How to Improve and Develop as a coach
One of the most important things you can do as a coach for not only yourself, but for your program, is to invest the time and resources into your improving and developing as a coach. Just as we ask players to do so, we owe it to them to improve and develop in our own right.
The game is constantly changing with new trends, styles and philosophies emerging every year, but development doesn’t mean simply staying up-to-date with the game. Coaching development also means evaluating yourself, identifying what areas you need to improve upon and putting together an actionable development plan to accomplish this.
Identifying your weaknesses as a coach
The starting point of any development plan is to assess your strengths and weaknesses. You also may identify areas you wish to improve, such as the Xs & Os, teaching the game or communicating with players. In trying to identify areas for their own improvement a coach should consider:
Players that have left the program – was there something specific that the player was seeking and did not get, etc.
Examine any poor player/coach relationships - what was their player’s personality, did the coach try any different approach to connect with that athlete?
Do we normally get through the entire practice plan each day – could you plan or design your practices to be more efficient. You should constantly be reviewing and evaluating your practices throughout the season.
Biggest weaknesses on the court/concepts that need improvement– could they be taught another way?
Is the culture where we want it? – how could the coach improve this amongst the team?
Are assistant coaches actively involved? – could they be more involved?
What am I most worried about happening situationally in-game? Do you have a plan for end of game situations, defending full court late in games, etc.
Do we have enough depth? Do we have 8-10 players who could perform if called upon in a game? If not, is there an issue with our player development strategy for younger players.
We’re there any consistent parents issues throughout the year?
A simple self-reflection is the easiest way to identify your biggest potential areas for improvement (as long as you can be honest with yourself). You can also survey your current players, head coach or assistant coaches - this can sometimes yield the most impactful feedback since you can hear directly how your coaching is perceived by your players and how effective it is. For example, you may think that your greatest strength as a coach is teaching half court defense. However, in reality your players (your actual target audience) are confused on certain principles like how to guard the ball, ball screens, etc. You can even make the survey anonymous so players feel like they can freely give feedback and not hold back. Best practice is to start with self-reflection before gathering feedback from other sources like your players, coaches and administrators.
Once you’ve identified the areas you need to improve upon, the next step is prioritizing them in order starting with the area that will have the greatest immediate impact on your program.
Improving your weaknesses
Once you have your prioritized list of areas you want to improve upon as a coach, the next step is creating an actual development plan that can be put into action. This plan doesn’t have to be elaborate by any means - simply identifying the most efficient ways to improve that area is a good start. Below is a list of common resources or means that coaches use to constantly improve and adapt their coaching:
Attend a coach accreditation course or a clinic.
Work with or observe another coach (it doesn’t even have to be a basketball coach).
Have a coach mentor observe you in action and provide feedback.
Read and take notes from applicable books, articles or videos.
Study/watch film your favorite coach or team.
Visit other programs to observe how they operate, practice, etc.
Participate in applicable forums or discussion groups.
Undertake an offseason research project (i.e. studying how teams defend baseline out of bounds).
Watch film on certain concepts, situations, etc.
Once you have identified how you plan to improve on a certain area, the next step (and most important) is simply following through. Set realistic, obtainable goals and milestones, then hold yourself accountable. These can be as simple as readying 3 applicable books in the offseason, watch film on a specific concept for ten minutes each day, etc.
Adapt or Die
Perhaps the most consistent quality among the best coaches is the fact they never stop learning and they are always questioning if there is a better way. The best coaches understand that you must adapt to the constantly-changing basketball landscape or die. As the game changes, you must change as well. Perhaps this point is demonstrated best when you look at how spacing and the way offense is thought about has changed over the last twenty years. Before it would be normal to see two players on the blocks, the offense being centered around pounding the ball inside, etc. However, as the game changed and the idea of efficient offense changed, we saw coaches adapt by switching to 4-out/5-out offenses. The best advice I can offer to coaches is to not get stuck in your ways, even if your ways are working. Constantly be asking yourself if there is a better way.