13 Ways to Build a Winning Culture
Successful programs have created a palpable culture, sound habits and high standards: Program > Team > Player Players and coaches talk to each other, not at each other. Big difference. No one is perfect. Mistakes will happen on and off the court. Learn from them. Every player and every coach is important to the team […]
3 Keys to Success
Talent, luck and persistence – pick any two to achieve true success. Talent To some degree, what most people refer to as ‘talent’ is nothing more than passion. If you love to do something… you will do it every chance you can. And the more you do it, the better you get. Now obviously there […]
14 Bench Rules
While the five starters usually get most of the headlines and shine, in order for a team to maximize it’s true potential…it has to continually develop and maximize the other 10 players on the team. Bench players play an integral role in any team’s success. I’ve been fortunate to sit at the end of the […]
Coping with Defeat
I hated losing when I was a kid and it hasn’t changed now that I am an adult. But losing is a part of life and it is certainly a part of basketball. Without exception, every time two teams take the court, one of them will lose. And this weekend, 48 mens teams lost in […]
What Kind of Player Are You?
Be this player… Easy to play with and hard to play against Despite its simplicity, that is a very powerful concept. It is solid advice for players of every age and every level. Make a conscious effort, in every practice and every game, to do all of the things that your teammates love and […]
Championship Culture
To win a championship, you must have a championship culture. You must have your entire program, both players and coaches, fully committed to upholding standards of excellence… every day. Culture is about doing what is right… regardless of who is watching. Culture is about holding each other accountable. Culture is about ‘we’ being greater than […]
10 Team Building Exercises
The following exercises were shared by Jon Gordon and JonGordon.com 1. If You Really Knew Me. If you really knew me you would know this about me_________. I recently took a leadership team through this exercise and at first they shared very shallow comments like “you would know that I’m very generous and wonderful.” But after […]
Grit is a Key to Success
Grit [grit] Noun Courage and resolve; strength of character In order to truly be successful on the court… you have to have grit. Passion, self-belief and practice will only get you so far. Grit is relentlessness. Grit is resiliency. Grit is perseverance. Grit is determination. Grit means you will put in hard work after you […]
No Guarantee
One of the toughest things to deal with as an adult is the concept that nothing in life is guaranteed. This concept of “nothing being guaranteed” is evident in sports. Jim Valvano, the iconic former coach of NC State and one of my all-time favorite motivational speakers, once said something to the effect of: “Just […]
Bouncing Back from Mistakes – Next Steps
Our friend and mental toughness coach Spencer Wood was kind enough to share the following tips to overcoming mistakes. Errors are usually mechanical, tactical, or mental. This is important to understand because a mechanical error involves motor mechanics (such as a golfer moving his/her head too early, or a basketball player not squaring his/her […]
