Coachability - What It Takes

This past weekend, our team took a tremendous shot to the chops! We had just taken a full week off for finals and had only two days to prepare for a very talented basketball team.



During those two days, some of our players were not interested in what was being taught. There was a lot of selfishness and poor attitudes. When we were instructing, the most common response was, "I know" but very little was being done on the floor to prove that they knew. They had closed themselves off to accepting instruction and as a consequence had turned their backs selfishly on each other.



After the embarassing blowout on Saturday, we talked to the players about allowing themselves to be coachable. I was reminded of a great piece of wisdom by Ray Lokar of the Positive Coaching Alliance in Creighton Burns' Basketball Newsletter. The following will be posted in our players lockers waiting for them when they return on December 26th.


What Does It Take For A Player To Be "COACHABLE"?
1. Knowing you don't know everything
2. Willingness to do what your coach says
3. Being more interested in learning than looking good
4. Willing to listen
5. Accepting constructive criticism as part of the package
6. Not getting defensive every time someone suggests something different
7. Being patient with yourself as to achieving results
8. Being in it for the long haul, and not expecting or demanding quick results
9. Surrender to the teacher, or coach, and let go of the need to be in control of every situation
10. Surrender your will so someone else can instruct or coach you and entering the gym with the mindset,
"TEACH ME COACH - I want to learn!"