coachKidsSports.com

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. - Henry Ford

I've been very busy lately working on a new project — details to come soon.  I've been pushing myself into areas I never considered before, thinking about things I've often taken for granted.  In the process of doing my due diligence I was looking at websites by other people with the same interests.  Every site I'd visit would lead to more questions or ideas - sometimes both.  Finally I realized that every single site I visited had an About page and every one of those pages had an email address.  Imagine that…

I realized that instead of just reading the site and trying to figure out the details myself, a quick email to the site's owner would be a heck of a lot more productive.  And it was — imagine that…  By reaching out to those people, they gladly shared the wisdom of their experience.  In fact I learned more in an afternoon of email and phone calls than I could have in 6 months otherwise.

The collected wisdom of the western world is at your fingertips.  The Internet can answer questions you didn't even know you had.  But for some things you gotta connect with the person on the other side of the keyboard. 

On this site I've been an advocate of using the Internet to find new drills and practice plans.  The Internet is a great way to find that information — I can't imagine not having it as a tool.  But in your search, don't forget about the person on the other side of the glass.  There's probably a lot more that hasn't gone onto the site.  You won't get a response from everybody, but the responses you do get will be invaluable.

Golf is a solitary game, that's why I think it's one of the hardest to coach.  Unlike any other sport I can think of, golf is a test of self.  So a golf coach has to be part technician and part psychologist.

I was reminded of that when I opened last month's Golf Digest.  There was an article about Eddie Merins, the Club Pro Emeritus at Bel Aire CC and former UCLA golf coach.

The article is a wide ranging discussion with a man who has been a part of the game for over 50 years.  He has played with or coached nearly every great player in that period.  It's obvious from the interview he knows the game as well as anyone.  But what struck me was the way he communicated the message.  Every golfer knows not to swing up on the ball.  But as Merins says, it's the most common swing flaw in the game.  Do you think you'd be more likely to cure that problem if your pro gave you a drill or if he told you this:

Now, have you ever stood on the tee waiting your turn to play, and you swipe at a cigarette butt, broken tee or something else just lying there? You have to swing level to hit it, right? Well, that's how you want to hit your driver. Try to knock the tee over with your swing. Just knock it out of the ground. This is how you hit the ball solidly and find the distance and accuracy you've been looking for.

I love the lack of pretention in the remedy.  He sees a problem then explains the solution in a simple manner.  The message is that you are already doing the right things, just in the wrong context.  Here is the correct context.  Makes all the difference in the world.

Merins was the golf coach at UCLA at the same time some guy named Wooden was running the basketball team.  He tells a revealing story about both Wooden and the PGA.

I'll tell you why we're losing the Ryder Cup. Years ago John Wooden came by and gave my UCLA golf team a lecture. He spoke for an hour and 20 minutes, and not once did he mention the word "winning." All he talked about was preparation….  The U.S. team is obsessed with winning, about getting the Cup back. It's all the players talk about. Somehow they're focusing on the end result instead of what they need to do to win. It's distracting and adds to the pressure. Tom Lehman talked with Coach Wooden, but the team never realized that winning is a reward, not a goal.

Winning is a reward, not a goal.  I think I've found a new credo.

Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself. - Walt Whitman

Christmas is always busy, there are hundreds of things to do on top of the thousands of things you already do everyday.  But every once in a while there are moments that cut through the fog.  I was lucky enough to have one of those moments while wrapping presents with my young daughter just before Christmas and it taught me four lessons:

• Neatness is over-rated
  I've never liked wrapping presents.  I get worked up trying to make the corners neat and the sides match perfectly.  It's almost enough to make me swear off buying odd shaped presents, except my wife likes odd (and small) shaped presents…  It was great seeing the joy my daughter got out of covering a box in wrapping paper, regardless of how the edges match up.  She realizes, maybe without knowing, that the wrapping is temporary.  Concentrate on the important things and let the little things slide.

