Managers - The lifeblood of the program

A few days ago, Jesse McLean at King's University in Edmonton asked me about job descriptions and/or guidelines for managers. Having started out in college basketball as a manager for Kelvin Sampson at Washington State, I was more than happy to assist!

Before I get into the meat of this post, let me just say that being a manager is a great start for young guys wanting to coach. It presents a tremendous learning opportunity to learn, grow, and observe. Lawrence Frank is probably the most high-profile former manager, having served in that capactity for Bob Knight at Indiana. My friend, Steve Finamore head coach at East Lansing High School, wrote a great piece about being a student manager and breaking into "the business".

That being said, on to the actual request from Coach McLean. Here is the job description for our managers that I created when I was at McNeese State:

Before your job is outlined, there are two things you must know about our program and your place in it. First, the job you have is vital to the success of our basketball program. Many of your duties will take place behind the scenes and many will go unnoticed, however, you must understand that they are necessary for the smooth operation of our activities. No detail is too small. It is critical that you understand your importance to the program and you take pride in your job; doing it to the best of your abilities. The second thing you must know is that everyone who is a part of the day to day running of our program is a member of our family. You will be given the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as the coaches and players, so behave accordingly.

Like any family, there will be fun times and not-so-fun times but at all times we must remember we are a family. Things that occur at practice or in the privacy of a meeting or the locker room remain within the family. In doing this, you as a student manager, will be treated like a member of the family. you will be included in every aspect of our program, both on and off the court as well as socially.

Your success as a student manager will depend on four keys:

1. ACADEMICS - First and foremost you are a STUDENT manager. Academics are your first responsibility. Basketball comes second. This means that we expect you to manage your time and schedule in such a way as to effectively complete both responsibilities on a daily basis.

2. EFFORT/HUSTLE - Your success in this role will be directly related to your effort. Be early to everything you are required to be at. Hustle and work hard to get jobs done as quickly as possible. Run, don't walk. This is especially critical during practices and games. Unfortunately, your tasks may only be noticed if they are not done at the proper time or if they are not done to the best of your ability.

3. PUBLIC RELATIONS - Every member of our program is expected to be aware of their image within the community. We want to project a positive, success-oriented, hard working image to anyone who visits or comes to a game. This includes your speech, dress, appearance, mannerisms and vocabulary. Put your best foot forward in relating to the public.

4. WORKING RELATIONSHIPS - Develop positive relationships with all coaches, players, trainers, equipment managers as well as SID's, other sport coaches, other team managers, opponent's staff, etc. Behave, dress, and speak in a professional manner at all times. Your relationship with these people are public relations within our own athletic department.

The following are some general guidelines to follow. Remember that you can never be over-prepared and nothing is worse than being under-prepared. Your duties include, but are not limited to:

A. GENERAL
1. Keep equipment clean and organized
2. Know practice and travel schedules
3. Keep locker room and meeting room clean
4. Maintain accurate inventory of equipment

B. PRACTICE
1. Issue equipment - Practice gear, shoes, socks, etc.
2. Be at the facility one hour before practice
3. Prepare all practice areas:
a. Clock
b. Balls
c. Clean/sweep the floor
d. Check and replace nets if needed
e. Towels - Each manager, under each basket, and at scorers table
f. Trash cans at each end of the floor
g. Appropriate charts, forms, pens/pencils
h. Jump ropes
4. Coordinate all equipment for practice (ropes, cones, heavy balls, big ball, etc.)
5. Have practice plan and prepare ahead for the next segment
6. Keep appropriate stats
7. Assist with drills (passer, defender, etc.) when necessary
8. Maintain a safe environment
9. Be ready to change directions at a moments notice
***Once the players begin to take the court, remember this is not time for you to shoot around. Be available to rebound and assist with players.

C. GAMES
1. Be readily available an hour and a half before game and throughout the game
2. Have locker room open immediately on arrival
3. Issue equipment - Uniforms, warm ups, etc.
4. Check with and assist in game management set up
5. Take assigned stats
6. Assist with bench management and time-outs during the game
a. Pick up warm ups
b. Water for players exiting the game and during time-outs
c. Towels for players exiting the game and during time-outs
7. Collect, count, and inventory equipment after game

D. TRAVEL
1. Pack and bring all equipment
2. Bring back up equipment
3. Arrange laundry
4. Keep players on schedule and assist with hotel monitoring
5. Know the itinerary

E. FILM
1. Set up and operate
2. Test camera/recording device(s) early
3. Constantly check for malfunctions
4. Bring extra tapes, DVD's, cords, etc.

