Utilizing Talent
If you are a coach, do you change your “system” to fit your players or do you try to find players that fit your system? if you are a college or club coach where you can recruit players with the specific skill sets your philosophy requires then you might be able to run the same offenses and defenses year after year. But if you are coaching youth, middle school, or high school you might not have that luxury. How you use the talent you have on your team may be one of the most important decisions you make as a coach. Here is what Tennessee’s Pat Summit (8 NCAA Championships) has to say about the subject in her book, Reach for the Summit:
A lot of coaches and managers try to force personnel into a system or framework that doesn’t suit them. They have a certain way they think things should be done. What they don’t understand, out of stubbornness or ego is that it may not be the most intelligent use of talent. How many times have you seen a player languish in a lineup, not fulfilling her potential, but as soon as she is traded to another team, she bursts out of her slump? I see that a lot. When you force somebody into a slot, you are inviting disaster.
