Wooden & Walsh On The Process

The following was taken from an interview that Steve Jamison did about writing about these two coaches.

 Bill Walsh said the score takes care of itself. And he really meant that. In our conversations, he explained how he placed his emphasis on doing things the right way. His primary focus when he took over the 49ers was not on telling everyone when the team would win the Super Bowl. He talked a great deal about his expectations for everyone in the organization. He wanted players, coaches, and staff members to focus on executing the details of their roles.

John Wooden has some maxims on this topic that I really like. He says, “Little things make big things happen,” and “There are no big things, only an accumulation of little things done well.” He never said, “We will win a championship this year,” or “Our goal is to go undefeated.” He never talked like that. He never announced an audacious goal such as winning a national championship. He focused on doing the right things right now.

Good Player, Great Player, Superb Player

GOOD PLAYER, GREAT PLAYER, SUPERB PLAYER


Positioning, Anticipation and Technique give Quickness; Therefore, you can always get quicker.

A Good player knows where he is on the court.
A Great player knows where everyone is on the court.
A Superb player knows where everyone is on the court and what everyone is going to do.

If It Doesn't Serve, Don't Say It

We talk to our team about focusing on the words they speak.  Words have power.

From the book, "Rolling Thunder, an American Indian medicine man":

• "People have to be responsible for their thoughts, so they have to learn to control them.  It may not be easy, but it can be done.  First of all, if we don't want to think certain things we don't say them.  We don't have to eat everything we see, and we don't have to say everything we think.  So we begin by watching our words and speaking with good purpose only."

Marshall Thurber, successful realtor in San Francisco, agreed with his staff to only speak with good purpose.  That is, "If it doesn't serve, don't say it."

Seth Godin On Productivity & Taking Action

Productive Magazine recently interviewed Seth Godin. Below are some of Godin's thoughts on productivity:

1.  I focus very much on the things that have leverage and try very hard to avoid things that are stalling.
2. I focus on things I can do well and do them with leverage and passion and don't let the resistance slow me down.

Productive Question to Godin--"So, if you are busy and and you have so many things to do, how do you balance your family life?  How do you find time for the ones you love?"

Godin:--"You know it's funny.  People never say, "how do you find time to have lunch or dinner? or how do you find the time to sleep?"  We are not talking of life-lunch balance.  So I'm not sure I'm interested in conversation about life-work balance.  I think you have to have the discipline to have the life you want to have. And if you are stealing from one part of your life in order to make the other part work, you are going to pay for it."

Winning The Games Within The Game--Baseline Out of Bounds

We try to cover some special situations every practice in a 5 minute period.
A game situation to cover is Baseline out of Bounds and Sideline out of Bounds.
In the breakdown the defense has to get a deflection on the inbounds pass or they do push-ups, etc.

Great Leaders Do Not Avoid Small Duties

There is an incident told of the Revolutionary War, about an officer who ordered his men to cut down some trees which were needed to make a bridge.  There were not nearly enoubh men, and work was going very slowly.  Up rode a commanding-looking man and spoke to the officer in charge, who was urging his men but doing nothing himself.  "You haven't enough men for the job, have you?"

"No, sir.  We need some help."

"Why don't you lend a hand yourself?" asked the man on horseback.

"Me, sir?  Why, I am a corporal," replied the officer, looking rather affronted at the suggestion.

"Ah, true," quietly replied the other, and getting off his horse he labored with the men until the job was done.  Then he mounted again, and as he rode off he said to the officer,

"Corporal, the next time you have a job to put through and too few men to do it you had better send for the Commander-In-Chief, and I will come again."

It was George Washington.

The Battlefield of the Mind

It's been said, "The mental is to physical as 4 is to 1." The longer we coach, the more we know that to be true.  I recently listened to Dr. Jason Selk, Director of Mental Training for the St. Louis Cardinals talk about their mental training.

One statement made me really stop and think about our team's mental training.  Selk said that players will not, "outperform or underperform their self-image very long."

Self-image is largely determined by how we talk to ourselves.  Therefore, to increase performance we must help our players improve their self-image.

Adversity is assured for all of us

ADVERSITY IS ASSURED FOR ALL OF US.

