Coaching: It’s Always the Leader

Coaching: It’s Always the Leader

By Derrick Carpenter

July 1980 nestled in the hills of the Pocono mountains in PA., me, my little brother and about 100 other campers sat around a basketball court, laughing, recreating stories of incredible shots, while waiting for our coaching session to begin. Somewhere off to our right a murmur starting to rise. Slowly, much like the “wave” that became popular at sporting events back then, our heads started to turn and focus on this one solitary person standing at the foul line on the far end of the court. He sure didn’t look like any basketball player I had ever seen. I wasn’t the tallest ball player by any means, but this guy made me look like Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He held his left hand at his side and was shooting one-handed foul shots, by the time we joined the count, he was up to 15 made shots in a row. The murmur grew and as each successive shot was made, the side conversations faded away, like a car radio driving off into the distance. The only sounds remaining were the bounce, bounce, followed by the ball arching through the air and the sharp sweet sound the ball makes as it flows through the hoop touching nothing but the net, Thhhwwwaaap, and the count 21, 25, 30, 40 (did he just hit 40 in a row, with one hand?) he did miss number 82.

81 shots in a row before a miss, and when he missed, he proceeded to move from spot to spot on the court and nail jump shot after jump. Then he did something I’ve never forgotten nor failed to teach since, he bounced the ball in a paddle of muddy water, took one last shot and then held his hand up for all to see. His finger-tips were brown from the mud but the palm of his hand was as bright and pink, as a skier’s cheeks, when they’re swooshing down the mountain. We all learned the fine art of shooting a basketball that day. My playing days are long over, but what we learned that day, my brother and I pass on to the kids we coach.

Ever notice how some coaches, whether it be pro or amateur, can move from team to team, have different players (sometimes with diminished skills) and within a season or two have the new team performing as well as or better then the team they just left? You ever wonder how that works? Especially in those cases, when the new team was a basement dweller, possibly even a perennial basement dweller. How’d they go from “worst to first” in a season or two? The first thing they do is get everybody’s attention, not unlike our coach on that hot July morning.

Successful Coaches in sports follow a simple philosophy: Find players strengths & weaknesses. Instruct them how to capitalize on the situations that play to their strengths while minimizing the ones that play to their weakness.

The Good coaches find the players whose strengths fall into the coaches’ systems or winning formula and as a consequence, they attract more people who are willing to buy into the system.  

Great coaches teach their personnel to develop their skill set strengths and they get the maximum effort from their team.

Poor coaches, on the other hand, try to teach their people how to overcome their weaknesses, this causes frustration and futility, for both the player and coach.

So if your team is not performing, it’s not the players, it’s the coach. Re-evaluate your approach, access the strengths and weaknesses of your people and come-up with a new game plan.

However, if the formula is sound, then go out and find the people who fit the system or are at least willing to learn the system. Great Coaches are equal parts, talent scout, recruiter, teacher, and motivator; and always responsible for the success or lack thereof for their teams’ performance.