“If I could only say 5 words”: Deciding What’s Most Important as a Coach
As coaches we can be guilty of over-coaching from the sidelines, to the point of being a ‘commentator, not coach’, or using 15 words where 3 could suffice. I’ve used the following exercise with coaches to help them unpack “what’s most important” in their coaching philosophy, where coaches need to answer the question:
“If you could only say 5 words from the sideline to your team during a game, what would they be?
When we’re limited in what we can communicate, we learn to focus on the ‘big rocks’ and what ultimately contributes to our objectives - whether they’re developmental or performance-based. Applying the 80/20 Pareto Principle lens, it could be said that 80% of our communication should be about the most important (20%) of concepts.
Here are my current ‘five words’, along with a brief explainer on why I’ve selected them:
Word #1: ‘HUDDLE’
If I’m being truly player-centred and living my coaching objective of empowering players - making myself redundant and having them ‘run the show’ - my top word to call is “huddle”. I’m calling this anytime there’s free throws awarded, or a break in play where the team can connect and talk strategy.
Word #2: ‘Push’
I’m using this word as soon as we gain possession, as a cue for players to play with pace and urgency in transition.
Word #3: ‘SpacE’
I’m using this word along with Word #4 as hot and cold taps for my team’s offensive strategy. “Spacing” serves as a cue to focus on our shape and alignment as a team, and a gathering of composure that might help to scan and identify the next scoring opportunity.
Word #4: ‘Create’
This links with my coaching philosophy around empowerment is that I’m not prescribing a specific tactic, but rather directing them to read the situation and make an attacking maneuver.
Word #5 ‘Disrupt’
This is my cue on defence, aligning with the focus we have in Australian basketball around ‘disruptive defence’ and trying to de-stabilise the opposition’s attack phase. This might prompt athletes to do a number of things depending on the situation: from applying additional ball pressure, to seeking a trap or interception, to making slight adjustments in their off-ball positioning.
Note how all of the words are verbs, action-driven.
AVOIDING dependency on cues
Of course, we don’t want our team to become dependent on cues from the sideline. We want them to be self-sufficient, and performing the desired behaviours without our prompting is a key indicator of learning and development. So it’s important to practice ‘loosening the reins’ and seeing how your team plays without cues to assess how your teaching process is tracking.
SUMMING UP
So there you have it - the five words that I would use for teams of any age if I was limited in my communication (and indeed, some of my athletes might welcome that!). Yours words may be different, but the keys thing to evaluate once you’ve decided your five words are:
What do these words say about my philosophy, the things I value (and the things I don’t)?
What words did I omit that I regularly say, and why did I omit them?
How could my training sessions better reflect these 5 cues that I’ve determined to be most important?