Goals to Set and Achieve as a Coach

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There are many types of goals that you can set as the coach of a basketball team. Firstly you will have to observe the type of league you are playing in. If it is competitive your goals will differ from a league that is purely recreational. Competitive leagues will focus more on the winning and statistical aspect, while recreational teams focus on the fun and team togetherness aspects.

If you are in a competitive league, you also have to keep in mind the past history of your team. If your team is new, then you can disregard this. If you are taking over an already existing team, you will find that one of your goals may simply be to improve your win/loss record. While this is a simple goal, it requires many smaller goals to achieve it. Just saying you want to win more does absolutely nothing. To achieve this goal, a coach will have to study many hours of film, and be involved in every aspect of practice. In doing this a coach will be able to identify any potential problems, and will be able to suggest and implement some measures that will go towards improving the team overall. These changes could be simple as additional drills, or just shifting around the players into positions that they may perform better in.

In recreational leagues, the goal is to improve the skills needed to play the game, but without the sole focus on winning. The focus is on actual enjoyment of the game by all involved, and sportsmanship. This isn’t to say that competitive leagues do not have courteous and sporting players, it is just not as primary of a focus as it is in a recreational league. Some professional leagues like the NBA have strict guidelines to govern how the players act and ensure that they are professional on and off the court.

Focusing on the team is also another way to resolve many problems. Basketball is a team sport and if any aspect of your team is failing to function at the quality and level that you require, then you will have to make changes. Whether the changes made are to a single member of the team or to the overall team as a whole. Sometimes just some small team building or fun exercises will put your team in the proper mindset and remove any negative effects or doubts that previous losses or events have caused. Some people will need one on one time with their coach, and that is up to the coach in some causes to identify. Not every player is able to come up and ask for help as occasionally the mentality is that indicates weakness, and people do not like to admit fault. All a coach can do is offer an open door and any help possible.

While there are many large goals, and small goals that help towards them, these are simply a small sampling of the problems and remedies a coach encounters in their everyday responsibilities. You don’t just have a game to win; you have a team to look after, on and off the court.

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What to say in a News Interview

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Athletes are known for their powerful forms that gracefully move to the beat of victory. When a basketball player strives to better his game by running bleachers and wind sprints he is praised. Many athletes find their dynamic personalities are often eclipsed by their body’s energetic performance on court. Athletes should allow their sparkling minds to shine along with their sweaty, sinewy biceps. When an athlete is called upon to discuss his performance and that of his team in a news interview there are a few basics which should be kept in mind.

A positive attitude, pleasantly smiling face, relaxed shoulders, straight posture, and a congenial tone are the first steps to successful communication in a news interview. Whether an athlete is speaking with a newspaper reporter or in front of a camera with a sportscaster, it is important to know that the impression made on the interviewer will dictate the tone of the interview.

How an athlete conducts herself with the interviewer will set the tone of the interview as it is edited or written about in the interviewers down time. Viewers and readers will judge the athlete and her team by the impression that is made from the statements the athlete makes. Here are a few basic things to remember as an athlete being interviewed for the news. Always remember a respectful, polite interview is best. As Bobby Knight the famous Indiana Hoosiers coach said, “The key is not the “will to win”…everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” Preparation is the key to a great news interview.

• Be positive and upbeat when discussing your team and team members.
• Discuss yourself, your personal athletic goals, your team goals, and your athletic regime in regards to diet and exercise.
• Use proper language and diction. Use grammatically correct language.
• Discuss the game and how you felt while playing.
• Discuss your future goals, hopes, and positive expectations.
• Discuss your passion, exuberance, excitement, and love for the game.
• Discuss things that inspire you to strive for excellence. Your mentors included.
• Gather together quotes from people you admire to use as segues during the interview.
• Discuss your motivations. Reasons behind why you took certain actions: sponsored an event.
• Discuss memories that are positive that support your role today as an athlete.
• Discuss community support and thank those who support you and your team.
• Talk about upcoming events, fundraisers, tournaments, and games that you will be participating in. Discuss if you need community involvement. This is a great way to increase support for your team.
• Do not make open, public criticisms of your team, other teams, coaches, or parts of the community.
• Do not discuss your opinion on politics, religion, social change, or topics that are irrelevant to your team sport.
• Do not discuss any type of team discord or lay blame for any team failures. Keep these things private between yourself, your coaching staff, and your team.
• Do not make racist, derogative, or bigoted remarks.
• Do not use foul language. Keep the use of slang to a minimum.

