Blog It’s a Player’s Game
May 1st, 2008I read an interesting account of Avery Jonhson who was fired today by the Dallas Mavericks. The article mainly describes Johnson’s inability to communicate with his players and his lack of humility. Coching in the NBA is certainly different than coaching high school or college baketball, but it is an interesting example of communication failures.
I believe communication skills are the most important skill for a coach. Mike Fisher writes:
Please note that none of the aforementioned items even approach being about X’s-and-O’s, about benching Kidd in the final seconds of the loss at San Antonio, about Avery’s assemblage of thirty-something “pets’’ who on a whole made few contributions to one of the worst overall seasons experienced in the highly-successful Cuban Era. None of them are even about wins and losses, the recent 3-12 playoff record, for instance – even though Avery struggles in all these areas.
No, these complaints are about dealing with people, about motivation, about relationships, about communication.
The best coaches are not necessarily the best X’s and O’s guys. They are the ones who communicate with their players. ironically, NBA organizations generally hire former NBA players because they believe the former players can communicate with current players better than coaches without NBA playing experience. However, I would argue that the ability to communicate with people is a talent that is unaffected by one’s playing career.
Now, NBA players might respect a former player automatically, while someone who lacks the playing exprience might have to earn the respect, but the players will eventually respect the coach that makes the player and team better and in most cases, that’s the coach who communicates with his or her players.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Your statement that the best coaches aren’t necessarily the best X’s and O’s guys is SO true. Even at youth and high school levels.
My older daughter plays softball. Started out the season at first base, then was moved to the outfield. She was hitting the ball well, and playing well in the field. Then, she was moved to DH and pulled from the field. No explanation given. We told our kid that if she was upset she needed to talk to the coach. She asked the coach if there was something she did wrong or needed to do better. Surprised by the question, the coach said “No. You’re doing fine.”
Now, she’s not hitting well, and got benched. Maybe her confidence was shaken by getting moved to DH. Regardless, she’s been demoted and isn’t being told why or given instruction in what she needs to do to improve.
My younger daughter has a fine basketball coach. He told me in the middle of last season he wanted my kid flashing to the ball-side block. Kids sometimes don’t hear real well, but I never once heard him tell her in a game or in practice to flash low to the ball.
I have to think if communication is a problem with NBA caliber players, it has to be a much bigger issue with kids.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Another article which seems to hint at a lack of communication or proper explanation of expectations between player and coach:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2004391034_kelley04.html
In one of Anson Dorrance’s books, he talks about the problem with expectations and communication because most people want to avoid confrontation. I saw this with a college program this year. Nobody wanted to hurt anyone else’s feelings, so everyone just bashed each other behind their backs until nobody trusted anyone and they underperformed.
In your softball example, the coach was probably oblivious to the effect the change may have had or he/she just wanted to avoid confrontation. It’s easier to tell a player they are doing fine than to tell them their is a problem because if there is a problem, the coach probably needs to help the player with the problem, which actually means coaching and teaching and I’m convinced many coaches are unable to properly evaluate, diagnose and teach.
And, I agree that communication with younger players is a much bigger issue.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I think it’s great that you quote Dorrance. He seems like one of those successful women’s coaches who coaches women like men, except he knows there are certain circumstances you do NOT to coach them like men.
Coach M, what do you different (if anything) when coaching a women’s team versus a men’s team?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I don’t think I consciously do anything differently. I try to teach the same things and challenge players in the same way. I’m naturally fairly laid-back, so sometimes I relate better to female players than male players who are more accustomed to yellers and screamers.
I think I try to treat each player as an individual, so it’s not so much what I do with girls vs. boys, but how I try to interact with each player. This is why I believe communication is so important because a coach needs to know what motivates a player and where a player is coming from. This year, I had players who had been coached 180-degrees from my style, so I had to have a lot of patience. I had the patience not because they were girls, but because I knew I was trying to get them to do things they had never done.
In general, however, everyone says that to coach girls successfully you have to be more aware of their feelings and the way they receive your coaching. You cannot challenge female players in quite the same way as a male. With males, challenging one’s toughness or “manhood” sometimes works and gets players to play tougher; a similar technique with a female athlete would not work. Again, it’s a matter of learning what motivates players.
I think there are a lot of stereotypes about males vs females and the like. In the end, I think all players want to feel important, feel valued, feel like the help the team, feel like the coach cares and feel like they are getting better. Once you learn about individuals, it’s easier to treat players in a way which accomplishes these things.