Coaching 101 - Kudda Blog » coaching leadership

Part 2 of “Let’s Spot the Rookie Coach”

Joe Rice — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:28:50 +0000

Here’s the rest of the list.

15. The Rookie hopes their team has good leadership. The Veteran teaches and develops excellent leadership.
16. The Rookie hopes players understand their roles. The Veteran constantly explains individual roles.
17. The Veteran uses both captains and seniors to communicate the importance of their contributions. The Rookie takes this responsibility totally upon themself.

18. Half-time and pre-game talks are intense with the Rookie. They always try to cover every aspect/situation/possibility and their talks are long-winded and ineffective. The Veteran is focused, clear, concise and simple.

19. During practices, the Rookie has drills with long lines of players waiting their turn; lots of standing around. The Veteran has players in constant motion, getting more touches, hits, reps and are usually in game-like situations/activities.
20. The Rookie runs drills. The Veteran understands that calling out players names during drills helps players feel wanted and needed.
21. The Rookie teaches x’s and o’s. The Veteran teaches “whole-part-whole” and how the x’s and o’s fit into the system.

22.. The Rookie will argue every call with the referees. Will blame the loss on the refs. The Veteran goes with the flow and realizes that officiating is part of the game.
23. The Rookie thinks they know everything. The Veteran knows he needs to keep learning.
24. The Rookie tends to have numerous rules. The Veteran simplifies with one rule such as “Respect yourself and others at all times” which incorporates everything under one easy to understand rule.
25. The Veteran enjoys coaching and being there for the players.

Let’s Play, “Spot the Rookie Coach!!”

Joe Rice — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:57:28 +0000

In one of my long car rides with a good friend of mine who was a very successful college baseball coach, we talked about poor coaching. What is it that makes some coaches “bad”? And we were not talking about the coaches who have losing records rather we were looking at the coaches who just don’t “get it”. The coaches that have this negative aura around them. The coach who creates a lot of tension around his players and their parents. The coach who just can’t explain/teach fundamentals. The coach that gets little respect from the players.
We agreed that some folks just don’t have the experience to be good coaches; it’s not for lack of effort; it’s for lack of experience. Heck, I look back at my first 2-3 years of coaching and I regret some of the ways I acted and treated my players. Of course 25 years ago, the coaching culture was still very much a coach-centered mindset; a one-way street. I used to get so upset about their mistakes. Every mistake needed to be dealt with or acknowledged. I actually allowed the actions of 14-17 year olds to impact my general well-being. It wasn’t until we got a new AD who worked with the coaches that I became a much stronger coach. The AD never talked about winning and losing but rather about building relationships w/ the players. He got me to realize the bigger role of sports and coaching…being a mentor and teacher to the players.

Good thing about “rookie” coaches, we hope they learn and improve. What we need to watch out for are the “veteran” coaches who still make the “rookie” mistakes that causes them to be “bad”. So what are those “Rookie” mistakes? Those habits of poor coaching?
See if any of the following apply to you either when you first started out coaching or heaven forbid, they still apply to you.

1. The Rookie talks about winning. The Veteran talks about playing the game the right way.
2. The Rookie talks about their win-loss record. The Veteran talks about their players.
3. The Rookie takes credit for wins and blames players for losses. The Veteran blames himself for the loss and gives players credit for the win.
4. The Rookie tends to allow players to blame others (players, refs, coaches), while the Veteran teaches accepting responsibility and the meaning of “my fault”.

5. The Rookie wants to do everything and be the one in charge of everything. The Veteran develops and trusts their assistants.
6. The Rookie micro-manages his assistants. The Veteran oversees his assistants.
7. The Rookie hires less knowledgeable assistants, the Veteran surrounds himself with the best people.
8. The Rookie wants to control everything. The Veteran will ask the team to design uniforms, choose footwear, and even contribute to practice and game plan strategy.

9. The Rookie coaches through intimidation. Will yell and scream at players. The Veteran has a sense of humor and has developed a relationship w/ each player. The Veteran knows that each player in motivated differently and knows how to motivate each player.
10. The Rookie corrects players negatively. The Veteran attaches something positive with the comment of correction.
11. The Rookie is more apt to bench a player immediately for a mistake, while the Veteran will not embarrass the player but even use the situation to build the player’s confidence.

