Goals

Written out Goal

My goal is to become a successful head coach of a high school program and possibly get into the college game at some point - I'll think more about that once I accomplish the prior. After working at Snow Valley for my 5th year this year, my mind really has been churning the past few days on how to accomplish that goal. I'm not a very cliche guy, but I decided to sit down and write out my goal and some ways to achieve it (I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things.) I appreciate any feedback!

GOAL:
Make the most positive impact on a young person's life as a person and player by becoming a head coach.

Key Points to achieve this:
1. Be loyal, honest & upfront
2. Do my job to my best ability - be an all-star at this role
3. Work hard - a non-negotiable
4. Grow knowledge of how to teach/coach better
5. Create relationships
6. Expand and develop network

Steps for these points:

1.      1.                                  -          Don’t lie

-       Don’t Cheat

-      Hold myself and others accountable

2.     2.                                  -        Put the program first

-       Don’t have an ego

-      Offer help wherever possible

3.       3.                                -           There is such a thing as 5am every day

-     Get out of comfort zone

-       Be a competitor

4.     4.                                  -         Attend Clinics

-       Question those with experience

-      READ more!

-       Don’t assume

-      Be CURIOUS

-      Learn something every day

5.    5.                                   -         Approach others without fear

-       Question

-      Ask for help

-       Be interested in others

6.     6.                                 -         Keep in touch with old contacts

-      Further develop past relationships

-      Look for opportunities to meet others

-       Don’t suck up

-    Be yourself

Stingy D

My morning reading included a NBA defensive article that I found pretty interesting - NBA Defensive Evolution

A lot of coaches that I talk to say they are not "fans" of NBA basketball. I think these coaches are old school and may not fully understand the actual complexities behind NBA strategy.
The NBA is a GREAT learning tool to a coach (especially the playoffs where the great teams are playing at full speed in complicated systems). Understanding defensive concepts and how teams defend certain actions is where I have been able to absorb knowledge. If you watch closely, you'll recognize the pattern of overloaded helpside defense, along with the amount of double teams at certain times in the shot clock ran at certain offensive players.

To counter these defenses, NBA  teams utilize a large number of set plays that have multiple actions. Any coach can watch an NBA game and come away with a handful of good offensive sets, but some may be too complex to implement at the high school level. Offenses in the NBA use these to counter the overloaded helpside defenses. The Miami Heat are one of the best at countering these defenses and have adapted - Heat Offensive Counters

Since there is no mandated shot clock at the Iowa high school level (DM Register article->) YET -  (although I think it'd be cool to be the first Iowa team to own one), I am curious to know what kind of defense that coaches prefer at their level? Do you play more of a helpside/pack the paint defense similar to wisconsin and St. Louis, or do you play pressure/fullcourt system that VCU does?

In order to succeed, you must fail. Take it from Tom

Daily reading food for thought. Tom Brady is one of my favorite athletes to watch and learn about. I mean, the guy's got it all - the hair, the girl, the rings. What else more could you ask for?

The right attitude is what more you can ask for - and this guys' got it.

Going 199th overall in the NFL draft, he wasn't always successful. He heard the "No's" in order to hear the "yes's".

http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1193473/index.htm

See if you can take one or two...

Anyone can use these, not just coaches and players. Try and take a couple and apply it to your day tomorrow!

You're Probably Right!

The idea for my first post came from my high school days. Permanently written at the top of our wall in the my high school weightroom read -  

"WHETHER YOU THINK YOU CAN OR YOU CAN'T, YOU'RE PROBABLY RIGHT"

Our head football coach at the time was the one who wrote this. This idea floated throughout the hallways in school with our football players. A few times I found myself talking to one of my friends who played football and I would start talking negatively about something. "I'm probably going to fail this calculus test next hour...", was immediately followed by a "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right!" from my buddy, who was by no means, a spectacular student. 

I was shocked at first to hear the response in a school setting, since I figured it was just a motivational quote down in the weightroom that I had seen. It really it true though. When you think something is possible - you will put forth great effort and thought. So, in turn, you have a great chance for success. Therefor, you are right that you thought that it was possible. 

For example, you have a 5k race you signed up for and are hoping to finish, and even possibly with a competitive time. You love running so have been training and ran distances equivalent to the race. You are CONFIDENT in your ability to finish the 5k race because of the hard work and training that you've put in, both mentally and physically, so you are right that you could finish the race. 

On the contrary, if you have not put in much thought, time or hard work(trained for the race), your confidence will not be very high and the negative thoughts will probably fill your head. All of this negative thought and fear drives us to execute whatever we are thinking. If we are thinking doubtfully, we will probably not be successful. 

Bottom line, it's easy to tell yourself to "Think Positive" or give them the whole "glass half full" mumbo jumbo (that could be covered in an entirely different series of blogs) but once you do have told yourself that, do you actually do it? The ability to think postively ultimately comes down to the confidence that we have. This confidence is developed only through straight up HARD WORK and EFFORT.