Tag: John Wooden

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Coach Talk Irish Grassroots Football

A Healthy Philosophy of Winning

An important issue requiring clarification is the difference between professional and developmental models of sport. Professional sport is a huge commercial enterprise, where the major objectives are directly linked to their status in the entertainment industry. The goals of professional sports are to entertain and to make money. Financial success is of primary importance and depends heavily on winning.

In a developmental model, sport is an arena for learning, in which the ultimate objective is to develop the individual. The most important product is not wins or dollars, but the quality of the experience for young athletes. In this sense, sport participation is an educational process whereby youngsters can learn to cope with realities they will face in later life. Although winning is sought after, it is by no means the primary goal. Profit is not measured in terms of euros and cents, but rather in terms of the skills and personal characteristics that are acquired.

Most youth sport programs are oriented toward providing a healthy recreational and social-learning experience for youngsters. They are not intended to be miniature professional leagues. Unfortunately, some coaches get caught up in the “winning is everything” philosophy that characterises much of our sport culture. This is not to say that coaches should not try to build winning teams, but some- times winning becomes more important for the coach than it is for the athletes. Winning will take care of itself within the limits of your athletes’ talents and the quality of instruction they receive. In your role as a teacher, it is important to recognise that skills are most likely to develop within a positive and happy relationship between you and your athletes. And while happy athletes don’t always win, they need never lose.

Young athletes can learn from both winning and losing. But for this to occur, winning must be put in a healthy perspective. More exactly, there is a four-part philosophy that Mastery Approach coaches communicate to their athletes.

Young athletes can learn from both winning and losing. But for this to occur, winning must be put in a healthy perspective. More exactly, there is a four-part philosophy that Mastery Approach coaches communicate to their athletes.

1. Winning isn’t everything, nor is it the only thing. Young athletes can’t possibly learn from winning and losing if they think the only objective is to beat their opponents. If youngsters leave your program having enjoyed relating to you and to their team- mates, feeling better about themselves, having improved their skills, and looking forward to future sport participation, you have accom- plished something far more important than a winning record or a league championship.

2. Failure is not the same thing as losing. Athletes should not view losing as a sign of failure or as a threat to their personal value. They should be taught that losing a game is not a reflection of their own self-worth.

3. Success is not equivalent to winning. Winning and losing apply to the outcome of a contest, whereas success and failure do not. How, then, can we define success in sports?

4. Athletes should be taught that success is found in striving for victory. The important idea is that success is related to commitment and effort! Effort is within athletes’ zone of control. They have complete control over the amount of effort they give, but they have only limited control over the outcome that is achieved. “You have no control over results. All you can do is play to the best of your abilities. Success is YOU giving everything that YOU have.”

The core idea in the Mastery Approach emphasises that success is achieved in striving to be your best. Thus, the focus is not on competing with others and trying to outdo them, but on developing one’s own abilities to the maximum. We saw this concept captured in John Wooden’s definition of success, and College Football Hall of Fame coach Frosty Westering expressed the same idea in this statement: “Doing your best is more important than being the best.”

If you can impress on your athletes that they are never “losers” if they commit themselves to doing their best and giving maximum effort, you are bestowing a priceless gift that will assist them in many of life’s tasks. When winning is kept in a healthy perspective, the most important coaching product is not a won-lost record; it is the quality of the sport experience provided for the athletes.

How can you teach a mastery-oriented philosophy of winning?

First, have regular discussions about it. You must continually remind athletes about the importance of effort. Second, back up your words with actions. In other words, don’t just talk about effort, do something about it! Third, help athletes set individualised goals specific to them, and encourage them to work toward them. If they’re working on a technical skill, try to find a way to measure their performance so they can see their improvement. Use praise and recognition to reward effort and improvement. Encourage effort and persistence, telling athletes that skills develop gradually, not all at once. In a mastery climate, the “most improved player” award is just as important as the “most valuable player.” Finally, convey to your athletes that mistakes are one of the best ways to learn, and that they needn’t fear making them.

John Wooden referred to mistakes as “stepping stones to achievement” because they provide the feedback needed to improve performance.

