A New View on Being a Coach

“Knowing the reason you were given a gift and a passion was for someone else’s platform.”

I recently viewed a spoken word piece from rapper Propaganda titled, “Was It All Worth It?” Propaganda is from my favorite group of musicians known as Humble Beast (one of the main sources of inspiration for the Salem Hoops Project). This specific piece by Propaganda caused me to reflect on myself as a coach and the purpose behind why I do it. I looked back on where my mind was a few years ago and the direction I wanted to go in coaching. My ambition was to build myself up as a great coach and trainer so that I could enable myself to earn a high position bringing me more recognition and a larger income. In other words, I coached to make myself look great rather then help my player become great. My desire to see players succeed actually stemmed from my selfish ambition to be seen as one of the greatest.

“What if you knew that greatness would never come, just struggle?”

Somewhere in the last year and a half I finally reached a new level as a coach. This had nothing to do with accolades, but with mindset. I finally understood that my job as a coach was to help others reach their goals while sacrificing my ambition for lofty achievements. I’m sure many coaches can relate to the trap I was in where I viewed my players’ achievements as a reflection of my own ability rather than the product of their growth and maturation.

I define #GrindRepeat as the consistent output of positive decisions and diligent actions. The end result of this is open to interpretation and dependent on your view of success. My new, personal challenge as a coach is to view my work as a means to help my players achieve their goals. In other words, understanding that the reason I was given a passion for the game is to be someone else’s platform.

“Would you sign up for little league knowing you’d never go pro?”

My challenge to players and coaches is to think about why they put everything they have  into the game. Would you do it even if you knew that the result might not benefit you as much as it did others? Propaganda ends his piece by saying, “it’s a good thing we can’t see the future, cause we’d ruin it every chance we get.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2m0jywqvEk

What I Learned at TedXPortland

I started watching Ted Talks a couple years ago. I was intrigued by the diversity of topics that I found when I browsed through the videos. When I found out TedXPortland was approaching, I had to get tickets. Although the ticket price seemed steep at the time of purchase, the value at the end of the conference was more than legit. The amount of knowledge that the speakers shared throughout the day was a more valuable way to spend money than to buy any tangible item. Here are some key thoughts I came away with.

Chase meaning instead of avoiding discomfort

 The most impactful speakers reflected this thought in their stories. Without a meaning to what you are doing, it is easy to quit at the first sign of an uncomfortable situation. But when the meaning of what you are chasing is significant enough, no amount of discomfort will make you hesitate.

 Never overlook the need to play

 Of the speakers, Cody Goldberg was perhaps the most influential for me because of his work with Harper’s Playground and the connection it drew for the Salem Hoops Project. One of his big emphasis was the many benefits that playing has: it’s the highest form of research, inspires vitality, generates optimism, makes perseverance fun, leads to mastery of skill, and fosters empathy. Many of the speakers indirectly credited what they did for play turned into their craft and created their future.

 Giving and receiving love fuels the art of life

 No speaker more clearly displayed his passion for love than Frank Moore, the 91-year-old WWII veteran who stormed the beaches of Normandy. He said that the ability to give love was the most precious gift we have, and learning to receive love can be of the most productive things we ever do. Indirectly, Zalika Gardner’s presentation about listening also reflects giving and receiving love. She discussed that our inability to listen to others is fueled by assumption, arrogance, and fear. When we do not listen to people, we are telling them, “you don’t matter.” Listening involves us to quiet our own experience to make room for someone else’s, or in other words, to show them love.

Your Offseason Approach

I have seen a number of our players with a newfound motivation to get in the gym and work on their skills. While I am happy to see them with the desire to improve, their improvement will not be guaranteed by motivation. It’s easy to be motivated immediately after the season when your program had a little success for the first time since you began attending the school. The hard part is the process of improvement. Here are some tips as you head into the offseason. 1. Identify your weaknesses

Be honest in your critique of your own game. What skills do you need to improve on? If you are not a good ballhandler, find ways to improve. If you can’t use your weak hand, swallow your pride and work at it consistently. If you’re not able to do something, it can be hard to try that skill in practice because you are afraid to look bad. Take time to focus on your weaknesses and push past initial failure.

2. Take your coaches advice on what you NEED to give the team next season

As important as it is towards your individual development to work on your weaknesses, it might be more important for your team development to work on the things that fulfil your role on the team. Even though you want to shoot threes next season, your coach may want you to be able to attack the basket. Focus a majority of your time on your ability to penetrate and make plays, since it will benefit the team the most. But don’t neglect the other skills that help you become a complete player.

