It should also be noted that as coaches we should feel some responsibility to help market our program and get people in the seats. We should be part of the solution as opposed to being part of the problem. We need to understand that while we want to teach our players how to play we also need to help grow the game — regardless of what level we are working.
The following are just a few thoughts from Selling The Invisible:
First, let's take a look at this passage in regard to how you might possibly organize your comments in a timeout or at half-time...or possibly a team meeting or an individual player meeting:
In repeated studies, people were shown a sequence of items—pictures of an apple, pear, peach, prune, and pomegranate, for example—are most apt to remember the apple and the pomegranate. They remember the first and the last items but forgot the middle.
Your first comment to your player(s) is going to register. The last comment is going to stick. Plan according for more effective communicating. How much time do you spend thinking about how you are going to address your team on a daily basis?
At a very early age in my coaching career, my mentor and junior high coach Allen Osborne, allowed me to travel with him to visit college programs to observe practices. I remember watching Indiana practice with Bob Knight. The Hoosiers came out for pre-practice ran by the assistants and then Coach Knight would called them back to the locker room for a short talk that might include video. At North Carolina, they would start with station work followed by Coach Dean Smith walking to center court and going over an emphasis of the day and a thought for the day. I guarantee you that both gave great thought to what those opening comments were for their team. It was early in the practice session, their team was fresh and attentive -- so what message was prevalent in their thinking to give to their team.
On the other end, practice is over -- whether it's been a good practice or a rough one -- and the team is gathered to hear your thoughts. What's the last thing you tell them? It's important. It can go a long way in framing the next practice you have or framing their thoughts for the game tomorrow.
I had the great honor of working for Coach Dale Brown at LSU for 13 year -- what a communicator! As much as possible he prepared his thoughts before speaking to his team. He was also a great story teller. Stories paint pictures to help with communication. I only wished we could have video taped some of those team meetings. He always had a goal to accomplish in each meeting and planned accordingly.
Timeouts are critical. Sue Gunter, another Hall of Fame coach that I was honored to have worked for was the best time-out coach I've been around. She kept her thoughts short and to the point. When the team first came off the floor from a timeout she would either praise or correct the previous possession (while it was fresh on their mind). She would then give them one central thought that was important to the flow of the game. Finally, she would close with specific instructions regarding whatever phase of the game we would immediately be involved in coming out of the timeout. She could put on a mini-clinic in a timeout -- short, simple and to the point.
How you communicate with your team is important -- of course you already know this. But how much time do you think about improving your communication plan of attack?
I'll bet every coach takes great time and thought in putting together their words for the first team meeting of the year. How about the second team meeting? Or the 12th team meeting? You want your team's best on the first game, the second game and the 12th game so they should get your best in the organization of your team meetings.
Coach Brown and Coach Gunter were also masters of the pre-game talk. I often saw them jotting down or going over notes to prepare their pre-game message. They knew how to frame a game. I'm not talking about rah-rah stuff but finding a way to simply get across the key concepts needed to succeed.
Half-time. What does your team need? Just because you played poorly doesn't always mean that you need to rant and rave. The best coaches have a great sense of exactly what is needed. Even on the occasions where you might have to blister your team for a lackluster performance in the first half, the best coaches know how to calm it down and sum it up for their team before sending them out for the second half. If your team played well it's important to keep them in the "middle of the road" -- they must be reminded there's 20 minutes left and, more importantly, the keys to winning those 20 minutes.
What about post game? Probably one of the worst things you can do as a coach is go off on a team immediately following a poor outing. This becomes more of an emotional outburst as opposed to an intellectual one. That's not to say you can't let your team know of your disappointment but you'll be better off to show film the next day to have visuals to go with your voice. I always think after a loss you have their attention more than after a win -- make it count.
It's also just as important to say the right thing after a win. Again I refer to Coach Gunter who was simply a great communicator. She had a three-prong message after wins.
#1 She always wanted to compliment the team for winning -- no matter how ugly. She also always went out of her way to compliment at least one role player.
#2 She always pointed out something we needed to improve upon -- no matter how well we played.
#3 She always mentioned our next opponent. It was her subtle way of planting a seed before they left that it was on to the next games. In fact, one of Coach Gunter's most often repeated phrases was "The only game we can do anything about is the next one on our schedule."