F. ASSIST COACHES WITH ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AS NEEDED
1. Check in with assistant coaches during the day
2. Maintain open communication with assistant coaches

Mental Plans

As a kid, for five straight summers starting at age 13 I went to basketball camp at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA. After graduating from high school, I became a counselor and later a coach at the camp for a grand total of 14 summers. The head coach at the time was Bruce Haroldson and each of those 14 summers he had us watch a basketball video done by Bob Knight. In the video, Coach Knight says, "The mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1... Let me say that again. The mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1." I am not a big gambler (the NCAA doesn't allow me in the first place), but I would bet dollars to pennies that most of you coaches would agree with Coach Knight's statement. So how many coaches teach mental training?

This past summer I was blessed to work Coaching U Live where internationally known writer/speaker on sport psychology, Spencer Wood, was a featured speaker. Spencer spoke to this quandary of coaches focusing only on physical training, yet they know that Coach Knight's statement is true. I have also been blessed to have been mentored by Dr. Jon Hammermeister at Eastern Washington University, who also serves as a sport psychologist for the US Olympic Ski Team. He echoes the tremendous benefits of mental training and how it can give your athletes that added edge.

The following are notes taken from Dr. Hammermeister on developing a system of mental plans aimed at athletes:

MENTAL PLANS

Develop a list of problem situations (e.g. individual, opponents, teammates, coaches) and strategies to deal with them effectively or to avoid problems that prevent you from performing at your best or maintaining Ideal Psychological State (ISP) in practice and competition.

Pre-Practice/Pre-Competitive Readiness Plans:
-Physical Warm-up
-Psychological warm-up (to get to IPS)
-Start prep-physical
-Start prep-psychological

Psychological Warm-Up:
1. Positive realistic self-talk
2. Imagery
3. Preparation routine
4. Arousal control
5. Goal-setting/adjustment

Practice and Competitive Focus plans:
1. Mastery component - Absolute perfect scenario
2. Coping component - What are you going to do when you go in the tank?

Why Develop Mental Plans?

Pre-Practice/Pre-Competition:
1. Strengthen feeling of being prepared to solidify confidence
2. Avoid intrusion of self-defeating thoughts
3. Develop desirable pre-event "feeling state" --Activation level and focus

Practice/Competition:
1. Event focus
2. Event refocus
3. Extending limits

Implementing Mental Plans:
1. Write out mental plans in as much detail as possible.
2. use imagery to rehearse using your mental plan in competition.
3. Use mental plan in low-stress competition.
4. Evaluate effectiveness of mental plan before and during competition.
*Keep process goals in mind and successfully achieve them.
**Positive and motivated feeling state -- where you perform the best, not where you necessarily feel the best.
-Highly confident
-Mentally calm
-Self-talk positive and limited
-Mind on automatic pilot
-Energized
-No distractions
5. Refine mental plan based on your evaluation.
6. Continue implementing mental plans, evaluating and refining plans until satisfied.

Practice Focus Plan
How can I accomplish my goals?
- What do I have to do?
- What are the roadblocks to prevent me from reaching those goals? How can i overcome them?

**Mastery Component - When everything is going perfectly, this is how it will go to plan.

**Coping Component - When not everything is going well, how do I deal? What is my plan for how things will go? Am I prepared to stay focused?

Competition Focus Plan
**Mastery Situations - Plan for how to stay focused
-Goals
-Beginning to end of first half
-Beginning of second half to the end of the game
-Score or run

**Coping Situations - Plan for preventing need to refocus
-Run
-Score
-Called foul or violation
-Mistake
-Poor officiating
-Turnover
-Fans
-Coach

Do you "know it all"?

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates

I saw this quote this morning and found it to be quite true. There is so much information out there that we just don't know. What does this mean for us? What are the consequences?

Overall it means that we need to challenge ourselves constantly to learn something new everyday. As a growing global community this has tremendous impact on how we view others and the interactions we have.

From a coaching perspective, it means that we too need to be searching for new information all the time. There are so many leadership techniques and motivational tools that have been developed and can be inspiration for our own views or implemented into our own philosophies. Coaches are constantly toying with new ideas, strategies, and tactical schemes that could be beneficial to our own programs.