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Planning a successful Basketball Practice

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As a basketball coach it is important to be organized as this will optimize the time spent in practice. Competition is fierce and preparation can be the difference between winning or losing. Raw talent is great but even the most talented professional athlete needs to have good practice habits in order to maintain performance and improve on any weaknesses. The members of FIBA and NBA plan weekly and sometimes daily personal and team practices which not only hone their skills but assists them in building cardiovascular health, muscle strength and tone.

The most important thing to remember in planning a successful practice is to make a list of the things that you want to cover with your players. Go over this list weekly and keep it up to date. Verbal and written communication between yourself, your coaching staff as well as your players is important.

Everyone learns differently. Enlisting different styles of communication during practices will help you to communicate effectively. This will ensure that everyone on the team understands your instructions. This will also develop your team and open the door to greater effectiveness on court.

The basic styles of learning are:

• Visual –This person needs to learn through images, charts, and to be taught through spatial understanding.
• Aural – This person needs to learn through sound and music.
• Verbal –This person need to learn using words, both in speech and writing.
• Physical- This person needs to learn using their body, hands and sense of touch.
• Logical-This person needs to learn through logic, reasoning and systems.
• Social- This person needs to learn in groups or with other people.
• Solitary- This person needs to learn through working alone and use self-study.

Plan to incorporate all methods of learning in your practices. If you have players who are solitary learners then make sure to give them space to learn on their own. By building their confidence through acknowledging their own learning style you gain the student’s trust. Allowing each student to master skills using their own learning style will encourage their confidence to grow. This will create an atmosphere of confidence and assist in the next step of incorporating teamwork.

If the player’s skills develop then they can trust themselves to be successful and so can their teammates. It is important that your players know what their own learning styles are and encourage them to use this knowledge to help them in practice. Explain to the player what it means to them if they are an aural learner. Let them know that if graphs or pictures are confusing to them that they need to listen more careful to your verbal instruction.

Have music at practice for them so that your aural learners have the part of the brain that makes them learn activated. Classical music has been shown in studies to assist in making lesson plans more intelligible for many students. Music causes both sides of the brain to engage when new things are being learned. Make sure that you provide constructive criticism in a positive manner to your players and staff. At every practice let your players know what they are doing correctly. Positive reinforcement always reaps better results. If you find yourself repeating the same lessons to a player you should reevaluate their learning style as some people learn using a combination of the methods listed above.

A player may learn one skill in the logical learning style but another skill in the social style. An athlete may learn defensive skills using visuals but when it comes to free throws the athlete may need to learn in the solitary style. Below is a sample of planning a successful practice. To learn about each individual’s learning style you can obtain a book on-line at places such as Borders.com or Amazom.com. Each player can take the questionnaire that you obtained from the book; their answers will help you to evaluate their learning styles. Keep individual files for each player on your team with their learning style evaluations, their skills, goals, and comments on their progress.

Here is a sample of the layout of a practice. Incorporated in the sample you will find organizational steps a coach can take to create successful practice and enhance their player’s performances on court and even in the classroom. You will need to obtain a bound journal, file folders, software where you can make graphs/charts, and visuals for certain learning styles. You may also want to have a portable cd player for music.

1. Make a list of goals for your team and for each individual player. Write them down.
2. Keep a journal where you can take notes during games and practices. Something where you can jot down quick notes in one place. You can then go back and incorporate this information into your players’ profiles.
3. Incorporate a variety of learning styles into your lesson plans and curriculum.
4. Make a file for each player. This is where you will organize the information about your players and keep such items as practice notes, their learning styles, goals and accomplishments.
5. Make a timeline of each drill and exercise that you want the team to accomplish.
6. Set a time for a team meeting to go over the goals.
7. Plan for warm up exercises. Make visuals of the warm- ups and pass it out. This is so that your players can practice on their own time too. The warmer a player’s muscles are for practice and games the better their body’s flexibility. This will make for excellent habits and less injuries. The warm up exercises can be used during the athlete’s strength and conditioning sessions as well. Set a goal for a twenty minute warm up.
8. Organize several drills to work on skill sets. Have the team work together. If one player is weak in one area have them drill with a more dominant player. Make sure that you explain the purpose and have the dominant player assist with progression. Time varies on drills because all skills are learned at different paces. Spend more time on problem areas. Most drills should last at least 10 minutes unless you have very young athletes.
9. Plan scrimmage time to use your acquired skills. Practice of skills is necessary for competition.
10. Be sure to be positive. Even when delivering constructive criticism. Always follow up with a positive on what the player is doing correctly.
11. Always plan for a cool down. Take at least 10 minutes to cool down with stretches and breathing exercises.
12. Ensure that your players stay hydrated during and after practice.
13. Have a 2 minute round up after practice to go over what you think of the practice session and the goals you have accomplished. Briefly suggest something to have in the minds of your players for the next practice or game. Use your journal to takes notes, write down questions, and comments from the team and yourself during your roundup. That way you can refer back to one place when you update your player’s files and your goal lists.
14. Go over your list and add and update the needs of each player. Use your player’s files and learning profiles to plan the next practice.

