their trust. I love seeing the bonds between coach-player that are filled with so much joy in victory and heart-break in defeat. You can tell a lot about the bond they share by watching their interactions in those moments.
What would your interactions with your athletes be like in those moments? What would you hope they would be like? Important questions to consider. Bond before you battle!
#3: Measure what Matters #13 Furman beat #4 Virginia in a massive upset in the first round of the tournament. In their second round game, which they ultimately lost, their head coach was talking to a sideline reported with 15 minutes left in the game and his team down 19.
Their Coach told the reporter they only had 65 EGBs. EGBs = Energy Giving Behaviors That was one of the primary issues he identified! You can probably guess what sorts of behaviors fall into this: high-fives, fist bumps, encouragement, etc.
Furman cares about it, so they measure it. Every at that point in the game, when most coaches would have talked about their shooting percentage or turnovers, he stayed focused on what matters to their team.
I know we all find ourselves in unique coaching contexts and often we feel we don't have the capability to measure things that we'd like to during a practice or game, but honestly, we need to stop making excuses and find a way to measure what matters.
If EGBs matter to you, find a coach, players, or parent to help you track them. If _________ (fill in the blank with an important stat for your sport) matters to you, measure it! As my friend @tylercoston says, "Measurement is Magic."
@tylercoston #4: Belief Matters In case you missed it, the #16 seed Farleigh Dickinson University (FDU) knocked off the #1 seed Purdue in the first round. It was only the second time in men's tournament history that a #16 seed has beaten a #1 seed.