As coaches, this also impacts our players. As soon as they think they've got it all figured out, that is when we see a decline in performance. This could be in the classroom or on the court. It is often the reason for the "sophomore slump".

This past year, I tried to combat the "slump" by engaging my post players in activities that would keep them thinking and exploring on their own. I had them come up with their own Directive Affirmations (an earlier post talks about this). This goal setting technique demonstrated that even a very good player still has room for improvement. I also provided my post players daily quotes in which they had to relate the quote to their affirmation and why it was important.

I would encourage coaches to read something every day that will assist them in bettering their program. This was something that George Raveling believed in strongly. Read an article from a newspaper or magazine, a book on leadership, or an inspirational story. I would encourage coaches to have their players participate as well. Bob Knight would have his team read books that he distributed to his team to keep them activated.

These are not new ideas, but little things that we tend to forget. The more we can understand that we don't know it all, the better we can become down the road.

Lanny Bassham and the Directive Affirmation

My good friend and head golf coach at Concordia turned me on to this great book. Lanny Bassham outlines the mental approaches he took in order to become a world class rifle shooter. The book is a very easy read, but extremely valuable in content.

I remember going to summer basketball camp and watching a Bob Knight video where Coach Knight says, "The mental is to the physical as four is to one." If this is true, we as coaches do not spend enough time on the most important part of the game: The Mental Game.

Bassham outlines the Directive Affirmation in his book. I implemented the Directive Affirmation with my post players this past season. The result was increased self confidence and performance. Here are the steps in the Directive Affirmation:

STEP 1: Define the goal.
STEP 2: Set a time limit; best results in 21 days and 9 days off.
STEP 3: List the personal pay-value of reaching this goal.
STEP 4: Outline the plan to achieve the goal.
STEP 5: Write a Directive Affirmation in the first person present tense, beginning with the word "I". State the goal as if you already are in possession of it. List the pay-value and the plan outline. Restate the goal. Date the paragraph with the target date.
STEP 6: In your own handwriting, make five copies on note cards.
STEP 7: Place the cards in five prominent places such as bathroom mirrors, refrigerators, computer screens, etc... (These locations are what Bassham calls Key Points).
STEP 8: Read and visualize your Directive Affirmation each time you come to a Key Point

An example of a Directive Affirmation for a player wanting to be a better free-throw shooter would look something like this:
11/1/09. I am the best free-throw shooter on my team. I start each game and enjoy the chance to help my team win by making free-throws. I always run a mental program before each shot and reinforce each successful basket by saying, "That's like me!" Also, I record my performance analysis and read and visualize my Directive Affirmation daily. I am the best free-throw shooter on my team.

Loyalty, Accountability, and Work Ethic

I mentioned previously about three keys to my philosophy. Three is a very powerful number, which we'll explore in a future post. The three elements I am referring to are the cornerstones to my philosophical triangle: Loyalty, Accountability, and Work Ethic.

LOYALTY
- We must understand that relationships are #1!
*The object of coaching is people
*Players will remember the bonds they create with each other more than any wins and losses.

- Cultivate a family atmosphere
*An "Us against the world" attitude
*Individuals must know that they are not alone in any endeavor

- We must know how to handle success and failure
*Know the differences between success and excellence
*Celebrate successes as a team
*Create a safe environment where failure to try is the only failure

- Players must understand when they are competing with others or themselves

- Demonstrate the difference between desire and commitment

ACCOUNTABILITY
- Demonstrate poise and self-control

- Reflect responsibility and character

-Responsibly manage time

- Understand that perception is reality

- Learn and practice leadership
*Know the difference between serving and controlling
*Everyone has the opportunity to lead in some capacity

WORK ETHIC
- Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together (Dean Smith)

- Set and meet goals
*Dream big - step by step
*Directive Affirmation - Individual statement of growth and improvement

Stay focused
*Composure and emotional control
*Assist to turnover ratio
*Personal fouls ratio

- Become "coachable"
*Develop a teaching strategy that will engage various learning styles
*Players need to develop an attitude that allows one to be coached and/or taught
*Listen to what is said; don't just hear (Bob Knight)
*See what is being taught; don't just look (Bob Knight)
*Understand the concepts; don't just know (Grant Wiggins)