Category: Tactics

Dealing with Zebra’s (aka referees)

Dealing with RefereesAs a player or coach, how do you work with the referees who are officiating your game?  Or are you in a constant battle with them to try to get them to make the “right” call?

Today I interviewed an experienced basketball referee to find out the best ways to “deal with the zebras” wearing the referee jerseys during your games.  A lot of it comes down to common sense and simply respecting that officials have a difficult job to do.  The best ones know that they are not perfect (and I even got my interviewee to say that he might have missed a call at some point in his career as a basketball referee).

Here is a link to the audio recording of the interview…
“What Coaches need to know about the Zebras”

[I am working on a transcript of the interview for those who would prefer to read instead of listen.  Check back here tomorrow.]

In the meantime, please leave your comments, reactions and questions in the comment section below.  What has worked for you?  Do you have a story involving referees that at the time wasn’t very funny but with time you were able to see the humor?  We would love to hear about it… so leave a comment below!

 

4 Reasons for a Player Journal

This is an idea that I picked up from legendary high school coach Bob Hurley, Sr. and have implemented with all my teams.  The idea is for each player to keep a journal throughout the season and record ideas, concepts and information that they may want to reference at a later date.

Here are the four key reasons to use Player Journals…
    1. Reinforce key learning points
      By writing down key ideas and things they learn at practice, players are more likely to retain the information.  It has been proven that the act of writing down an idea will increase retention of that idea or fact from days to weeks later.  Writing down important concepts is also a chance for players to translate the ideas into their own words, which personalizes the concepts and makes them part of the player’s own thinking.

 

    1. Capture statistics and personal records
      By recording how they did in certain drills in practice, a player can refer back to this information and see that they are improving.  Often, if it is not written down, old information is forgotten and it is easy to miss the progress that is being made as the season progresses.  When the measurements and results are recorded, it is easy to see improvements that would otherwise be missed.  Each new Personal Record (PR) is an opportunity to celebrate and add to the player’s motivation for further accomplishments.

 

    1. Questions?
      A player’s journal is also a place where they can record ideas of their own or questions that might come up outside of practice.  It can also be a way for players to remember to bring up questions for the coach that their parents might be asking them.  When they bring these ideas or questions to practice, they help the team better understand what we are trying to accomplish since if they have the question, it is likely that other players have the same thoughts.Sometimes the question(s) are more personal, such as, “What do I need to do to get more playing time?” and, again, writing in their journal will remind them to talk with their coach before or after practice.

 

  1. Record The Experience
    The final benefit of a player’s journal (or even a coach’s journal) is that you are creating a record of thoughts and experiences throughout the season.  What challenges did you face?  How did you overcome them?  What lessons did you learn?Sports is a metaphor for life so it you learn what it takes to win on the court or the field, you can apply these skills and ideas to many other areas of your life.  Having a player journal with the ideas (and your comments) is a great way to reinforce the most important lessons that are gained through athletics.

    What is your experience implementing a player journal?

Have you used the player journal idea with your teams?  What were the results?  How did you ensure that the players brought them to practice?  And took care of them?  Leave a comment below to share your ideas with other coaches !