|
|
|
 Effective Coaching |
|
EFFECTIVE COACHING
Providing Feedback
As stated in the section The "What" and "How" of Basketball, playing involves performing in a manner consistent with a conceptual framework. If players are to learn how to play, and, indeed, improve their play, they need to know the degree to which their performance is consistent with the framework.
Whenever their performance is not consistent, players should be made aware of the discrepancy. When they have acknowledged what went wrong, they should participate in a problem-solving process to remedy the situation.
For example: "Jim, you were sequenced to cut, but didn't. What happened?" (making the player aware); "Yes, coach, I forgot to key on the player with the ball, so I couldn't read the situation. I'll remember next time" (identifying the problem and seeking a solution).
Stages of Learning
The learning process consists of three stages, cognitive, associative, and autonomous.
Cognitive stage. Involves a purely mental process in which players must develop a clear mental picture of what they are to do and how to do the what. In this stage, coaches must be proficient at explaining and clearly demonstrating aspects of team, one-on-one, and individual play. For example, at the individual level of play, they must be able to paint a clear picture of the technically-sound movement pattern of the jump shot.
Associative stage. In which players begin learning to perform. Initially, it is likely that players will not be aware of the degree to which their performance is consistent with a particular aspect of the overall framework, for example, the technically-sound movement pattern of the jump shot. Therefore, at this stage, it is critical that coaches provide appropriate and consistent feedback. The more effective this feedback, the sooner players will develop a kinesthetic sense (internal feedback) which will allow them to develop an error detection mechanism.
Autonomous stage. In which players have their own error detection mechanism. The role of the coach is to ensure that they use it.
Knowledge of Performance
The most effective feedback for helping players to learn and improve is feedback based on performance. Do players know that a defensive rebound is a cue to occupy a position in the outlet set? Did the players anticipate a teammate getting a defensive rebound? Did they begin occupying positions in the outlet set at the moment they anticipated the rebound? Did they occupy positions according to the framework? To what degree are they able to improvise while running the framework?
Coaches should not provide feedback based on the outcome of a particular action or decision. In this form of feedback (knowledge of results), when a player shoots a perimeter shot, for example, all that matters is whether or not the ball goes into the basket; a 'good' shot is one that scores; a 'bad' shot is one that misses.
Although feedback based on knowledge of results may be effective in making players feel good or bad, depending on the outcome, it does little to help them improve their performance, that is, the quality of their play. A player, for example, who receives an outlet pass may dribble before looking to pass, cross the centre line, dribble into the corner of the court with head down, leap into the air, shoot before teammates are in position to rebound, and score. Players, fans and the coach leap to their feet and exclaim, "Great shot!" How does that feedback help that boy or girl become a better player? What happens when he/she next executes the same manoeuvre and misses?
Negative reinforcement. Failure to provide knowledge-of-performance feedback on a consistent basis will likely encourage or reinforce poor performance. It is critical, for example, that players learn to occupy positions in the appropriate set. Because tasks which tell players what to do are assigned to positions, a player who does not occupy a position will not know what to do. The result is disorganization.
Consequently, each time a player fails to occupy a position in the appropriate set, the coach or a teammate should immediately make that player aware of the situation. Otherwise it is likely that the player will do the same thing over and over again.
Positive reinforcement. Coaches should constantly encourage players to do the right things, that is, perform in a manner consistent with the Bee Ball framework. The coach and teammates should celebrate quality performance, particularly when a player who has struggled with a particular part of the framework executes it properly for the first time.
Coaches and players, however, should avoid showering teammates with meaningless praise. Over-using praise devalues its worth, diminishing its effectiveness to motivate and reward.
Consequences. If, after appropriate feedback, a player's performance does not improve, there should be consequences. For example, a player continually fails to occupy a position. There must be consequences. Not providing consequences is another form of negative reinforcement.
Coaches should develop an effective strategy for handling players who persist in not doing the right things, whether related to the framework, or to behaviour which interferes with learning, such as being inattentive or disruptive.