12. The Rookie focuses on the starters. The Veteran also works with the “role players”.
13. The Rookie talks to the media about their star players, while the Veteran talks about their role players and the contribution of their subs.
14. The Rookie tends to hand out MVP and high scorer awards. The Veteran believes in “practice player of the year” and “defensive” awards.

Part 2 Coming Soon!!!!

Appreciate the contributions from
Bob Rikeman- former Rollins College Baseball Coach
Jack MacMullan- former AD at Haverford and McDonogh Schools

Handling Bench Players by Calvert Hall Coach Bryan Kelly

Joe Rice — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:15:07 +0000

McDonogh Head Coach Andy Hilgartner Discusses Strategy to Control a Dominant Player

Joe Rice — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:10:57 +0000

Containing a Dominant Player by Boys Latin Coach Bobby Shriver

Joe Rice — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:46:23 +0000

Learn from one of the nation’s top HS lacrosse coach on how to contain the other team’s dominant player.

Controlling the Other Team’s Dominant Player by Calvert Hall Coach Bryan Kelly

Joe Rice — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:11:39 +0000

The younger levels of lacrosse are dominated by 2-3 players from each team. They are the ones who have better stick skills or they are physically bigger and faster than the other players. How can a coach stop/contain these players? Over the next few posts, some of the MIAA coaches share their thoughts on how to control these types of players.

Coach Bobby Shriver Discusses Coaching in a Blowout

Joe Rice — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:33:57 +0000

Calvert Hall Coach Bryan Kelly Shares Some Thoughts about Coaching in a Blowout

Joe Rice — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:41:48 +0000

Coaching in a Blowout by St Pauls Coach Rick Brocato

Joe Rice — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:17:51 +0000

Developing Team Leaders Part 1

Joe Rice — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:22:32 +0000

One of the most important factors that go into a successful season is leadership from the players. We see in the pros and in college that teams that have a solid group of leaders “in the clubhouse” tend to have better chemistry and thus have a more successful season. You see teams trade for veterans to provide that leadership. It’s just as important as talent. It’s this “internal leadership” that can make or break a season. Yet, developing leadership on your team is an area that is often ignored; coaches feel that it will “just happen.” Unfortunately, a conscientious effort has to be made by the coach; leadership has to be cultivated and supported. Now, thanks to efforts from Jeff Janssen and his Leadership Academies at UNC, Notre Dame and other top college programs, coaches now have some concrete resources on how to develop leadership on their teams.

In the first segment on team leadership, let’s look at how teams elect their leaders/captains. Being a captain is something that should be seen as a privilege and is earned; not something that someone is entitled to have.

Players Choose
In a typical sports setting, the coach gets nominations from players and then takes a secret vote to see who the top 2-3 vote-getters are. But who typically gets elected? Is it the team leader? Is it the best player? Most popular player? Generally, players choose the best players to be their captains. In some cases, it’s a right of passage to elect the best 2-3 players, regardless of leadership ability. Or they pick the player that has been on the team the longest; the player who made the team as freshmen. There is almost a sense of entitlement that these types of players are typically elected captains. However, experience, talent and ability don’t always equate into leadership.

Coach Choose

There are coaches who will bypass this election process and choose the players they feel are the leaders. The captains are chosen by the coach, not the players. The benefit of this process is that the leaders do become captains. The negatives is that the players’ opinions have been ignored, which can come back and undercut the efforts of the captains. Several years ago I ran into a new coach who took over a team which had already elected the captains who were the 3 best players. However, each was very quiet, introverted and had no ability to lead the team. After a disastrous season, the coach took it upon himself to elect the captains for the next year. He chose the 3 players who were hard workers, very talented and exhibited strong leadership. Sure enough some of the more talented players, (and their parents) felt slighted and the players felt some initial resentment that they didn’t have a say in who their captains were. Fortunately, the captains did their job and instilled a work ethic in the team that had been lacking and things settled down. In the long run, the coach picked the best leaders.

Other Methods

There are some other methods for choosing captains. According to Janssen’s book, The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual, 60% of teams have the players or the coach chose captains. Other teams have players nominate and then the coach makes the final decision. Some teams, like the Nebraska football teams under Tom Osborne, had a Team Council that was comprised of various segments of the team.
And there are programs/teams that don’t elect captains; they let the natural leaders “just happen.” Unfortunately, too many coaches want leadership to “just happen” and end up leaderless through the season.
Our next segment will be about how to create leadership opportunities for your captains and ways that coaches can help to develop their team leaders.