Monday, June 8, 2009

Individual Development Strategies

I was reviewing some old files and came across some notes I took at a clinic a few years back. I find that the summer is always a great time to go back and dig for ideas that will fit your personal and/or team goals for the next season.

These are some notes I took listening to former Whitworth head coach, Warren Friedrichs, on the topic of coach's personal development.

- Develop relationships with your players. Let them know who you are. They are more likely to return the sentiment. Use age, enthusiasm, and knowledge to establish the relationship. Players want communication and respect foremost.

- Be a positive coach. Find what they do right. Use what they do - help them to be successful. Provide/explain a role for them and the team. Paint a picture for them and the team.

- Encourage and assist with off-season development. At the D-III level this is a challenge, but this can be achieved by having your players work camp, take the team on a foreign tour, open gyms, and weight training class.

- Foster upperclassmen ownership of the program. Use them in decision making like what shoes to wear, uniform design, where to eat on the road, have them mentor younger players, change the rooming list every trip, teach stations at camp, etc.

- Since off-season workouts are not allowed at D-III, at least 30-45 minutes of practice should focus on individual skill development.

- Teach shooting development and offensive footwork every day in practice.

No comments:

Post a Comment