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How to Organize Your Season before it starts

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A solid plan is imperative towards ensuring a tremendous season. A coach and his support staff should have the ability to lay out a solid, clear and concise season plan for the team to follow. By having a plan, the coach and his team will have a guideline to hold on to. If the plan was laid out perfectly and the coach followed it as best as possible, chances are the team will have an outstanding season. However, not having a plan will mean that the coach leaves everything to chance. Although things might work fine in the early stages, chaos will definitely reign soon after.

Based on this understanding of the importance of planning, many coaches go to the extra length of organizing their season well before it starts. This article will look at the crucial elements that must be covered when organizing your season. By following this brief guideline, you will be able to organize your season so that your team will undergo a holistic development. Even if you do not end up as champions – because there can only be one champion, you will see that by following a well laid plan, your players will improve both as an individual and as a basketball player.

Essentially, the two critical things that you have to bear in mind is that you need to have a clear goal or objective for the season and what you need to do to achieve them. The first thing that you should do after having this is to talk to your support staff and your players about these objectives. Once the team shares the same vision, mission and objective, you would be able to mould the team easier as they have developed into one cohesive entity.

Also, before the season starts, you should sit down with your coaching staff to discuss a training plan. Basically, you should list down a series of targets or levels that you want your players to achieve. Ideally, be sure that these targets are time based. This makes progress easier to monitor—having a list of targets that should be achieved for every training session is very helpful to develop your players.

You should also arrange practice sessions before your season even starts. There are various things that you should consider when organizing this. Among them are practice days, practice length, post mortem and also evaluation.
It is important that you arrange your practice session on a day suitable for everyone. A team practice would be ineffective even if only one member doesn’t attend it. This is because the absent player will be left behind compared to the other players. In addition to this, constant absences will reduce the level of camaraderie between your players.

The length of practice is also very important to consider. If the session was too long or too short, the effectiveness of training would be taken away altogether. Besides that, you should also consider to have scheduled post-mortems and reviews for the team and individual players. This will keep everyone alert and aware of their mistakes and what can be improved.

Overall, planning is an important component in shaping your teams’ success. Thus, together with your support staff, you should put in great time and effort into this process. Remember, failing to plan actually means that you are planning to fail!

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Basic and Essential Equipment for Basketball Players

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The essential equipment required depends completely on the league in which you are playing, and if it is a competitive league, versus a simple recreation league. The requirements change depending on the purpose, and seriousness of the league as rules, and players will vary.

Both leagues require a regulation size basketball. For a women’s league the ball is slightly smaller in size. Men’s basketball’s are approximately 1 inch larger in diameter.

Along with the ball you will need two hoops that are the right height, and proper distance apart. The court will be set according with appropriate markings on it and the nets will have a very specific place in which they will be.

This is the absolutely basic equipment necessary, now onto the personal equipment.

Each team will have a seat of jerseys and colors. Professional Leagues will have jerseys that are designed by professionals, and are stunning, where house and local leagues will traditionally have jerseys that are frequently similar as they take the logos from professional leagues and just replace the home city name. You will also wear basketball shorts that usually come down around the knees and match the jersey or at least coordinate with it.

One of the most important parts to a uniform for a basketball player is the shoes. Basketball players pride themselves on having the very best shoes out there. They can provide for sharp turns and good grip when launching to get the ball with the right treads. Buying cheaper gym shoes that won’t last very well can and will affect your quality of play eventually. The biggest investment that a basketball player will have to make will be the shoes. You will end up spending at the very least a couple hundred dollars to get a good pair of shoes that will stand up to the quality of player that basketball players want.

Some players also choose to have jockstraps as a means of protecting themselves during a game. Occasionally when two players go up in the air and try to go for a ball, legs and knees or even feet flail around and can hit other players in very delicate spots, and having even a small amount of protection can lessen the impact and potential damage that these accidents can cause. While some players do not partake of this particular form of protection, a lot more are coming around and getting every form of protection that they can to ensure that an injury that might happen doesn’t happen due to a lack of proper protective equipment.

Some last pieces of optional equipment are eye, ear, and nose protectors. Most common of which is the eye protection as more and more people are requiring glasses of some form of visual aid, or simply want to protect their eyes from having foreign objects come into contact with them. The protection just assists the player in ensuring his or her safety with that additional layer that it provides that would otherwise be left wide open.

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