• But a plan is necessary
  My daughter showed me not to worry about getting everything perfect, but it helps to have an idea about the general size and shape of the gift.  Your practice doesn't have to be perfect, but you do need to have an idea on what you want to accomplish.

• Presentation is important; The littlest gift looks better when it's wrapped
  As we were wrapping presents I realized that even the stocking gifts, that were rolled more than wrapped, added to the holiday feel.  The gift may have cost $3.27, but add wrapping paper and a box of Altoids becomes something special.  Add a little something different to the everyday things to give your team a fresh sense of perspective.

• In the end, it's for the kids…
  My daughter loves wrapping presents, I don't.  My daughter gets a kick out of the entire process, I'd like it to be over as quickly as possible.  I get more out of coaching, but nothing compares to seeing the smile on my kid's faces.

If you've read this site before you know I believe coaching is teaching.  What is the highest honor given to a teacher?  The Golden Apple Award.  You may not be eligible for a real one, but on August 30th I gave you some tips on how to be a better teacher anyway.

5 Steps to a Golden Apple Award

By : Coach Bigs

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands. - Benjamin Franklin

As a coach it's your job to teach, so if you're going to be a better coach, you need to be a better teacher.  Here are five things you can do at your next practice which will make it — and you — more effective.

Take a knee – Especially with the youngest players, getting down on one knee when talking to a player helps get your point across.  Bring yourself to their level, maintain eye contact and talk directly to the kids.  Taking a knee helps maintain eye contact.  It's easier on you than bending at the waist, it also allows for a more natural conversation between you and the player.

Ask more questions — You're the coach, you should have all the answers, right??  Maybe so, even if it's only 10 seconds before the kids know the answers, but that doesn't mean the best way for kids to learn is for you to tell them the answer.  Ask questions — lots of them.  Challenge the kids to remember what you've taught them.  Challenge them to understand game situations.  Get them thinking as they are practicing.  Scrimmages are a great time to ask the questions.  During any short break, announce the game situation then ask one or more players what they should do.  "Runners on second and third, second base, where do you go with the ball if it's hit to you?".  "Red throw in.  Red team, where should you be?"  Sometimes you aren't looking for a verbal answer, you just want to see the correct action.  Other times you'll want the player to answer so you know if she understands the concept.  Either way, resist the temptation to give the answer.  Sometimes they will surprise you with a different perspective on the situation.

Smaller is better — Practice in small groups.  I try to divide my teams into four groups with three practice stations.  That leaves two small group activities and one larger activity.  Assign the coaches depending on the level of attention the drill requires.  Many times I'll have one assistant, so I recruit (forcibly draft) a parent from the sidelines.  I ask them to monitor the drill the team is most familiar with and requires the least intervention from the coaches.

Fundamentals are fundamental — If you've ever watched professional sports you have heard an announcer lament that today's players have poor fundamentals.  Of course, this has been an epidemic since the Roosevelt administration — Teddy — so the announcer is probably remembering a time that didn't exist.  But that doesn't mean fundamentals aren't important.  When kids master the fundamentals they enjoy the game more.  Chose one or two fundamentals to concentrate on for the season and build your practices around mastery of those skills.

Tell 'em, show 'em, then tell 'em again  –  Introducing a new drill can be a difficult experience.  You have to take a lot of time to explain the drill then three times as much time correcting the players as they try the drill.  Next time try a three step approach; Verbally explain the drill, physically demonstrate the drill, then reiterate the first two by going over the drill again.

1. Explain the drill — do not demonstrate the drill or turn your team's attention from your words in any way.  You want them concentrating on what you are saying, visualization will come next.
2. Demonstrate the drill — do not talk during the demonstration or otherwise divert attention from the physical demonstration of the drill.  All attention should be on the demonstration.
3. Explain the drill again — bring the first two parts together.  Reiterate what was said and what was shown to allow the kids to process it further.

This three step approach gives the kids more time and more ways to understand the drill.  You'll have an easier time introducing new drills and getting them to actually work.

