Embracing Minor Gains

Jon,

Good stuff.  I am sure you will address this sometime soon, but as I was reading your post, I couldn’t help but ask myself, ‘Why are fewer and fewer basketball players proficient in the fundamentals of the game?’

Numerous things came to mind, but I will only mention one:  In order to help players become proficient in the fundamentals of the game of basketball, and to help them actually appreciate the mastering of those fundamentals, coaches have to be people who delight in seeing players make minor developmental gains.

That’s a mouthful, I realize, but it is very important.  In order for a player to master the fundamentals of the game, he needs a coach.  Few, if any, can master the fundamentals by simply watching the television or the older guys out on their local court. Coaches are needed.  Players need to be taught.

Not just by anyone, though.  The AAU coaches who get together a team so they can travel and meet college coaches are usually helping themselves as much as anybody.  Putting five guys and a ball out on the court doesn’t make you a coach.  Or at least not a good one.  No.  In order to be a good coach, you must delight in teaching the game.  And, more than that, find satisfaction in seeing bit-by-bit growth in your players.  You have to be the kind of person who gets excited to see a young man or woman dribble an extra five times with their left hand or shoot a smoother jumpshot.

That might sound simple, but the evidence says that these kind of coaches are difficult to find.  Though I am not a coach right now (except to little Elijah and the kids we get at camp), that’s the kind of coach I want to be.  One who delights in seeing the minor gains, even if it doesn’t mean much gain for myself.