Players frequently try out for teams, working as hard as they can to make a school team or a regional select squad. What is the point of this exercise? Certainly, youth are enabled to meet their fitness, belonging, and esteem needs. Some might even achieve their self-actualization goals. To satisfy all of these requirements, athletes must possess a deeper motivation. Everyone must ask themselves: what do I want for myself today, this week, and this month? What do I want for myself in the long-term? Once that vision is established, one should ask themselves how they will get there. What …
Continuous Improvement
So many times, a student-athlete performs a skill and observers, coaches, officials, and spectators alike, agree that it was “truly a high school play.” The sequence may play out differently – lacking a clear plan, forcing a low-percentage option, misunderstanding how the play will be officiated – but the process (emotions out of control) and outcome (a missed opportunity) remain the game. It’s bound to happen from time to time during the season but how often is too much? When is it time to learn and move on. Players seem to think that they can fool coaches but they’re crazy. …
Acting Like a Team
In practice, teammates should push each other constantly. During games teams should remain focused. A sad scene transpired during Toronto’s last exhibition game against Chicago. The Bulls held a ten point lead and had just called the games final automatic timeout. During the timeout, Chicago was immensely attentive, huddled around coach Tom Thibodeau as he reviewed some tactic or strategy. The team could have relaxed as they held the advantage but they chose to remain focused, because that is the behaviour that they will need to succeed in the playoffs.
Stream of Consciousness, Part VII
Maintaining Focus: On Wednesday night, Roy Halladay demonstrated the elite focus (and pitching ability) which has made him one of the top pitchers in baseball. Many times, an athlete who has experienced a lengthy career before reaching the postseason makes a mountain out of a molehill and becomes overwhelmed by the occasion. The solution for most athletes is to treat the playoff game like any other but it appears that Halladay was able to take eleven years of frustration and convert it into positive energy. Halladay’s focus was even more intense and as a result, he was able to pitch …
Skills We Should Teach More, Part VII: Balance
Out of the number of tactics and techniques that coaches can teach, those which improve balance achieve disproportionate results on the court. So often, children are not ready when they play basketball. Youth coaches do not instruct balance during high school or club basketball and nobody considers balance once athletes become adults. Footwork, footwork, and footwork are the keys to all the locks across many sports. They volleyball player requires the fundamental footwork skills to get in position to set a ball or approach a spike in the same way that the basketball player needs to explode into their first step …
Making Better Decisions
When a crisis occurs during the year, the players are ultimately responsible for the resolution. Coaches can recommend actions but players must execute these actions. Sometimes, the players must pull themselves together and move forward on their own. Adversity occurs during every minute of every game and practice: there are always battles between you and an opponent (or you and yourself) that present opportunities to set a personal best. Adversity also occurs every day of your life. How we make decisions under pressure decides how we handle adversity. Decisions made under pressure in sport will recur under pressure in daily …
Teaching Self-Evaluation
The Globe and Mail posted a curious article regarding how humans learn (and perform) complex skills. Initially, we learn each skill separately and combine the individual actions as we progress. Instead of thinking “jab-step, explosive first-step, jump-stop, and pull-up jumpshot” great players think “make an open shot” and execute all the components together. If told to go slowly, an expert will deconstruct the movement in their mind and make it harder for themselves. On the other hand, a novice needs to consider each skill distinctly in order perform the entire action successful. The article illustrated the point with a putting …
Skills We Should Teach More, Part IV: Taking the Clutch Shot
Trailing Phoenix by one with twelve seconds to play, Toronto called timeout to set up the final shot. The Raptors inbounded to Hedo Turkoglu, who endeavoured to penetrate, lost the handle, and forced a fadeaway jumper. The poor shot was the result of Turkoglu’s slip, not the set but the shot still lacked viable alternatives to the primary option. Posting Chris Bosh against Amare Stoudamire would have been definitely feasible but how could coach Jay Triano better incorporate the Raptors’ young players into these pressure situations? During climatic moments, mental and somatic anxiety heightens. The latter can be controlled by …
