They Deserve it.
USA Women’s volleyball whiteboard from training camp - credit: trevor ragan
For those that don’t know, i’m a huge fan of trevor ragan’s. Have been for a long time - i think the guy is just special. I pulled this screencap from one of his videos a few years ago and have used it ever since, especially in my current role coaching women’s college basketball. I’ve been reflecting a lot on that last line - “we owe it to them, they deserve it.” Is there anything more #humancomponent than that?
but…what exactly is “it”? what do we owe them, and what exactly do they deserve? i think the answer goes so much deeper than i perhaps originally thought, but also perhaps deeper than the players who see this originally thought, as well. all of this stems from having the privilege to be approached by three players who wanted to get extra work in, what we did, and how we did it. first, some background and explanation.
We owe it to the players to approach their learning with the growth mindset, even more than they have. it’s imperative that we look at players as people who are able to grow, not fixed into their current role or what we see of them that particular day. when in the throes of the season, we can lose sight of the fact that these are human beings and they have good and bad days. we look at them perhaps as expendable, or replaceable, when in reality not a single one is, even on their worst days.
It’s important to understand that players have more questions than we allot time to ask, or solicit during any sort of practice or film session. IN fact, i’d venture a guess most “instructional” periods in a practice end with the words,”right?” or, “does that make sense?” We, as coaches, are fantastic at setting it all up and then jumping straight to it. We are fantastic at having all the answers - but rarely do we solicit the real, relevant, burning questions our players have. These aren’t in-the-moment questions - these are the long term questions that nag at them. They’re the questions to which they don’t know the answers, and get chastised for that being the case. when, as the educator in the room, did you decide not to solicit those questions? We must make it easy for them to ask and for us to listen.
as coaches, it is imperative that we are available for our players. No, i mean really available. not open door policy available, but i’m here any time and i want to set up a time with you available. send me a calendar invite available. but what does that require? ultimately, it requires trust and connection. it requires knowing, from the player’s end, that you have their best interests at heart and they can come to you because they feel like they’re going to improve by being with you on the court or watching film. There’s a major difference between coaching them and teaching them in this context.
when we were on the court, it was evident that these players were hungry.
like…hungry, hungry. they had an insatiable desire to soak up information and to try, try, and try again.
why?
why was it okay for them to try, try, and try again in this setting? over and over, we set up the situation of a 2 on 2 ball screen. we skate dribbled, attacked, and gave them different coverages and looks. where to pass, where’s the tagger, etc. each progression carefully curated so that they could develop a game-ready skill in a short amount of time.
in an environment free of judgement. in an environment where all of us were aligned to the mission: answer the burning questions, build confidence and connection, and try to learn a real, relevant skill to their social role, in a short amount of time, in a self-directed manner. (by the way -those are pillars of adult education). After each rep, the players had a chance to debrief with each other, give feedback using our aligned, controllable program language that we’ve been developing. they asked questions and put each other in positions like chess pieces on a 94x50 board to find a way to checkmate using the wing ball screen. a player who has been known as a shooter her entire life developed, in 25-30 minutes, the foundation of a new skill that would later get her to the bucket in practice for an and one off a ball screen. no words needed - just a wink and a “keep it moving.”
When we think of the parallels between the academic experience and the athletic experience, we can learn from the way classes are structured and scheduled. Take introductory biology, for example. you have your large lecture, your lab, and then your recitation. whole group film/classroom coaching might be lecture. practice is the lab - everyone is doing the experiment and there is some overlap but no one individual is getting significantly better than all the others. and then, that leaves recitation. when do we get to do recitation, in small groups, with the focused objective of answering those long-standing burning questions and creating relevancy for those specific players. every single player has different motivations. every single player has different levels of engagement. to think we can hit them in whole group settings is not just folly, it actually works against what we’re meant to be doing as educators. it doesn’t mean that we need to scrap it all - it means that we can do it better to BEST.