Contribution By Prof. Ronald Smith

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We always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say or content to share, please comment below or email me coach@thecoachdiary.com 

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Coach Talk

Coach John Wooden

“Essentially, I was always more of a practice coach than a game coach. This is because of my conviction that a player who practices well, plays well.” – Coach John Wooden

Coach John Wooden

Training was where Wooden always felt he really made the difference to his teams. Each day before training Wooden and his assistants would spend near to two hours planning the day’s session. The planning would sometimes last longer than the session itself. Once done, the notes for that session would be made on a small card that he carried in his pocket.

Not only did this keep them handy, but he could also write down extra notes during the session as things developed.After practice, he would transfer all his notes into another notebook.

His notebooks were an essential part of his coaching toolkit, and he would add notes after games as well.Your practice sessions are the most important part of the week.

Make them count!

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We always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say or content to share, please comment below or email me coach@thecoachdiary.com 

If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. As always, thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary and @LetTheKidPlay

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Irish Grassroots Football

Perfect Practice

One practice at a time but making that practice a perfect practice (doing to best of our ability) every time your practice. With that practice or session the aim is to improve, the aim is to get better. When we think about practice how many of us are improving each and every-time. How many of us just go through the motions, like arriving at training, participating but not doing it intentionally, not doing it with the conscious mind?

‘Perfect Practice Makes Permanent, so make sure you strive to Practice Perfect’

Practicing has to become a habit for you to be successful. No athlete or coach ever got to the top without practicing and improving every-time he/she trained. The great late John Wooden always stressed, to do your best because that is one thing you can control and doing it each time (well) will give you success and satisfaction. Nothing is more important or satisfying then preparation for the game. Preparation is really where success truly lies. So when you practice, make sure you practice well and intentionally.

How many of us set training goals or targets each and every time we train and that includes making mistakes?

25 Lessons Learned from John Wooden

Here is a collection of lessons learned from John Wooden from ‘sources of insight.com’:

