Encouragement – The Basketball Coaching Roadmap

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” – Unknown

There are many coaching styles that have worked over the years. Old school coaching was more of a dictatorship – coaches motivated using fear; players didn’t have input and never dared to challenge authority. They were told what to do and how to do it and if they didn’t oblige, there were consequences. Mistakes were met with some combination of glaring, shouting and shaming, most likely witnessed by your teammates. While the old style of dictatorship coaching stills exists, it’s not nearly as effective as it was in the past.

In order to be successful, coaches must be willing to use encouragement as a motivational tool. Players are more likely to respond to being coached “hard” if they also know they will receive encouragement when they do things well. When players feel motivated and inspired, their performance improves.

I am very much a glass-half-full kind of person. You might even say my glass is overflowing. I believe there is no situation that can’t be overcome. I don’t dwell on things beyond my control. Mistakes are teaching opportunities, not shaming opportunities. Make your point and move on. One way to ruin a player’s confidence is to repeatedly remind them of past mistakes.

I’m not saying you have to avoid or tone-down necessary feedback, but my personal philosophy has always been to criticize in private and praise in public. If there are issues that need to be addressed, I prefer to do them in private meetings or conversations. When someone has played well or is incorporating what we are working on, we offer immediate encouragement and feedback. Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson recommends a ratio of five positive comments for every constructive criticism. I try to give encouragement to my players as much as possible.

I’ve witnessed coaches who feel they need to drill every aspect of the game into their players. Micro managing your players implies that you don’t have faith in their abilities. Unless you’re coaching professional athletes, it can be very easy to forget that players are kids. Kids are always listening to and analyzing anyone with direct authority over them. Kids make mistakes (and adults do too), how you handle mistakes goes a long way toward building respect and trust with your players.

Take Golden State Warriors coach, Steve Kerr for example. He has created a culture of trust. He trusts that his players will make decisions to help the team. He gives them leeway; consequently they play care-free. At the time of writing this article, Golden State turns the ball over the sixth most in the NBA. They are able to overcome that obstacle because Steve Kerr’s trust far outweighs a few bad possessions. Player’s mistakes don’t disrupt future plays or decisions because they aren’t looking over their shoulder wondering if they are about to be taken out of the game.

Don’t mistake encouragement as soft. Encouragement is a bridge that fosters trust and builds positive relationships. Those relationships are the basis for successful coaches. When we talk about a player’s willingness to “run through a wall” for us, they are far more likely to do it when they know you are willing to give them a big hug for breaking their nose!

Related: Listen to the podcast episode about Encouragement.

Next item on the Basketball Coaching Roadmap is Self-Awareness:

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