I recently read Don Yaeger's new book: Greatness:  The 16 Characteristics of True Champions.
I've included some of his thoughts on adversity.  As a coach/ parent it's the toughest thing to teach how to respond to.  Below are some great thoughts on attacking adversity in our lives.

• The truly Great use adversity as fuel.
• The truly Great find opportunity in the worst of times.
• Adversity, be it in life, health, business or any other realm, can be the distinguishing factor between a successful leader and an unsuccessful one.
• Transform disappointments into Great success.
• Adversity is one of the most potent forces in life, one that can bring out your best or your worse.  Ultimately it's up to you.  How will you handle obstacles?  Will they be roadblocks or springboards?
• Think about one or two of the most difficult challenges of your life, and count how many positive things ultimately came out of the experience.
• Our reaction to adversity shapes our character, clarifies our priorities and can fuel our path to Greatness.

Transcending Ordinary Effort

Ordinary effort is when you're comfortable. That's mediocrity. A lot of athletes work within their comfort zone, physically and technically. They don't feel like they are going to lose control, or pass out from fatigue. But when you practice within your comfort zone you are not preparing yourself for a game. In a game situation, the other team is trying to take you out of your comfort zone. So, as soon as they do, you're in unfamiliar territory. You panic. You make a mistake, or lose the ball.

The challenge for you as an individual athlete is to find a way to elevate your environment. That's not easy. It's tough to keep yourself on edge independently. But this is what separates the truly great players apart. It is their capacity to do what Dorrance calls "flame on"--to hit a button and just ignite.

Take your practice to the most intense level and then your improvement is going to be remarkable. It will separate you from the ordinary.

--Taken from The Vision of a Champion by Anson Dorrance

10 End of Game Situations: Thoughts to Consider

1.  Emphasize how often last-second offensive rebounds win games.
2.  With 3 seconds or less, try to create forward momentum for your shooter.
3.  Can your players deny the ball from opponent's best FT shooter?
4.  Practice denial when your only hope is forcing a 5 second violation.
5.  Can you inbound the ball to your best FT shooter when you know the defense must stop the clock?
6.  Find out the exact inbounding location before diagramming a last-second play.
7.  Insist that your players ask the referee, "Can I run the baseline?" when inbounding after a timeout.
8.  Who inbounds the ball for you in last second situations?
9.  Who throws the length of court baseball pass with 3 seconds or less?  Who catches?
10.  Who on the staff charts timeouts, fouls, opponent FT percentages & possession arrow?

Teaching & Learning

"Nothing has ever been taught until learned;

nothing has ever been learned until taught."

--Jud Heathcote

Direct Your Players In Their Interests, Needs & Ability

    Interest/ Needs/ Abilities—direct your players in this way. 

 How you will handle the team.

We are constantly looking for the best way to Teach/ Coach our team.  As we head into a new week of practice after a game and preparing for another--we look for the best way to communicate our message.

The first thing we must look at are the Interest, Needs & Abilities of each player.

This is critical because each player is at a different point in each of these areas.  So we must bring clarity to the situation.  Basically, asking "What are we trying to do here?"

We want the, "Next Best Action"..

To determine our Next Best Action, we look at those needs and then determine what is the outcome we desire..Then, what must we commit to accomplish this desire. Next, is simply what's the next thing needed to do to move toward that goal.

A few things that we do to meet the Interest, Needs & Abilities:

1.  Use film to Show, Encourage & Conclude with a Challenge.

2.  Individual reps of a situation or skill needed.

3.  Identify their ability to be able to master the skill.

Paul Azinger--Winning Strategy

I've been re-reading Paul Azinger's , "Cracking The Code".  The book details his process and strategy for building and coaching the Ryder Cup Team.  How to take the world's best individual players and get them in position to work as a TEAM.

As a coach, we must do this daily, monthly and yearly with our teams.  Here are a few take-aways:
1.  Control the controllables
2.  Trust and Empower
3.  Communicate with each player appropriately, based on their personality type.

Use these three items to foster camaraderie, creativity and fearlessness.