3. Play open gyms/spring leagues purposefully

One of the biggest frustrations about open gyms for coaches is the quality of play. As players becomes fatigued, the level of play decreases allowing for the development of bad habits. Focus on improving during open gyms. Take the input from your coaches about what you need to be able to do in order to increase your role and help the team, and apply that towards your effort in open gym.

4. Improve off the court

Every young athlete has something they can improve off the court. It might be your performance in the class, it might be your nutrition. Two things that most athletes can improve on in my experience are water intake and sleep patterns. (Click here for some quick tips you can try)

Learning From the Class of 2014

We finished our season at McKay High School with a loss in the first round of the playoffs. And while the loss was disappointing, the deepest emotions came from realizing that there would be no more practices with the 11 seniors on the team. No more summer league trips. No more team dinners. I came to be an assistant at McKay in 2011 when they were sophomores. In that first season, wins were hard to come by at times, but the bond built between coaches and players will last longer than any achievement on the court would. We climbed the standings from 6th in their sophomore year, to 3rd as juniors, and finally to 2nd as seniors.

As a coach, you are often measured by your ability to produce wins, titles, and playoff appearances. This can cause coaches to focus solely on the results as opposed to the process. It’s within the process that relationships are built and expectations are established. These players knew the expectations of the program and held each other accountable.

Through this process of 3 years, the players have helped me tremendously in my growth as a coach, as a person, and as a Christian. They have also helped me gain a better work ethic and an increased selfless attitude.

I encourage coaches, athletes, and parents to concentrate on the most valuable parts of the athletic experience. Set your goals high, but focus more on the process than the result. It’s within the process that growth happens. Growth that will last longer than any result could.

Improve Your Nutrition

I had the honor of speaking at my dad’s release party for his most recent book. Because his book is about young athlete’s and their stories of success, he wanted me to share some tips on nutrition for athletes and parents supporting their children. Starting from when I was 9 years old, I steadily became more and more overweight. As someone who loved basketball and desperately wanted to succeed, this was quite a hindrance to any success on the court. It was in my junior year while I was playing on the JV team when the varsity coach told me I could play a significant role the following year if I was able to improve my athleticism. This started with a change in my nutritional habits.

Most athletes and parents of athletes are willing to put in mass amounts of time and resources into performance training of all kinds. And while hard work in the gym is crucial to improvement, proper nutrition can restrict progress. However, it can also accelerate progress.

Here are 5 tips that you can start today.

1. Drink water

My guess for any young athlete is that they are not drinking nearly enough water. Water allows the body to function. It is best to drink water consistently throughout the day as opposed to waiting until you are thirsty. Proper hydration aids in digestion, immune strength, and energy levels.

2. Eat vegetables

The popular phrase for gaining more energy is “carb loading.” Most people reach for pasta or other grain-based products. Yet, most people neglect vegetables as the ideal source of carbohydrates. Many veggies have higher carb levels than breads and pastas. Also, grain based carbs spike insulin in a hurry, which lead to a crash shortly after (i.e. the Thanksgiving nap. Despite popular belief, it’s not the turkey’s fault).

3. Pack a lunch

School meals were developed for low cost and quick disbursement. Nutritional guidelines are shaky, for example including pizza as a vegetable serving because it contains tomato sauce (isn't a tomato a fruit, anyway?). Pack your own lunch containing whole foods. A school lunch eaten on a daily basis will compound into decreased health and performance throughout the school year.

4. Take fish oil

Fish oil was made popular for its benefit on heart health. In addition, the omega-3 content it provides is crucial for cognitive development and joint health. This is a safe supplement for all ages.

5. Sleep BETTER

This doesn’t necessarily mean sleep more. Sleeping better means raising the quality of your sleep in addition to getting 8-9 hours per night. Better sleep involves a consistent routine of sleep/wake times along with your activity before you hit the bed. Try to avoid any electronic stimulation at least 30 minutes prior to bed. Yes, this limits falling asleep while tweeting or snapchatting.

