where do your biggest problems come from?

One of the things I love to sit and think about the most (and one thing I miss the most about coaching day-to-day) is designing practice plans and scouting for games. There is something about designing that seamless practice that flows from one need to the next, connecting all the dots, hitting the areas we need to focus on for the week, addressing a weakness while at the same time making a strength even stronger. I know you too love building that perfect game plan exposing all the weaknesses of your next opponent and feel all that work you put in come to fruition. It’s a rush to a coach junkie. I’m sure you, like most coaches, are constantly thinking about practice or scouting. It’s one of those things your brain just can’t shut off. One thing we all know about practice and scout time, it’s limited. How do we fit in all the required segments and hit all the necessary areas you feel will help to win the next big game? 

There is a great conversation that can be had for how to most ideally maximize that practice time (one I will discuss another time - like I said I love the philosophy behind it). But now that I have you at least thinking about all those variables you constantly worry about, I’d like to ask a question… where do your biggest problems come from? Is the biggest issue you face going through your season that you couldn’t solve a particular zone defense? Is it that your team struggled from the free throw line? Is it that your team wasn’t as well conditioned as you felt? Or, perhaps, it’s team chemistry issues, locker room issues, upset players and parents over playing time or how they are being used in their current role on the team. Maybe the biggest issues was feeling unfulfilled and not ejoying your season, feeling lost in a search for answers, or simply like something was missing. 

Most coaches I talk to or hear from will readily admit the biggest issue they had that season were those  that occurred off the court/field. Sure, we worry and struggle with tactical dilemmas and second guess the last second play call, defensive change, or the sub we didn’t make, but really think about what you would consider to be your biggest issues. What are the toughest issues to deal with? What is mostly likely to keep you up at night? Now think about why those are. Most likely those BIG issues were the biggest because it was not taken care of before it grew out of hand, or, there was no system in place to keep the issue from growing or spreading in the first place. We call that "unfinished business" and the thing about unfinished business... at some point.... it AWLAYS comes out, always. What’s more, no new drill in practice, new play design, or extra weight training sessions are going to solve those situations. You see, we spend so much time trying to cram in all of these things we as coaches feel are important, stuff that “matters” to us, but we end up missing out on the things that truly matter. And even if those things are on our minds, maybe we know they are important, but we feel we don’t have the time to squeeze it in because if we don’t go over that 1-3-1 trap or new formation we saw on our opponent's film there is no way we win. 

It is so hard in a busy, chaotic season to prioritize all of the on-floor issues we face that it becomes easy to push back the off-floor business we feel we can hopefully avoid, or perhaps we have great kids and supportive parents so maybe that won’t be a problem. Maybe we feel if we can just win this game all our problems will do away. We are falsely relying on hope. Anyone ever been yelled at by a parent or had an upset player after a big win? Yeah, we all have. So if winning won’t cure those woes, then nothing in our practice plan will either. It has to come from somewhere else. We need a plan. How much time are you spending on solving the biggest problems you will face during the year? Most coaches would have to say, that even if there is a plan in place, it’s not near enough to make the big problems smaller. Every basketball coach has a defensive transition philosophy, every football coach has spent time pondering the right time and situation to leave the offense on the field and for it on 4th down, but how many have spent the time creating a plan to intentionally build relationships, increase communication within the team, create good habits, taught their players how to address difficult situations with teammates, or even taken the time to celebrate their teammates? How much time has been intenionally spent on the clarity and alignment healhty, homeostatic cultures need?

The real answer is that we often hit the bullseye of the wrong target using technical solutions to what are, at their core, human-based problems. We think that the solution is found in the next great drill or adding that new PDF playbook or searching through clip after clip of quick hitters. The fact is the Human Component of coaching is foundational. It's essential. If you are thinking it is time to redefine your biggest problems or are in search for real research-based, data driven solutions that are YOURS, no one elses, then it is time we get a plan in place to make these seem much smaller. Our pathway or Reflection, Awareness, Clarity, and Alignment can help create the real change and solutions you have been searching for this entire time on your coaching journey.

to begin solving your biggest problems today click here.

In Service, 

Kyle Kavanaugh