I'm never been a big Bo Schembechler fan.  I went to Penn State before it was in the Big 10, so I always thought the Big 10 was over-rated.  Now that Penn State is in the Big 10, I just think Michigan is over-rated…

But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a great coach.  When Bo died on the eve of the Michigan - Ohio State game this past November there were many tributes to the man.  I chose a slightly different path, I chose to highlight the impact coaches have on everyone who plays in this post from November 20th.

The Echoes of Time

By : Coach Bigs

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. - James Thurber

We coach for a lot of reasons, but I'm guessing immortality isn't one of them.  But in a way you do achieve immortality in a way.  I know I can remember nearly every coach I ever had.  From my first hockey coach at 5 years old to the raspy voiced basketball coach who always smelled like cigarettes, through the burly Bolivian soccer coach, not to mention the one armed baseball coach or the southern accented hockey coach.  They were all rec league coaches who volunteered their time to teach me and a bunch of other boys the finer points of a game.  I remember them not for anything they said or any move they taught me — the next "move" I make on the basketball court will be my first — but I remember them because they were there.

I'm thinking about these men tonight because I've been reading the many tributes to Bo Schembechler.  Bo was the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1969-1989.  His teams were always highly ranked, winning 10 Big Ten Conference championships.  He is considered a legend in Michigan and as a truly great coach in the rest of the country.

What struck me about the response was the fact Bo hadn't coached in 16 years.  To put that in perspective, the seniors playing in Saturday's Ohio State vs. Michigan game were in Kindergarten when Bo coached his last game.  An entire generation has grown up seeing someone other than Bo Schembechler on the Michigan sidelines on Saturday afternoon.  Yet he was as revered as his last day as coach (maybe more).

One comment in the Detroit Free Press article from the son of a former player illustrates the impact a coach can have long after the games end.

My dad played for Bo 40 years ago, at Miami of Ohio. We've followed Michigan ever since he moved there and became fans almost solely because of him. My dad stayed in touch with Bo after his playing days, and we traveled to Michigan bowl games all over the country. I got to meet Bo two or three times in the locker room before or after games, one moment I'll remember all my life is when he looked me in the eyes and said, "If you grow up to be half the man your daddy is, you'll be something else". I think my dad's head almost split open with pride. It was amazing what a communicator he was, the power of commitment and confidence.

I called my dad (a successful professional) today when I found out the news, and he was pretty down. Played for him 40 years ago, and look at the impact he still has on my dad's life. It was like losing a surrogate father. Now that's something I long to get out of my own life.

God bless you, Bo. And God's peace to your family.

Indeed.

For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name,he marks-not that you won or lost - but how you played the game. - Grantland Rice

As great as youth sports are for the kids, every year gives us examples of what happens when parents lose sight of what youth sports is truly about.  Here are the bottom 5 youth sports moments from 2006:

1. Utah Little League "Winners"
   Coaches for the 9-10 Mustang League Yankees order an intentional walk to the Red Sox best hitter to bring up a cancer survivor who still had a shunt in his head to drain fluid from brain surgery.  The fact the batter was a cancer survivor with obvious physical limitations is what got this story national attention.  But what caught my attention was the intentional walk.  That just isn't done at that level.  Not because the coaches don't care about winning, but because it's obviously over the top.  These leagues have rolling batting orders — everyone bats, regardless of who plays the field.  If a team calls for an intentional walk, the team at bat can't substitute another batter, so there is no balance to the strategy.  Plus — the kid had a shunt sticking out of his head!!  C'mon, have your kids win rather than force the other team to lose.

   Here's my take on Little League and intentional walks: link
   

2. Corpus Christie Football brawl
   I know football is important in Texas, but these kids were five and six year olds! I think this says it all:

   (T)he coach had been warned several times about cursing on the sidelines before his ejection from the game between five- and six-year-olds.
   

