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Warning Signs of a Bad Basketball Coach-hoopskills.com

Warning Signs of a Bad Basketball Coach

-by Coach Dave Stricklin http://www.hoopskills.com

I know literally hundreds of coaches but

I've never met a single one who has ever

set the goal to be considered a "bad"

coach. On the contrary, most of us work

very, very hard in becoming the best

coach that we can possibly become. In

fact, that is why you are reading this

article - you want to know the signs of

being a bad coach so you can avoid

them. (Or correct them if necessary)

However, despite even the best

intentions, coaching careers sometimes

take on a life of their own and before we

know it we are "bad." Here are six warning

signs that you may be a bad coach, or at

least heading in that direction.

1. Players are afraid of you

Players may be slightly intimidated by you at first because of your size, your age,

your perceived personality, or for just the fact that you're the head coach - but

they can't be afraid of you. If they are afraid of you they will be hesitant to ask

questions, to seek your advice concerning problems, or to make mistakes. They

will start walking on eggshells and that will definitely affect their play. People in

general are afraid of the unknown and young people are usually no different.

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Warning Signs of a Bad Basketball Coach-hoopskills.com

Familiarity reduces fear! Come down from the ivory tower and let your players

get to know you a little bit

2. Your assistants work around you

Coaching staffs need to be all on the same page when it comes to communication,

philosophy, teaching techniques, and terminology. I've seen too many staffs

where coaches hardly ever talk to each other, teach their players conflicting

techniques (ex. force baseline vs. play straight up) and all pretty much just do

their own thing. Many times this happens because the head coach has distanced

himself from his coaches and starts acting more like a CEO than a colleague. Your

assistants are there to "assist" you - not to do all the work themselves!

3. You're a control freak

There is a very fine but important line between being detail oriented and being a

control freak. If you have the attitude that no one is as smart as you, is as

competent as you, is as important as you, etc. then you are heading down the

road to failure. Use your captains and assistant coaches in leadership roles

whenever possible. Good coaching is just like good parenting - the goal is to get

your kids to the point where they don't need you around all the time to function.

You can't do that if you are dictating every single move you players make.

4. You're pessimistic

Every team is better than you are. Everyone has better players than you do. You

can tell that the officials are going to screw you over just by how they walked out

on they the floor. You yell at your team 20 times a practice, "Fremont is going to

just kill us on Friday!" Sound familiar? I hope not because if it does you are not as

good a coach as you can be. Players reflect the attitude of their coach. If you feel

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Warning Signs of a Bad Basketball Coach-hoopskills.com

beat before you even compete then your players will feel the same way. They are

going to wonder why they should work so hard if the outcome is already decided.

To be a good coach, you can still be realistic but you need to spread hope,

enthusiasm, and optimism even if you don't always feel that way yourself.

5. You try too hard to be a "player's coach."

Should you have great relationships with your players both on and off the court?

Absolutely! But if you find yourself compromising your standards and

expectations so they will "like you" you are not hall of fame coaching material.

Some coaches don't hold their players accountable for the way they play and act

because they don't want the players mad at them. I can guarantee you that those

players who you let slide and don't hold accountable will never step up and come

through in the clutch when you really need him. Guaranteed! Most players have

lots of friends already; what they really need are mentors and role models.

6. You're indecisive

If you take an approach of ready, aim, aim, aim, aim. . . . you are a bad coach! Pull

the trigger and make a decision already! If you are indecisive your players will

never know what you want and expect from them. Timeouts will be more

confusing than helpful and no one will ever be on the same page. As a basketball

coach you have to make dozens of important decisions every year - what offense,

what defense, team rules, playing rotation, how to warm up, how to motivate

individual players, how to involve your staff and on and on and on. Like former

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt used to say, "If you don't like making big decisions

you shouldn't sit in the big chair!"