3 Ways to Motivate Your Players
How does a coach motivate players? How did Coach K get the olympic team to gel into the gold medal winners of old? What are some secrets of successful coaches in this area?
I spoke with Coach Morgan Wootten yesterday for nearly an hour and could’ve talked even longer and I can’t tell you how impressed I was when that call ended. He did an interview for our www.hoopskillsacademy.com members and it was amazing. I asked him what some of his ideas were on motivating players and he gave many ideas and I’ll only cover a couple of them here.
1. COMMUNICATION IS KING: Successful coaches take the time to sit down and talk with each player at least once a week and go through a sort of interview with them. How’s home life? How’s school? How’s basketball going? All these questions will lend the coach an ear to what is going on with the player. Basketball is just a part of each kids life and playing poor in practice might be a result of something else entirely.
2. Each Player is different: What works with one kid won’t always work with another kid. One kid might need and enjoy being pushed while others will feel like quitting when this happens. You can watch body language to see how the message is received. If you are coaching and get on a kid and his shoulders slump and his head goes down then the message isn’t received. That player will not work harder for you to correct his behavior. If you are coaching and get on a kid and he remains fixed on your eyes and he’s taking it all in then the message is received and the player will work to correct his behavior. For players who put their head down, take the time to talk to them individually in a quiet calm voice and express belief.
3. LIFE GOES ON: Mistakes happen in life and mistakes happen in basketball. How we deal with those mistakes is what determines playing time. Kids will make errors but the kids that play are the ones that put those mistakes behind them and realize that the most important possession is the one right now so don’t blow it worrying about 30 seconds ago. Let kids know that you won’t punish poor play unless it compounds itself with worse play. Play hard, have fun and put mistakes behind you.