  1. A doer makes mistakes.  If you’re not doing, you’re not learning.   Everybody makes mistakes.  It’s what you do with them that counts.
  2. Academics are enduring.  Getting an education is a #1 priority.  Wooden made it a point to his players that they were first and foremost a student (the student part of “student athlete”).  Wooden said, “If you let social activity take precedence over the other two (education and sports), then you’re not going to have any for very long.”   Wooden also said, “Sports are kind of like passion and that’s temporary in many cases, but academics — that’s like true love and that’s enduring.”
  3. Agree to disagree, but don’t be disagreeable.  According to Wooden, “We can agree to disagree, but we don’t need to be disagreeable.”
  4. Be on time, no profanity, and don’t criticize.  Wooden learned this from his Dad.  He had three rules for the students he coached: 1) never be late (start on time and close on time), 2) not one word of profanity, and 3) never criticize a teammate.
  5. It’s not whether you won or lost, it’s if you played your best game.   If you won, but didn’t play your best, then you didn’t really win.  If you lost, but you played your best, then you didn’t really lose.  Wooden said, “Never mention winning.  My idea is that you can lose when you outscore somebody in a game, and you can win when you’re outscored.”
  6. Coach for life, not just the game.   Wooden promoted the idea of a “teacher coach.”  Wooden said that as a coach, you “teach” sports.  However, according to Wooden, a coach has to be more concerned about the overall learning, than just the sport or just winning the game.  Wooden said, “It can be done in a way that’s also helping them develop in other ways that will be meaningful forever.”  It’s about building habits and practices that support students for life.   Wooden credits the fact he was a teacher before he became a coach, helped him organize his time better and learn that he has to work with each individual a little differently.
  7. Don’t let your limits limit you.   Don’t let limits get in the way.  Wooden — “Don’t let what you cannot do, interfere with what you can do.”
  8. Don’t whine, don’t complain, and don’t make excuses.  This is another trio of rules Wooden learned from his Dad — “Don’t whine, don’t complain, and don’t make excuses — you get out there and whatever you’re doing do it to the best of your ability.  No one can do more than that.”
  9. Everybody is unique.  As a teacher, Wooden learned early on the importance of paying attention to each individual.  He learned that he had to work with each individual a little differently, and that no two are identical.  They can be alike in many respects, but they aren’t identical.  He learned that each student or player would have different strengths and weaknesses and that he would have to vary his approach to help them unleash their best.
  10. Failure is not fatal.  Keep going.  Don’t let setbacks stop you.  Carry your lessons forward, and change your approach.  Wooden said, “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
  11. Focus on character over reputation.  Your reputation may vary.  It’s your character that counts and it’s what you can control.  Wooden said, “If you make the effort to do the best of which you’re capable, trying to improve the situation that exists for you, I think that’s success and I don’t think others can judge that, and I think that’s like character and reputation.  Your reputation is what you are perceived to be, and your character is what you actually are, and I think the character is much more important than what you are perceived to be.”
  12. It’s the company you keep.   Wooden enjoyed being a teacher and a coach because he felt he was in great company and he was shaping the future.  Wooden would say, “those under your supervision are the future.”  According to Wooden, “A coach is like the teacher who once was asked why she taught; they asked me why I teach and I replied, where could I find such splendid company …”  They aren’t just students or players, they are future doctors, etc.
  13. It’s the journey.  It’s the getting there that’s fun.  Wooden said, “Cervantes said, ‘The journey is better than the end.’ And I like that. I think that is — it’s getting there. Sometimes when you get there, there’s almost a letdown, but it’s the getting there that’s fun.”  Wooden would say, ““I liked our practices to be the journey, and the game would be the end … the end result.”
  14. Journal for reflection and growth.   According to Wooden, he journaled for all his players, and this is a difference that made the difference.   The journal is how he could focus on little distinctions and really fine tune the practices and drills to be more specific and relevant for each player.  It’s how he personalized the practices.  It’s this personalization and paying attention to strengths and weaknesses that really helped him bring out the best in each player.
  15. It’s courage that counts.  Courage is what keeps you going.  Wooden said, “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
  16. Keep your emotions in check.   Wooden was strict about keeping his players’ emotions in check.  He didn’t want anybody to be able to tell whether his team had won or lost, just by looking at them.  He didn’t want his team to get overly emotional about their wins, or overly emotional about their losses.  Instead, he wanted a focus on whether they played their best and that only each person would know whether they really gave their best for the situation.
  17. Make each day your masterpiece.  Wooden made the most of each day, by design.  Wooden – “Make everyday your masterpiece.”
  18. Make the effort to be the best you can on a regular basis.  According to Wooden, “If you make your effort to do the best you can regularly, the results will be about what they should be, not necessarily what you’d want them to be, but they’ll be about what they should, and only you will know whether you could do that … and that’s what I wanted from them more than anything else.”
  19. Never try to be better than someone else.  This is another lesson Wooden learned from his Dad – “You should never try to be better than someone else.  Always learn from others and never cease trying to be the best you can be.  That’s under your control.  If you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control.”
  20. Patience is a part of progress.   Success comes slowly.  Expect change to happen slowly and to have patience along the way.  Wooden said, “Whatever you’re doing, you must have patience” and “there is no progress without change, so you must have patience.”
  21. The score is a by-product.  The score is hopefully a by-product of doing the right things.  Don’t focus on the score, focus on what you’re doing and give your best.  Wooden said, “I wanted the score of a game to be a by-product of these other things, and not the end itself.”
  22. The best player is the one who gets closest to reaching their full potential.  According to Wooden, whoever gets the closest to reaching their full potential is the best player.
  23. Success is “peace of mind.” Wooden had a simple measure of success – peace of mind.  According to Wooden, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
  24. Lead by example.  Wooden said that way back, during his early years of teaching, a specific saying made a great impression on him – “No written word, no spoken plea, can teach our youth what they should be, nor all the books on all the shelves, it’s what the teachers are themselves.”
  25. You’re part of a team.    Wooden truly believed that the sum of the whole is more than the parts.  Wooden would say, “A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player.”

I’ve started to read a great book called Perfect Practice teach like a champion, the first few pages already have me hooked and inspired me to write this post today. In this video Doug Lemov talks about what they do:

 In Practice Perfect, Doug, Erica, and Katie articulate 42 rules for designing practice that produces excellence. What are the goals that matter most to you? As Dan Heath writes in his foreword to the book, “To practice is to declare, I can be better.”

The message here is not to neglect the journey (training and preparing) in our anxiety to get better. As John Wooden also said, ‘Success and attention to details, the smallest details usually go hand in hand in sport and in life’

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I always like to hear your opinions and views. If you feel you have something to say, please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. As always, thanks for reading.

I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary

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Soccer Parents

A great poem about A kids first game

I found this poem about a Kids First Game:

You Can Download it Here> This is your first game

Please support the campaign, to help improve participation in Kids Sports.