Skills We Should Teach More, Part III: Reaction Time
Introduction: Initially, it was believed that the body and mind were powerfully connected; once a human mind made a decision, the body acted immediately. Galileo Galilei, endeavouring to prove that the speed of light was finite, estimated a human reaction time of 0.5 seconds in the seventeenth century, which was lowered to 0.2 seconds in 1905 by Edward Titchener (Foschi & Leone, 2009, pp. 1255-7). Within the confines of a basketball court – ninety-four feet long and fifty feet wide – both players receive information at the same time and it becomes a matter of who reacts better. Before: Body: …
Skills We Should Teach More, Part II: The Mental Side of Passing
The ballhandler sees a teammate down court and throws a chest pass to his outside shoulder. The defender, having read the point guard’s eyes, closes the gap and times his jump to steal the ball. The opponent goes the other way and scores, finishing an and-1. A bad pass led to two points, a team foul, and a baseline inbounds. During N.F.L. Kickoff Weekend, commentators prattled endlessly about the need for quarterbacks to estimate the distance between the defender and the receiver. One speculated that newly unretired Brett Favre would incorrectly evaluate the strength of his aging throwing arm and …
Skills We Should Teach More, Part I: What Should the Point Guard Do After Passing the Ball?
What should the point guard do when they have made a wing entry pass and instigated the half-court offence? Sit in quiet contemplation: if one’s role is to handle the ball, what are they without it? Are they still a player or merely an observer? Does giving up the rock entail giving up one’s self? Is their performance a result of their effort or the position in which they have been placed? Atlas was still a man (actually a Titan) before the world was placed on his shoulders and retains his identity despite his onerous burden. Cut through the key and… …
Sisyphus and Starbucks
According to a Starbucks’ cup that I read recently (The Way I See It #76): “The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating — in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around a rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.” On the subject of the Greek myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus wrote: “Je laisse Sisyphe au bas de la montagne! On retrouve toujours son fardeau. Mais Sisyphe enseigne la fidélité …
What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part III
The new Roger Federer – the one who makes mistakes, occasionally fails, and realizes his limitations – is much more interesting than the old one. Last year’s Wimbledon between Federer and Nadal featured superior tennis but this year’s match between Federer and Andy Roddick was equally as tense. To complete the French Open-Wimbledon double, Federer needed to honestly re-evaluate his game in order to improve it. At Roland Garros, his improved ability to slide on the baseline was paired with a new drop shot; at the All England Club he was forced to serve impeccably and persevere as his best …
What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part I
I hope to improve my ability to deal with people and egos, to better motivate student-athletes and demonstrate more empathic leadership. I recently read Competitive Fire by Michael Clarkson and learnt many facts that I hope to apply in the coming year. We often discuss how it seems that teenagers have a “fight or flight” mentality but there is a scientific basis to the argument. Under pressure, the brain releases hormones, such as adrenaline or noradrenaline, that can cause aggressiveness, increase feelings of fear, and inspire the body to perform faster, higher, or stronger. All people, including athletes, need to …
Fate Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Smokey the Bear persistently preached that “only you can prevent forest fires.” He understood that he could preach until he was blue in the fur about fire safety but he could only succeed if everyone did their part. A coach can make speeches, review game tape, prepare scouting reports, or employ coaching gimmicks but the team can only succeed if every player on the court contributes. After a Toronto High School Senior Boys Basketball championship game, a West Hill player was heard to remark that the game was “easy.” One teammate concurred but another remarked that “wait, we lost.” Some …
Player Development, Part II
The Toronto Raptors held a career forum last week at the Air Canada Centre. A panel of various employees represented different aspects of the organization: concessions, sponsorships, ticketing, facilities, and other jobs. Whilst the speakers were genuine in their desire to inspire the many high school students in attendance, they largely failed. The seminar was a complete contrast from the hullabaloo of an Association game, which was a bit of a surprise, like seeing all the McDonald’s employees in line at Harvey’s in Union Station before the game. The Raptors promised an interactive and interesting event and fell quite short. …