This comes from Kevin Sivils' Roundball Report (http://www.kcsbasketball.com/) stuff from Dick Bennet:
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13
Being coachable. Just what does that mean? One of the biggest sources of sin and problems in our lives is PRIDE. We don't like to admit we don't know, we are wrong or horrors, look stupid in front of our friends.
But is it wise to demonstrate our pride nature by being uncoachable? You have coaches to provide you with the wisdom you need to become a better player. Humbling yourself and learning from your coaches is the right thing to do (and yes, I am well aware we make mistakes as coaches - but we have the wisdom gained from decades of being involved with our sport and we really want to share that wisdom with you).
Let's revisit one of the truisms from yesterday. Every choice you make effects others. Make sure you make the right choice.
When you choose to be prideful and not pay attention, to not ask questions or to not tell the coaches you just don't understand, you are making a choice.
That choice might spare you immediate embarrassment or prevent you from looking "uncool" in front of your friends BUT you AND your teammates are going to suffer from your poor choice to be uncoachable. You don't know what to do or how to execute a given tactic and so the team suffers, either in practice or a game AND you look bad because you don't know what to do.
Have you ever noticed the kids who do really well in school ask questions? I know it can be annoying to the other students who in their desire to look smart or cool, don't ask questions.
But there is a connection between the students who ask questions and do well - they get the information they need in order to succeed.
When you choose to be uncoachable, and it is a choice, you are not only negatively impacting yourself but your teammates.
Everyone is "uncoachable" once in awhile - we just have bad days sometimes. But when you make it a consistent habit and you choose to do so, that is wrong.
Let's look at the positives of being coachable:
1) you will improve - improvement is always a good thing.
2) the team will improve as a result of your improvement - improvement is always a good thing.
3) you will know what to do, how to do it, when to do it and will be able to perform better in a game and in practice.
4) you will be more confident because you know what to do.
5) you will be a better teammate because your decision to be coachable not only helps you, but it helps the team - which is always a good thing.
6) humility is one of the most important qualities a person can develop.
7) you will develop the positive habit of always trying to improve and learn - this will help you for the rest of your life.
8) Humility will save you a great deal of pain in life - pain caused by your pride and being "uncoachable."
9) Being "coachable" helps you to have a servant's heart. One of the greatest sources of joy in life is serving others.
10) Being "coachable" helps lessen the likelihood of making mistakes, thus avoiding the very thing you most feared - looking silly or screwing up in front of your friends.
By the way, REAL friends are OK with you making mistakes and messing up in front of them when you are learning.
So - ask questions, pay attention, say you don't understand - it's a good thing.