 

You can Sign up for the Silent Sideline Weekend

SATURDAY 29th & SUNDAY 30th March 2014

Fill out my online form.

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I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com If, you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend. Thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary 

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Quotes

The Coach Diary Quotes & Much More..

I’m starting this post, to share my quotes and opinions with you. All of them are inspired by other coaches, comment and posts from the blog. Please feel free to use, share or even add to them.

These quotes are written with the intention to keep me inspired each and every time I coach. I hope you too get some inspiration from them.

I hope you enjoy them.

How children learn and how we should teach

May 2015

“You cannot put your motivation on someone else. Motivation is internal”

Activity + Stress & Pressure = Avoidance. Create an environment where they can be successful and feel good about what they are doing and that is the internal engine for motivation. The things we love doing give us pleasure. Give us personal satisfaction.

When we think of things we don’t like doing, they are generally things that cause us stress and tension.

Learning should be fun. Learning should be positive. Learning should motivate.

Activity + Satisfaction = Motivation

April 2015

“Players should be seen as children first, students second and players last“ TCD

“Failing to win is not failure. Teams improve, players improve, coaches learn something and that is success. There is success in defeat. You can play a great game and someone else can just play better. Failing to win can just be bad luck”. – TCD

“If a child isn’t making the right decisions, then he/she doesn’t know how or hasn’t been given the chance. One of the great joys of coaching is watching children DO!!” – TCD

March 2015

“I didn’t change. I’m just learning from my experiences and constantly improving myself” – TCD

“One way to get better is surround yourself with better people” TCD

“Every child can learn, just not on the same day or the same way” TCD

February 2015

“Kids can only perform at their optimum level in an environment that feels safe. One that is emotionally safe, where they can’t be afraid of failing, where they can’t be afraid of making mistakes. If they are, they will get tense and tight and tentative and that will interfere with the fluidity of their muscles, which will translate into performance on the pitch. When children have the freedom to express themselves, creativity flourishes”.

“The biggest enemy to learning is the ever talking coach” – TCD

“Every child can learn, just not on the same day or the same way” TCD

“Coaches who love coaching, teach players to love learning” TCD

January 2015

“Over the years I have learnt to speak less and less on the sidelines. When players make mistakes during the game, try and bite your tongue and let that anger pass. Shouting or screaming at your players is actually counterproductive and will only cause them to play worse. You can certainly point out what they did wrong, but that moment is not the best time to do it. Write it down and speak to them in a 1v1. In every game there are coaching moments and you need to pick the right ones. Directly after a mistake is not one of them. Try and spend more energy focusing the players on what they need to do to correct the mistake, rather than staying with the mistake”. – TCD

“Your attitude is like a price tag, it shows how valuable you are” – ?

December 2014

“A coach should be “demanding without being demeaning.” TCD

“The curse of knowldege “Just because we taught something, does not mean it was learnt” – TCD

Sleep plays a big role in consolidating the learning, so we really don’t get to see what the player has learnt until the game i.e. training game or organised fixture. Don’t expect to see perfection and success in every session. However you might well see some of what they learnt during the game. All children develop at different stages and some will get things sooner than others, that’s why it’s so important to be patient and not force the process of learning. As coaches (adults) we want to see learning straight away, but it just doesn’t happen like that. Remember, children are not mini adults. TCD

November 2014

“Kids just cannot perform at their best every time they play. Why? Well because that’s not how life/sports works. Your best one week may not be the same as your best the following week. The life lesson here is no matter what the outcome, you did your best and there is always next week” – TCD

“Until your players know that you care, they don’t care what you know” @TomBatesCoachng

“A coach will effect more people in a year than those who never coach, will in a lifetime” – TCD

“Every child is gifted. They just unwrap their presents at different times” – TCD

“Children need the freedom to play and learn on their own. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” – TCD

October 2014

Another weekend upon us. Unfortunately some people will get emotionally involved in their kids game and potentially ruin the experience for everyone. Watching you child play is a fantastic experience, so live with those moments not in them. Think before you act – especially when you are in front of young people. They don’t want you to fight their battles. They want you to be there, be supportive and watch them play. The process of learning, does not come down to that single game. Be proactive – not reactive. If you are unable to control your emotions, for the sake of the young KIDS that play, then best to stay away and return when you are in control of those emotions. – TCD

You have a big part to play in affecting your players. In all three aspects.