Feedback Levels
Providing too much feedback to players can overload their capacity to cope. To avoid this situation, coaches should provide feedback progressively. On this basis, there are three feedback levels, theoretical, practical, and improvisational. Improvisational feedback occurs only after players are functioning comfortably at both the theoretical and practical levels.
Theoretical level. At this level, players are expected to know the conceptual framework. For example, do players know that a teammate getting an offensive rebound is a cue for players to occupy positions in the outlet set? Do they know how to occupy the positions in that set?
Practical level. At this level players should be able to run the framework; this means they are organized in their play on offence and defence, and can perform in a manner consistent with the framework. For example, teammates actually anticipate a defensive rebound and move to occupy positions in the outlet set according to the framework.
Improvisational level. Once teammates can run the framework, they are ready to use it to improvise, that is, to interact creatively, imaginatively, and spontaneously with their opponents. For example, can the team on offence recognize and then exploit an opponent who is very weak on defence? When a teammate is suddenly guarded by a much shorter player, can teammates recognize and exploit this situation?
Making Demands of Players
Coaches, like good teachers, should encourage players to be the best that they can be. Exercising this responsibility requires consummate judgment. Expecting too little short-changes the players. Demanding too much is likely to drive them away.
Some hints. While players are learning, mistakes are inevitable. Making mistakes is part of the learning process. The important thing is that players recognize a mistake when it occurs and try not to repeat it.
Coaches should make demands on players progressively. They should not expect players to move on the court and to execute tasks in a manner consistent with the framework (practical level), before they know the framework (theoretical level). They should not expect players to use the framework to improvise before they can run it.
Expecting players to perform well in competition (games) before they can perform well in practice is not a reasonable expectation. If, for example, high arousal levels result in poor performance in practice, it is very likely that, during games which generate much higher levels of arousal than practices, performance will be worse than at practice.
Arousal, that is, emotional excitement, is a normal response to performing in sport. Being overly aroused, however, usually interferes with performance. Over-excitement is more the rule than the exception for beginning players, particularly in sports such as basketball, hockey, and soccer in which there is direct interaction and confrontation between opponents.
Changing Focus
To be effective in team play, players require the ability to alternate constantly between a broad and a narrow external focus.
During the initiation phase of performing a task, players must be able to see the court, that is, have a broad external focus. This ability enables them to know what teammates and their opponents are doing. For example, during the initiation phase of a pass, the passer must be able to read the opponents who are likely to intercept it.
A narrow external focus is a prerequisite to the execution phase of a play option. For example, having made the decision to pass, a player should focus on executing the pass, and on nothing else.
Measuring Success
Coaches should know how to measure the quality of their coaching. Winning is an unreliable measure. Too many variables affect winning, such as injuries, the availability of gifted athletes, and chance.
Similarly, winning is an unreliable measure of the quality of team play. The final score decides who wins the game, but not necessarily which team plays better basketball.
Because a coach has far better control over how players play basketball than over the outcome of a game, people should measure the quality of coaching by how well individual players and the team play basketball, and by how much players or the team improve over time.
Unfortunately, because people can measure winning more easily than they can judge the quality of play, they tend to measure success by winning. Over the years, friends or interested fans rarely asked whether we played well, only whether we had won.
Coaches who measure their success primarily by their win-loss record are usually not committed to teaching players how to play. Learning is a difficult and slow process. When players are learning, their performance often deteriorates. As a result, in trying to win, many coaches rely on recruiting players with special skills or physical attributes, such as athletic ability and size, and on systems of play designed to hide individual and team weaknesses.
On the other hand, coaches who are committed to teaching players how to play and to striving to win will find a conceptual approach the most effective way to achieve both goals. In addition, fans who become familiar with the conceptual approach will have greater understanding and appreciation of how basketball should be played. This knowledge will greatly increase their capacity to experience joy and exhilaration when their team plays well and wins.
Vic Pruden
|
|
