When are you done?!

“When you know it all, then you are done.”

Not quite sure who said the  above, but they would be spot on. I’ve been coaching basketball for a while now, and I got to a stage where I began to think that I know what I’m doing and that I can’t fail.

The best thing happened to me this week though as I received a couple of wake up calls. Players questioning what we’re doing, mentors looking at me thinking I’ve gone crazy and of course parents saying that I’ve lost it all together.

So the question becomes, Why did I stop learning? adapting and developing?

I shouldn’t have but I did.

Every team that you work with as a coach or a teacher will be different, every player has a different personality and is motivated differently, they learn differently and are approached differently.

Did I really think that my one method of teaching/coaching will target every group that I work with in the same way. Who was I kidding?

With that being said, the challenges that I am facing this year have so far allowed me to learn and grow and continue to develop as a person and a coach.

The super-league team that I am working with is different from the post primary school that I am working with. The seniors in the school are motivated differently from the 1st and 2nd years. It is my job, as a coach, to figure out a way that I can reach them all and help them learn the game of basketball.

Of course, I still have to stay true to what my values, standards and philosophies are, but at the same time, understand that this is about their learning and enjoyment first and foremost and “I haven’t taught until they’ve learned.”

With that being said, I’m going to go back to the drawing board and come up with different ideas that I can get my message across to my players in a way that they’ll respond to and will engage them.

Learning is fun, and you can never stop learning!