Category: From the Bench »
Building toughness in all walks of life
With another season in the books, many of us have taken a deep breath and started to take stock, rebuild or retool for what’s next. What now? Coaching techniques with modern technology is amazing. The players are stronger, quicker and their abilit...
Six leadership commitments of great coaches
I once read an article that examined the six leadership commitments of five-time NBA champion head coach Gregg Popovich. Because he has been so successful, I thought I'd share the tips and put my own spin on how these help coaches. 1. Understand what...
Learning and mastering new skills
As a coach in any sport, one of the many responsibilities you have is with player development. This more often than not requires your athletes to learn new things or, depending on the age group, even requires them to part with bad habits. As coaches,...
Gene Keady’s 5 tips to make your program stronger
As a seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, Gene Keady had more than his share of success at Purdue University. Keady, a former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, is always more than willing to pass along time-tested coachin...
Give your team something to rally behind
Prior to each season, coaches typically call a team meeting to get their players fired up for the upcoming year. You can shout words of encouragement or challenge your team to put in the extra practice time, but there are more effective ways to help ...
Creating a summer open-gym regimen that gets results
Offseason open-gym workouts — in which specific skill areas are focused on — have proven critical in preparing our teams for the following season. There was a time when we wanted to play as many summer-time games as possible. A couple of years a...
Player surveys take your program forward
As the season draws to a close, a coaching staff’s first job is to assess how it wants to improve the program before next year. But you can’t do that without knowing your weaknesses. Before players leave your gym, some for the last time, ask the...
Building genuine relationships with athletes
Genuine relationship building takes time, and coaches today have to make a conscious decision to forge these relationships with their players. The ability to communicate with players is an invaluable skill. These relationships allow coaches to earn ...
