How To Avoid Chasing The Almighty "W"

If you are competitive when coaching youth basketball, this can be a serious problem. We all want to win, and there is nothing wrong with that. As a coach we are teaching our kids how to compete and go for the W. But I would caution you, as a youth basketball coach, the W should not be your number one goal. Your primary focus should be on:

• offensive skill development
• motion offense principles
• teaching man to man defensive principles
• teaching life lessons
• and players having fun

If your focus is primarily on these areas, you will develop players who will stay with the sport and have a chance to play down the road in hs and beyond.

I've seen way too many youth coaches however, who get caught up in the wins and losses with their team. It is easy to start with the above goals in mind, and slowly lose focus.

5 TIps To Keep You On The Right Path

Below are 5 tips to help you keep your goals and avoid chasing the almighty W.

1. Inform Parents

The more organized you are at the start of the season the better. If you have your philosophy and beliefs laid out for parents, you will have more support from parents. It will also give you something to hold on to and reflect on as the season progresses. It is easy to lose focus and begin wanting to change your philosophy to chase more wins as the season goes on. Having your philosophy written down and shared with parents can help keep you grounded.

2. Get On The Same Page With Assistants

Good assistant coaches are priceless. Make sure however, they are on the same philosophical page with you, or it may be a battle throughout the season. Also, if they know your philosophy and understand the WHY behind your philosophy, they can help keep you on track!

3. Set Goals

Set your goals at the beginning of the season. What skills do you want your players to be able to do by the end of the season? What do you want them to be able to do by the end of the season?

Whatever goals you choose, the number of wins shouldn't be a part of that, and if wins aren't a goal, then it makes it easier to not focus on them during the season.

4. Evaluate Progress And Positives

Stop monthly (or bi-monthly) throughout the season and sit with your assistant coaches to evaluate the progress of the team/individuals. Make sure you are looking for the positives. It is usually REALLY easy to find the negatives with youth players, but look at strengths and improvements they've made. And don't be afraid to tell your players as a group and individually.

5. Adjust The Sails And Right The Ship

It won't always be easy sailing. Almost all coaches who work with youth athletes get frustrated at times. Don't be afraid to adjust what you are doing during the season.

Maybe the drills you are doing in practice aren't translating to success and you need to find more game-like drills to improve carryover. Stop and evaluate what you need to keep moving forward, even if it means taking a step backwards to reteach. In the long run, your players and team will be better off if you fix problems now, instead of plowing forward and not addressing fundamentals your players need to succeed.

Here is the key though, when you go to right the ship, don't change course and go chasing wins. Don't throw in a zone defense to get a couple extra wins just because your team isn't good at man to man defense. It WON'T help your kids in the long run.Focus in the upcoming weeks on getting better at man to man defense...a skill player will definitely need down the road!

Take Stock In This

The truth is, 75% of the coaches (or more) will feel like their team is not winning enough throughout the season. If you evaluate your success coaching youth athletes by wins and losses, then almost all coaches will feel like a failure.

Many of you have probably heard of long term growth stocks. You know, stocks you are supposed to buy and hold onto for many years and they will go up in price and give you a good return on your investment.

Think of coaching youth athletes as long term growth coaching. Your ultimate goal should be to see the kids you are coaching grow long term and be successful down the road.

If you look at coaching youth basketball this way, you won't feel like a failure if you don't get as many wins as you want, rather you'll see an amazing return on your investment with these players down the road. You'll definitely be a success!