   Here's a link for those of you who would like to see the brawl.  The video is on the left bar.  Watch for Mom running into the frame around the :30 mark…

3. Parents get what they want, then sue
   Parents love their kids.  They want whats best for them, sometimes even if it isn't…  A group of parents in Castro Valley didn't like the Girls Basketball Coach - Nancy Nibarger.  They felt she played favorites when picking the team — because their kids weren't picked for the team.  They pressured the school board to order the coach to use a six person panel to select the team.  When the roster was posted - and none of their kids were on the team - the parents erupted, again.  Geez, almost makes you wish for a good old fashioned brawl…

4. Coach Protects Son By Tackling Another Kid
   Parents can get protective when their kid gets hit, especially if it's a late hit.  But few go as far as Corey Petero.  The Stockton, CA coach was suspended for hitting an  opposing player.  He rushed the field after a player hit his son after the whistle.  The referee called a penalty on the play but I guess 15 yards wasn't enough…

   You've probably already seen it, but click here if you want to see video of the play

5. It's My Ball and I'll take it home if I want
   The common theme here seems to be parents going overboard trying to "protect" their kids.  I recently wrote about the Northern Virginia dad who owned a football league.  He's not in it for the love of the game or encourage kids to play his favorite game.  He's actually very upfront about why he created the league:

   This entire league exists so he (his son) can play defense on the best team in his weight class. . . . He is my son, I own the league, and he plays every snap on defense."

   Well, in the last game of the regular season the coaches thought the son would help the team more on offense.  Apparently they were right because the team won and advanced to the playoffs.  But they didn't get to play in the playoffs because the coaches were fired.  All the other kids, all the coaches, all the parents were only set dressing so a 12 year old can play were he (more likely his dad) wants.  What are the odds he thinks the Castro Valley parents aren't going far enough?

There were other contenders such as the Utica, NY hockey brawl, or the father tasered when he rushed the field at his 8 year old's football game and of course the parent riot in New Castle, Pa.  Yes, it was quite a year.  Let's hope we don't have another one like it in 2007… but I won't hold my breath. 

Reading this list can make you cynical about youth sports.  But I know these stories aren't representative of all the positive things sports brings to the kids who play.  So share with everyone the story about the kid who scored her first goal, the shy kid who came out of his shell, the walk off homer or the game saving tackle.  Thousands of those great things happened this year — and everyone of them was more important than any of the over involved parents listed above.

It gets late early out there. - Yogi Berra

I'm a little late to this controversy, but I've never let a little mold put me off of anything…

On December 8th, Tommy Craggs wrote an article in Slate titled "What John Wooden Gets Wrong About Basketball".  Anyone who has read this site knows I have great admiration for the man.  But I'm not enough of a basketball savant to judge his basketball knowledge.  As a rec league player and, despite my height, perennial late round pick, I had to rely on the fact that the man won 10 NCAA titles and 16 Conference titles as a coach, and as a player he was a three time All-American and Player of the Year in 1932.  He is also one of three people inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and as a coach.  With that resume, I figured he was pretty good at the basketball in addition to understanding how to train and motivate people.  But that's just me with my limited understanding of basketball.

I do like to read differenct perspectives.  I like to know why people believe different things, maybe learn something I didn't know which could change my perspective on a person or issue.  So when I saw the title of Craggs' article I thought I'd give it a try.  After all, a guy that last coached when I was in 4th grade probably has been proven wrong about a thing or two.

But my hope for enlightenment was shot in the fourth paragraph.  When I read this passage I knew the article wasn't about Wooden or his philosophy as much as it was a chance for a writer to get noticed by taking a shot at a 96 year old man.

But it's time we retire this notion of Wooden as basketball's wise old man and see his legacy for what it is: a triumph of rigidity, bureaucracy, paternalism, and anal retentiveness.

Wow, that's a lot of things for one man to get wrong and still be admired at 96!  So what is Craggs' evidence for the indictment?

Wooden was a relentless taskmaster who counted discipline among the game's most important tenets. He had a hand in everything, from his players' grooming habits down to the wool content of their socks (50 percent). In one incredible passage in his coaching textbook, Practical Modern Basketball, Wooden details the Bruins' eating routine: "The meal usually consists of a ten-to-twelve-ounce steak broiled medium or an equivalent portion of lean roast beef, a small baked potato, a green vegetable, three pieces of celery, four small slices of melba toast, some honey, hot tea, and a dish of fruit cocktail.