3 Tips on Shooting (Notes from John Peterson)

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Ohlone College head coach John Peterson speak about shooting. Peterson has been at Ohlone for 13 seasons, including 5 conference championships and 10 twenty-win seasons. He was previously an assistant for Mike Dunlap at Metro State (Dunlap later became an NBA head coach). He dropped a lot of knowledge in about an hour of speaking and player demos. Here are 3 things I feel are applicable for players who want to become better shooters. 1) If your head moves, you're a streaky shooter

When it comes to shooting, the less movement, the better. Watch great shooters and notice how relaxed they are and how little movement there is additional to the shooting motion. Peterson said that the easiest way to keep your head still is to focus on the back of the rim from the time you begin your shot until the ball reaches the rim. If you watch the ball during the shot, your head has to move. "Ball watchers are streaky shooters."

2) Be ambidextrous with your feet

Great shooters can shoot in multiple ways, not only by spotting up. It is important to be able to shoot the ball 3 ways: stepping left-right, stepping right-left, and off of a jump stop. You want to be able to do all 3 of these both off of a catch and off the dribble.

3) Practice bank shots to improve your touch

If you find that your misses are consistently hard and fire off the rim, you need improvement on your shooting touch. Coaches often speak of having a soft touch. Peterson recommended using bank shots in practice to develop a soft touch. If you fire the ball with a hard touch while shooting a bank shot, you will see the negative effect and the need for a soft shooting touch.

The Two Most Important Traits of a Leader

List all of the characteristics of a leader that you can think of. Done? I bet you missed the 2 most important ones.

Humility and pain tolerance.

We all have ambitions to achieve great things. Some of us want to change the world. But for what purpose? It could be argued that most of our "leaders" are not working to benefit their cause, but rather to benefit their ego. They do their best to hold themselves higher than others.

However, great leaders must be willing to humble themselves and tolerate pain in order to achieve the best results for their team. A leader who wants to do the work by him/herself is arrogant, not selfless and not a good teammate. A leader who can not tolerate discomfort will crumble under pressure and find ways to blame other people for their mistakes rather than owning up to them.

It's important for a leader to build their teammates up and trust that they can perform at a high level. One person can not do a job better than a team built of members with many talents.

Highlights from The Stronger Team Huddle

I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the Stronger Team Huddle this past weekend at the Nike World Headquarters. This was a clinic that taught the latest in basketball specific athleticism. The Stronger Team is headlined by Alan Stein, but also featured Blair O’Donovan, Matt Johnson, and Henry Barrera (who I have the privilege of working side by side with on a consistent basis). There was plenty of useful information during the 3-day event. Here are three key takeaways I wanted to share: Tests should not be used as a predictor of success

In basketball, we value things like vertical leap. If a player is in high school and can dunk, it is a common assumption among some people that he must be good at basketball. However, using tests such as the vertical leap, max bench press, or measured speed are not a great way to compare players and determine who will be successful. These tests are great to compare players with themselves and measure athleticism growth. Comparing players with each other should rely on categories such as attendance and effort.

What should be done everyday, is not done everyday

And by consequence, what shouldn’t be done every day, is done everyday. Players always want to play, lift and get in the gym to work on their skills. However, doing these things everyday can lead to physical and mental fatigue. Everyday activities should include mobility and flexibility work. This is easy to do and not time consuming, yet even easier to overlook. Be disciplined and take the time to perform corrective exercises and flexibility routines.

Focus on quality work and build up slow

Everybody is in a hurry. Players are constantly pushed into training programs they are not physically ready for. Stein uses the term “brick by brick approach.” A perfectly built brick building is not put together instantaneously. Somebody has taken the time to meticulously lay each brick with precision and detail. Focus on doing little things well, and they will add up to tremendous growth.

Offseason Ballhandling Series - Episode 2

http://youtu.be/HIVNnp2kwcU

Play With Mental Toughness: Move Past Mistakes

I spend a lot of time thinking about developing mental toughness. The thought of a players mentality holding them back from playing up to their full potential bothers me, especially when that player does all of the right things to improve but simply cannot break through mental barriers. Players will miss shots. They will turn the ball over. Defensive responsibilities will be neglected. Careless fouls will be committed.

The important thing for players to think about is not that they made a mistake, but instead what they will do next time to be successful.

The players who struggle with mental toughness often dwell on their mistakes. One missed shot can start a chain reaction of multiple errors that spark a run for the other team.

Rather than thinking about missing a shot, coach yourself on what will make it a successful shot next time. (Maybe you were off balance, and if you get your feet set next time, it will go in)

Instead of trying to find an excuse as to why you missed a defensive rotation, produce a solution to help you be in the right position on the next defensive possession.

The key to playing with mental toughness is doing the right things on the next play instead thinking about the wrong things on the last play.