3 Ways to Reward Solid Play on the Court
As a former player I always found it interesting to watch how different coaches would reward us as players. Some coaches rewarded us with less conditioning drills and others with more. Some rewarded us with physical awards and others just with pats on the back or nothing at all. I’m listing my 3 ways to reward players that will cover all the bases.
First, UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES EACH PLAYER. I’ve talked about this 100 times and I’ll continue to because it’s one of the most important things to do. Take the time to sit down with each player and if you are the player then meet with your coach to let them know what motivates you. If you don’t know then you have a problem. Here’s an example: I’m motivated by negative criticism. I try to turn that around. If a coach were to praise me openly or give me some sort of physical award it wouldn’t do anything for me to get me going. I needed to be told what I was doing wrong instead of praised for the things I was doing right. I’m still like that in my marriage today.
For players who respond to negative criticism understand that they have a need to be challenged and to overcome that challenge. That is the reward. My reward was to overcome what I needed to work on. As a coach make sure another challenge is ready to go once the other one is completed. Acknowledge to the player that they have overcome the challenge but that you have another one waiting. It will act as the reward, trust me. Players, as you read this you will know if this is who you are or not. If you are then talk with your coach and let them know what will work to get you motivated.
Other players respond to positive feedback and they crave being told what they are doing right. These players have a tendency to get down on themselves when they are being told negatives. I’m not saying that a coach should never criticize these players but understand that a player who responds to positive criticism will never get better when they are told how bad they are. Those players tend to curl up into a ball and quit. This isn’t a knock on the mentality of the player at all, it is just something about the nature of each person. These players need to be praised when they are doing something right because it makes them want more. These players are rewarded by the feedback and play harder as a result. These players thrive when they are praised in public and it enhances their self worth. If you are this type of player then talk to your coach about it and establish a relationship of trust. If you don’t tell them they may never know.
Physical rewards do work. Players love to rewarded with trophies or game balls or anything material. As a coach please make sure that the awards are set up for each member of the team to achieve them. Don’t simply establish a ‘high scorer’ award for your team because one person would get it every time. You may have a best defender or best hustler based on some stats, most supportive bench player, etc…anything where each player can feel how much they are valued in the area you need them to be in. Most of coaching is getting players to buy into their roles and rewarding them for doing well in their role is one of the best ways to get them to buy in. Those things stick.
