coachmccormick
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Discipline: A New Approach - 2006/09/25 09:34
Check the Blog to read today's entry by Coach Tuk, a high school coach fromthe Houston area:
http://www.thecrossovermovement.com/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,61/p,23/
Coach Tuk's points remind me of a series of bogs I wrote on my blog last winter after watching a couple teams play.
Now, the games I saw featured guys I trained, so I am biased in some respects.
However, the two coaches used an autocratic style and players, except the chosen star, played in fear of being pulled out the game. One player I trained, a kid getting DI interest as a 6'4 SG, nearly quit playing basketball. Another player, a phenomenal 6'2 athlete, nearly gave up the game this summer to persue music. Basketball lost its enjoyment.
Discipline is always a tricky subject with coaches. But, the problem, as I see it, is that coaches typically view fun and hard work as opposites; I disagree. I think you can enjoy what you do and work hard. Unfortunately, many coaches end up not enjoying their season or coaching in general because they are so consumed in "working hard" that they lose all perspective.
If it is not enjoyable, what's the point? Maybe for the one tenth of one percent of players who end up earning money as a pro player, the effort is worth it because of the end salary. But, for the other players, the vast majority of players, why play if it is not enjoyable? Whay coach if it is not enjoyable? Fun is not the opposite of hard work or discipline; to me, fun is the opposite of boring.
I coached an u-9 AAU team that went to Nationals. While there, other parents from teams in Oakland, North Carolina and Georgia approached our parents and remarked on our discipline. Now, I thought it was funny because creating discipline or punishing kids was about the last thing we tried to do. I was 24 and my co-coach was 25. I didn't know you had to wear pants to coach at Nationals, so the team bought us pants to wear and coaches' shirts and they were XXL's, which are quite baggy on me. I'd show up in fli-flops and shorts and change right before the game. In warm-ups, our players practiced And 1 moves because we used them to increase confidence and ball handling ability. We never yelled at the kids; in fact, at one tournament in LA, our staff nearly went after another coach because of his abusive behavior toward his own players (and son). We were more likely to laugh at our players' mistakes than to yell at them or yank them out of the game.
We had no out of bounds plays other than starting in a 1-4 set. We had no set offense. We had no zone defense or offense. We ran a little press, but mostly that was freelance too.
Basically, we did the opposite of what most coaches believe defines discipline, yet other parents applauded the team. I think, most of all, the other parents saw a team that actually enjoyed playing the game and being teammates. And, they saw good fundamental skills for the age group. And, most of all, isn't that what a parent wants from a youth basketball experience: enjoyment for their son and a certain amount of skill development?
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