Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Before I go any further I want to send out well wishes to all the people that have been effected by the hurricanes. It really has been a difficult time. The people of gulf region and inland are strong people but I can't help but think how much pain they are going through having lost homes, vehicles, many personal valuables, and in some cases life. I am praying for your fast recovery so you can move on with your life.

Playing Ball Again and Being Coached By My Daughter

The other night I went to the YMCA and joined the 3 on 3 league. The last time I played in this league was 2 years ago. Since that time ,I opened my speed academy in NY and have been unable to play, but I am back at it.

My first game was this past Tuesday night and my oldest daughter, Jae, watched my game. She loves basketball. I am on a team with a bunch of young bucks. They are really good players and mostly in their mid 20's. When they asked me to play I explained to them I will miss every now and again due to my travel schedule, so I am more of a sub at this point. However, because the games are lone, everyone plays a lot.

I have to say, I played pretty well considering I have not played much basketball the last two years. I had a lot of rust to work off but not too bad. When I came out of the game and went over to be next to my daughter and drink some water, she began coaching me. She said I needed to play harder defense and make more shots. So I said, "what did I do well? " She thought for a second and said, "I like the steal you had" (which was basically a loose ball I got to first).

What a cool thing. My daughter, a 5th grader, is in to the game enough to critique me. I have been given a worse assessment of play before, so hers wasn't too difficult to take. And you know what, she was right. I did miss some easy shots I normally would make and I was not moving my feet too well on defense.

The thing that amazed me is that these are the same type of things she hears me saying about other players when I am coaching. It is funny how what we think is not being absorbed by young people is really sinking in. Jae, if she chooses to, will make a great coach someday.

Why Assess Your Team

We talk a lot about assessments and how they build a foundation for us to work from. I don't think enough coaches put enough importance on using an assessment period (could be one or two weeks) to watch their team play, work together, see the chemistry, see their skill level, see what each player brings to the team, and more. After the assessment period take the information gained and then put a game plan together. In other words, how can you say for sure what type of offense or defense you want to run without actually seeing what your team can do.

Too often we find a really cool offense or we want to run the defensive scheme that Duke runs in basketball, or North Carolina runs in soccer, or use the offense the Colts run in football. The bottom line is what works well for one team may be disastrous for another. It is our job as coaches to evaluate and implement according to what we have.

Don't forget the number role of a coach. It is to set up our teams for success. If you put them in a system that fits what they do well as individuals and a team success can be achieved. But, if you try a system that doesn't fit, then failure will be lurking.

Do yourself and your teams a favor, evaluate them before you implement.

Yours in Speed,

Lee

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