So what do players deserve?
THE BEST OF OUR TEACHING ABILITY.
WE MUST BE COMMITTED TO THE #HUMANCOMPONENT FIRST. CONNECTION WITH THE ATHLETE, UNDERSTANDING THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS FOR THEIR GAME AND THEIR CAREERS. UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THEM AND THE PRESSURES THEY FEEL DAILY.
AS A TEACHER - A PLAN FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT. DO I HAVE SOMETHING READY TO GO FOR THE QUESTIONS THEY ARE ASKING AND THE SKILLS THEY WANT TO LEARN? DOES WHAT I HAVE READY TO GO OPTIMIZE THE TIME WE CAN SPEND ON THIS SO WE ARE NOT THERE FOR 2 ADDITIONAL HOURS?
DO I HAVE MY FEEDBACK READY TO GO AND PERHAPS SOME OF THEIR MISCONCEPTIONS ANTICIPATED IN ADVANCE?
TRUST THAT WE WON’T STEER THEM WRONG.
HOW DO YOU ASCERTAIN THIS? SEE 1.1, ABOVE.
AN ENVIRONMENT FREE OF JUDGEMENT.
YOU’RE NOT THERE TO JUDGE THEM ON THEIR INABILITY OR THEIR STRUGGLE. TRUST ME, THEY DO THAT ENOUGH TO THEMSELVES.
OUR JOB IS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND CUES FOR THEM AND TO ALLOW THEM A SAFE SPACE TO TRY, TRY, AND TRY AGAIN. IF IT’S PERFECT, THAT MEANS WE’VE FOCUSED JUST ON TECHNIQUE AND NOT ON PERCEPTION/ACTION COUPLING OR DECISION MAKING. ENVIRONMENT IN = TECHNIQUE OUT.
A RELEVANCY OF WHAT YOU’RE TEACHING TO THEIR SOCIAL ROLE ON THE TEAM. THIS IS IMPERATIVE, ESPECIALLY AS WE TALK ABOUT IMPROVEMENT, TEACHING, AND LEARNING. THIS IS WHY THERE IS SUCH ANIMOSITY BETWEEN “COACHES,” AND, “TRAINERS.” THE TRAINER OFTEN GETS PLAYERS IN THEIR BAG - THE COACH UNDERSTANDS THE 30,000 FOOT VIEW OF WHY THE BAG MATTERS AND WHEN TO USE SAID BAG IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT THOSE PLAYERS ARE BEING ASKED TO DO. ALIGNMENT IS EVERYTHING.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THEY FEEL LEAST CONFIDENT IN WHAT THEY’RE BEING ASKED TO DO.
SEEMS LIKE AN ODD WAY OF PHRASING THIS, BUT WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT INNER VOICE IS SAYING ABOUT HOW GOOD OR BAD THEY ARE AT SOMETHING. WHAT IS MISSING? WHAT ARE YOU NOT CONFIDENT ABOUT? CAN YOU USE OUR LANGUAGE TO TELL ME. PUT US IN THE SITUATION YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT AND LET’S DEEP DIVE INTO IT.
THEY MUST BE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT FOR THIS CONVERSATION. IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU.
NOT JUST A REBOUNDER.
ANYONE CAN “WORK SOMEONE OUT.” THEY DESERVE BETTER. IF ALL YOU’RE DOING IS REBOUNDING FOR THEM AND THEY’VE ASKED YOU TO HELP THEM GET BETTER, YOU’RE NOT HELPING.
WE CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT WRITE KIDS OFF BECAUSE THEY DON’T GET IN THE GYM OR ONLY GO IN THERE TO SHOOT. YOU’RE THE COACH FOR A REASON. IT’S UP TO YOU TO HELP THEM SEE THE PLAN, AND UP TO YOU HELP THEM OVERCOME THEIR OWN OBJECTIONS ABOUT THEIR OWN GAMES. THEY DESERVE IT.