Taskmaster indeed…  I don't know a college coach worth his shoe contract who isn't concerned about his athlete's feet and doesn't consult a nutritionist.  Wooden didn't have the benefit of a Nike research center or Gatorade Training center.  He had to figure out what kept his athletes from getting blisters and what food gave them the strength to play the game as he taught it.  Craggs may not like the certainty that Wooden had about what was right, but if the noted conformist Bill Walton could survive then Wooden's UCLA was probably a little looser than Stalin's Russia.

John Wooden is the father of modern basketball because he taught an up-tempo, attacking game.  It was revolutionary at the time and required each player to perform his specific task perfectly.  Yes he insisted his players do things a particular way — because that way worked!  Coaching is about making the whole better than the sum of it's parts.  Regardless of the titles, there can be no argument that John Wooden was very good at doing that.

Bum Phillips , former NFL Houston Oilers head coach, once said about Don Shula , the legendary NFL Miami Dophins Coach, "He'll take his and beat your's, then he'll take your's and beat his".  The same is true of John Wooden.  He had tremendous talent at UCLA, but there were other teams with great talent too.  John Wooden used his discipline, knowledge and talent to beat them all.  Sounds like an American success story to me…

Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing. - John D. Rockefeller

It's easy to say that a coach should support his players when they are struggling - especially if you aren't a fan of that team.  It's apparent in the abstract that if a player is working hard and challenging his abilities, mistakes will happen.  Supporting your players allows them to push the envelope and accept the results — good or bad.

But when that struggling player is on your favorite team, then things seem to get a little more complicated, just ask anyone living in Chicago…

Last week I wrote about Mathias Kiwanuka and his bad week.  I was critical of his coach's unwillingness to publicly support his player.  That stands in stark contrast to the situation in Chicago.  Coach Lovie Smith is sticking with his quarterback, Rex Grossman, even when the entire city is ready to toss Rex into Lake Michigan.

After last week's game (Dec. 3), where the Bears won but Grossman played poorly, Coach Smith was asked repeatedly if he would change quarterbacks.  Rather than review Grossman's problems, or deny that he was struggling, Smith reiterated his support.  "We are 10-2 with Rex as our quarterback", "Rex is our quarterback". "There is a difference between perception and reality, The reality is we are 10-2 with Rex as our quarterback", ad naseum… 

There isn't anyone outside of the Bears organization willing to support Rex Grossman. Lovie Smith's public support of Grossman is costing him support from the public.  When the Bears were undefeated the talk was Grossman for MVP and Smith as Coach of the Year.  Now Grossman couldn't start on a Pee-Wee team and Smith is too stubborn to be an effective coach.  Both of those may be true.  I don't know enough football to make that call.  But even if Smith threw Grossman under the bus it doesn't change the roster, Rex Grossman would still be there and Joe Montana wouldn't.

A coach doesn't have to please anyone, including his team.  But a coach does have to keep his team's respect.  That is where this situation can get difficult for any coach.  How do you support a struggling player without alienating the other players?  That answer is different for every team, but it has to start with communication.  When players and parents know the situation and what you are doing to make things better, you will gain respect and support.  I think that is the approach Lovie Smith is taking — although I don't know that he is including the parents…  Why do I think that?  I haven't read or heard a single player make any comment remotely critical of Grossman.  Not even the guy who would benefit the most — the second string quarterback.

Without so much as a sneer, Brian Griese declined to answer how many snaps Lovie Smith had allotted him Thursday at practice.

"If Lovie wanted you to know that, he'd probably tell you," Griese said calmly. "That's why practices are closed."

Big difference from the Giants situation.  There the coach doesn't hesitate to call his players out publicly and the players don't hesitate doing the same thing.  Yet the Giants are in a free fall, losing four straight coming into this weekend (Dec. 10), they are bickering on the sidelines, complaining in the papers.  I can't imagine there is a lot of positive communication happening there.  Those guys are professionals so they have to stay there — there is too much money at stake to do anything else.  What would happen to your team if you communicated like the Giants? or the Bears?