Coaching The Mental Game

We work to develop the 3 areas of skills daily with our team--
1.  Physical--strength and conditioning
2.  Skill Sets--specific to their position
3.  Mental Skills--dealing with adversity and anxiety which is mental toughness

In studying how a lot of our players are "wired" mentally, it was brought to our attention that many play the game on their heels.  Playing not to mess up.  Often, the players that we (as coaches) want to "carry/ lead" the team, simply aren't wired to do so.  This is something we have to work with.

One process we work with the players that "play the game backwards"; meaning that they are thinking in the past.  It's a 3 step process:
1.  Identify--the mistake or problem we want to correct
2.  Resolve--must help the player come to a resolution or they are still playing the game backwards.
3.  Put Them In The Right Frame of Mind--different manners depending on the situation--film after practice, talking to on sideline in practice, sitting next to a coach during a game.

This it tough to do.  We typically coach/ teach to our own personalities.  But much can be gained when you understand how your team is "wired".

Jon Gordon On The Best of the Best

The Best of the Best by John Gordon

I had the opportunity this past week to speak to the Atlanta Falcons football
Team. As I prepared for these talks I thought a lot about what I should say that would benefit them.
After all, I would be talking to people who have reached the pinnacle of their industry.
What could I say that they haven't heard before? I realized that there was nothing new I could say.
They have heard it all. We all have. But what I could do was say it in a way that would inspire them towards positive action. My job was to help the best of the best get even better. This inspired a series of thoughts about what makes someone great in their field of work. I realized the best of the best, whether you are a sales person, teacher, athlete, nurse, entrepreneur, etc, share a number of similar characteristics. Here are three. I hope they inspire you to be your best.
1. The best are always striving to get better.
When I was speaking in Dallas in June, Zig Ziglar was in the front row and to my surprise he was taking notes. Wow, I thought. Here was one of my heroes, eighty years old, and he's still learning and growing. Any speaker could have been up there and Zig would have had his note pad and pen ready. How about you? Are you striving to get better? Are you a life long learner?

2. The best do ordinary things better than everyone else. (Chuck Noll).
There really isn't anything new when it comes to success principles. It's not about doing anything different. It’s about closing the gap that is bigger than the Grand Canyon-the gap between knowing and doing. The best take action. They execute and excel in the small things that create big results. They know that to be the best you must do a hundred simple things 10% better than everyone else.

3. The best stay positive.
Every individual and team faces negativity and challenges but the best rebound with positive energy, resilience, hope and faith. The best stay positive and don't let adversities and obstacles sabotage their individual and team success. The best don't let naysayers and energy vampires keep them from their goal. The best teams get on the bus together, stay positive and move forward with a shared vision, focus and direction. –

3 Areas That Coaches Build

Three Areas That Coaches Develop and Build
1.  Build Vision
2.  Build People
3.  Build Accountability and Responsibility

4 Things Leaders Work To Provide Their Followers

4 Things Great Leaders Work To Provide Provide Their Followers

1.  The opportunity to LEARN
2.  To help them to grow in RESPONSIBILITY
3.  The opportunity to CONTRIBUTE to others
4.  The chance to be RECOGNIZED

Talent Is Overrated

In Geoff Colvin's book, Talent is Overrated he concludes that there's no magic.  A lot of times there's this misconception that people are just given this talent, that they never had to work hard to get where they are.  Their common denominator, he says, is the willingness to submit to "that grueling, grinding, not-fun task, and to do it over and over.  That's what successful people do."

Attacking Problems

"For every 1,000 hacking at the leaves of a problem, but 1 is hacking at the root."--Thoreau

Thoreau's Definition of Success

Thoreau's Definition of Success:

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

4 Skills For Our Student-Athletes To Leave Our Program With

The workforce just like the court is very competitive.  It takes more than just a college degree.  Graduates must have a skill set to take to the work force.  The more of the following skill sets they can offer the more valuable they will be.

We work with our Life Skills, Academic and Career Counselors to make sure our Student-Athletes leave our program with at least one of the following skills to enter the workforce with:

1.  The Ability to "Fix" something.
2.  The Ability to "Solve" a problem.
3.  The Ability to "Sell" something.
4.  The Ability to "Create Value"