Physical;
Psychological;
Social.

Don’t underestimate your responsibility when it comes to coaching kids.

You can’t just throw a ball out and expect to achieve the above objectives.

The four points below, can help you:

1. You have to work hard on developing them and getting to know them.
2. Getting better as a coach with every training session and game. (Knowledge)
3. How you are as a coach will depend on your leadership. (Self Awareness)
4. You must want to learn and develop.

“How times have changed. I now evaluate the game based on what has happened in the game and not necessarily the result. It’s easy to learn nothing from a big win and leave thinking that was great but there are always areas you can improve on” – TCD

“Every person on the team is different, has something to offer and comes with a story. Get to know your players better. The best way to build team cohesion is in 1v1 chats”  – TCD

“LUCK: Happens when you work hard. The harder you work, the luckier you get; it’s more likely to happen to those who give 100 percent everytime” – TCD

September 2014

“I use to think that shouting (Trying to make them fear me) was how i motivated players but all this does is distract the player from his/her performance. It raises their anxiety levels and it certainly doesn’t create mental toughness; it actually does the opposite of that. There is a time and place for raising your voice, however you get far more from your players by treating them with respect than humiliating them. If you coach with fear you’re doing it wrong’’ – TCD

“Learning is a gift. Even when pain is your teacher”

Coaches are not always right. No matter how good of a coach you are or how many trophies you have won, at some stage you will get it wrong (I have already this season). Coaches don’t always have the answers. They don’t always make the right decisions. They don’t always say the smartest things. They do NOT always make the right decisions. Many can’t articulate their feelings without being abusive. They don’t understand every child they work with. They don’t always look outside of the sport for the answers to a child’s problems. They don’t see the child as a child. They can be insensitive and lack understanding of players needs. They can be unfair, even to their own child. They can rude and aggressive. Kids coaches are prone to making mistakes. Not all decisions work out, not all the decisions are the right ones. We are human like everyone else, it’s part of the process to getting better. Dr. Goldberg stats “The fact of the matter is that coaches are human and as a consequence of this human condition their performance as a teacher is always limited by and filtered through their personality, life experiences, knowledge of the game, personal problems, maturity and psychological sophistication. While some coaches are absolutely brilliant teachers and should be cloned, other coaches are abysmal and abusive and should only be allowed to work with inanimate objects” TCD

August 2014

‘Energy flows where your attention goes. If you always focus on mistakes then don’t be surprised if the players are focused on avoiding them’ TCD

“Learning starts with failure; the first time to fail begins the education” TCD

“If you think of children learning as a path, you can picture them walking along step by step, rather than been pushed, dragged or carried along” TCD

July 2014

I’m yet to meet a kid that deliberately my mistakes or plays to lose. So, when they do make mistakes, it is not done on purpose! So, why do we treat them as if that’s exactly what they did?!!! The next time a player makes you irritable or disappoints you, DON’T SHOUT AT THEM OR RIDICULE THEM! Try to HELP them. Make them understand what they did wrong and come up with ways to show them how to learn by it and correct it. Keep your emotions in check and instead of screaming the general nonsense we so commonly hear on the sidelines, try to take note (observe) of what you need to do to improve that individual. Intelligent coaching begins when you shift your frame of taught from ridicule to constructive praise. – TCD 

As a coach, if you focus on winning you are going to have a very frustrating experience working with kids. – TCD

‘Failure is the fastest way to learn’ – TCD

We now live in a sports crazed society, even kids sports can take over an artificial importance. We see coaches and adults going nuts when young athletes make mistakes or under-perform. Winning can motivate players to cheat, coaches can even encourage it. Then we see parents going mental on the sidelines, pushing their kids to do more when they have given all they have got. Expecting their kids to be like the pro’s when they are just kids. In no way are these kind of behaviours acceptable and nor should we ever tolerate them. Kids sport is not about winning, it’s about playing. That’s why kids play.They like to win. They enjoy competing but Children don’t value winning as much as adults do. They value playing more! TCD

June 2014

‘When we learn something new as coaches: The challenge is to implement what we have learnt and then work on it. The challenge is DEDICATION, the challenge is taking that learning into our coaching’ – TCD