While 10.000 atta-boys are redeemable for a pat on the back, one mistake wipes the slate clean. — Larry Weisman

Mathias Kiwanuka has had a bad week.  Two weeks ago the rookie defensive end for the New York Giants thought the play was over so he didn't tackle the Titan's quarterback Vince Young.  The play wasn't over and Vince Young knows what to do with a second chance, running for a first down on the way to a winning touchdown.  

To add insult to injury when he came back from the game he found out his car was stolen from the player's lot at the Meadowlands.

Then this week in the biggest game of the year for the Giants he made an interception, returned it 12 yards then fumbled the ball without getting hit.

Talk about a guy who needs some positive reinforcement…  It's not like he didn't do anything positive.  He had seven tackles, a sack (the Giants only sack), an interception and a forced fumble — no, not his own.  Remove the fumble — or if a teammate falls on it — and the announcers are talking about him as the defensive player of the game.  Instead, because of one mistake — yes a crucial one — and the announcers were reduced to apologizing for him.

I was watching the game and heard the announcers say more than once, "He's really not playing a bad game".  No, he didn't play a bad game, he played a really good game with one play that was both really good and really bad.

I don't know what was said in the locker room.  I haven't read anything that indicates his coach, Tom Coughlin, was either positive or negative toward him.

But I have seen his actions on the sidelines.  Coughlin is the typical tough guy NFL coach.  Do something good, you're doing your job.  Make a mistake and watch out.  That attitude isn't limited the players on his roster or coaches on his staff.  Just ask the reporters at his press conference this week.

The Giants have spent the last month sniping at one another and questioning their teammates' abilities.  I haven't heard the head coach saying these things, but the coach is responsible for the culture.

Look at your team.  Would your culture recognize the contributions Mathias Kiwanuka made or do mistakes obscure the contributions?

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.  Elbert Hubbard

Last week I gave my first  PCA presentation with Charlie Williamson, the Chicago are Lead Trainer.  The presentation was for parents in the Northern district of the Archdiocese of Chicago.  We had a tremendous turnout, well over 100 people on a cold night when the weatherman was predicting the end of the world.

Charlie presented most of the evening, allowing me to get my feet wet with a short segment on Honoring the Game.  This allowed me to listen, and since Charlie is a great facilitator, it was an interesting evening.

The one section that always gets an interesting reaction is the ELM Tree.  ELM stands for Effort, Learning and Mistakes.  This section doesn't get reaction because Effort or Learning are particularly controversial, but when Charlie said "Mistakes are OK", you could almost hear the audience stop and say — "Did I hear that right??".

Nobody likes mistakes, nobody wants mistakes, yet they are crucial to an athlete's and team's development.

I wrote about this subject in August.  John Wooden's college coach Piggy Lambert said "The team which makes the most mistakes usually wins the game."  John Wooden always preached that a team can't play near it's potential if it fears making mistakes.

Accepting that mistakes will happen is a start.  Recognizing the things that went right when other things went wrong will help.  But giving your kids a routine to get over a mistake makes it part of your team's culture.

When a kid makes a mistake he'll look at either his coach, his parents or the ground.  The coach is usually grimacing, the parents are usually wincing and the ground doesn't provide much feedback…  Regardless, the kid isn't part of the play anymore and he's thinking about the last play, not the next one.  A mistake ritual can help get him back in the game.

The ritual is something quick and simple.  "Flush it" is popular — especially among the scatalogically inclined; "Wipe it off", "Park It" and "Shake it Off" work as well.  What you pick isn't as important as the message it conveys — Mistakes happen but we don't worry about them now.  That doesn't mean you don't work on them — that's why you have practice.

Flush those mistakes and park them until you can address them at practice.  You won't eliminate mistakes, nobody can, but you will give the kids a great tool to deal with the inevitable.