The laws of learning: EXPLANATION, DEMONSTRATION, IMITATION AND REPETITION. You create the correct habit that can be produced without thought under pressure. Skill is being able to execute not only properly but quickly. – TCD

‘Children play sport because it’s fun. Take the fun away and you take the kid away’ – TCD

‘There is a great deal of love involved with coaching. That’s what a team should be to a coach’ – tcd

May 2014

The single most important question you can ask your child is, why do you play sport? Before you ask that question, ask you yourself the same question. If their reason is not the same as yours, – then you have one choice, forget about yours and accept theirs. TCD

“One thing I’ve learnt about players who play with a smile, you rarely remember their mistakes but never forget when they smile” TCD

“Being a role model is the most powerful form of teaching. Kids need good role models more than they need critics. This is the most important responsibility you have as a parent and a coach”. TCD

“Not enough coaches are trained to coach. A win at all cost philosophy is a major factor in creating a negative environment for kids who play sport. The person who uses this style of philosophy is often commanding or authoritarian and does not provide an enjoyable environment for players. The problem with so many coaches, is that they rarely have any formal training when it comes to creating a positive and healthy learning environment. A developmental leadership style is one way of creating good performances and a fun environment” TCD

April 2014

“If a kid is trying but can’t seem to understand what your saying, raising your voice to that child, never helps”

“Children don’t see what you see. They see what they see.” TCD

 

“If you’re not improving your coaching methods every week. Then don’t expect your players to improve every week.” TCD

 

“If a kid is trying but can’t seem to understand what your saying, raising your voice to that child, never helps” tcd

March 2014

“A lot of what I talk about, might seem like it’s not relevant to recreational sport. I firmly believe; if you coach then you should want to be the best coach you can be. That might mean learning to be a professional in an amateur sport.” TCD

“Be aware of your behaviour on the line. Ask yourself, what impact is this having on me & the players, right here, right now? Try this sometime: The six-second rule is so called because 6 seconds is the time it takes to capture the flight or fight response (ie: avoid the emotional hijacking). When someone has said or done something that triggers your hot button (gets you angry), take a deep breath and count 1..2..3..4..5..6 seconds before you respond. Try it.” TCD

“Football would be an even better game if players, coaches and parents learnt to respect the learnings of the game and the referees, before they begin their long journey with the sport.” TCD

February 2014

“Children are not mini adults. Children develop at different ages. Don’t force the process.” TCD

“One of the most important things for players is their intelligence; the ability to make the right decisions, under pressure in the game. Having an excellent relationship with the ball is part of this intelligence.” TCD

“Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer. To all those dedicated people who believe in hard work and no pay! But that’s ok, cause you’re priceless!” TCD

January 2014

“Truly great players’ don’t focus on winning, they focus on improving each and every day. A player should always train how he/she plays, but very few actually do. To be the best you can be, you should always focus on getting better.” TCD

“Your number 1 aim as a coach is to make sure the players you coach fall in love with the game.’ Having fun, is one way of doing just that.” TCD

“It’s limited freedom that prevents them from exploring.” TCD

December 20th 2013

“Children learn through play.” TCD

“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine”  Bruce Lee

November 21st 2013

“When it comes to coaching, I can never stop learning and evolving. My coaching style does not allow me to stop” TCD

“If you really want to better your team, you must better yourself” TCD

“The process, is much more important than winning” TCD

October 2013

“If your team lost, don’t blame the players, the weather, the ref. Look at why they lost (If you weren’t observing you will probably never know) and ask yourself ‘are you doing enough to improve these players?’ What can I do to make them better? If you are truly focused on developing over winning, you will learn more in defeat than in victory. The makings of a truly great coach.” TCD

September 2013

“Coaches who makes excuses over their teams performance, need to look beyond the players. Shouting ‘Keep the ball’ and coaching ‘Keep the ball’ are two entirely different things.” TCD

August 2013

“It’s not about convincing people there’s a problem — many of us see that. It’s about convincing them that there’s a better way.” TCD

*Quotes inspired by Coach John Wooden, Carol D’Weck, Dan Abrahams, John O’Sullivan, Jerry Lynch, Vern Gambetta, Horst Wein to name a few….

-End

I always like to hear your opinions. Please comment below or email me info@thecoachdiary.com, if you don’t have anything to add then please forward this on to a friend.

Thanks for reading. I’m also on twitter @Coachdiary