Part X - The Secret Of Longevity - Charting Your Course.
When I was young, long before GPS systems, my dad would take a marker to the Rand McNally Map and highlight the direction we would take for various vacation destinations.
I did not understand the reason why he did that. I only knew that the map was very hard to fold back into place. As I got older and started taking a lot of road trips of my own, mostly to club basketball tournaments that were out of state, I understood the value of charting the course ahead of time.
Charting the course before making each trip made life a lot easier. Of course, with technology and a number of different apps these days, finding the best way to reach a particular destination is a lot easier.
Charting the course of a basketball season is really no different. There's a destination that each team wants to reach and it helps to prepare your team for the upcoming trip.
What things need to be prepared for?
Whatever Is Delayed Is Not Denied.
With delays, maybe it will take a year, or two or five or more to reach your goal. You have to stay focused on whatever it is you would like to achieve. Patience is important. "Are we there yet, are we there yet"? That's the noise that comes from the backseat while traveling... Your backseat in a season are those cold January days when the team could start to lose their focus because things start to become monotonous. Keep the team "occupied" with practice goals and game goals. Chart their practices and reward them for reaching a mark. Do the same for games. This will cut down on practice boredom and will make their focus better in games so you don't drop a game you aren't supposed to.
If you are lucky enough to win a lot early in your career and you reach a goal that you set for your team earlier than expected, don't let it go to your head. You don't want to be known as a one-hit wonder or be a coach that feels like you have arrived.
Just remember, charting your course is really just a goal. The phrase "You never really have arrived" is true. You reach a point, drive back after reaching there and if you enjoyed it, you want to make the trip again. If you rest on your laurels by patting yourself on your back, it will be harder to capture focus to do it again.
If you remain focused, the second time around, you have a better idea of how to map out things though you can't calculate for the delays and detours, you just know that it's going to happen and how to better handle everything.
Don't Let Detours Derail Your Trip.
"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" - Robert Burns To A Mouse.
Basically what this phrase means is that ANYONE can have a fool proof plan and then something that wasn't accounted for happens and throws everything off. You can't let those detours derail your trip.
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The detours of a game could be foul trouble, a junk defense or questionable calls. The detours of a season could be bad weather canceling practices or games, sickness or an injury. You can't let those detours derail your trip.
Things are going to happen. I wrote about trying to plan for the unexpected in an earlier post so you can go back and read that. However, for this post, you can't lose your mind over a detour. You can't control detours but you can control your reaction to it.
In 2009-10, my high school team was playing some of its' best basketball of the season after starting off 7-4. We had won seven straight and were definitely rounding into a team that could do something special. Then the snow hit, for two weeks, wiping away our momentum. The entire "break" the team was emailed daily on doing something to stay in shape so that they could hit the ground running when we were allowed to get back on the court. The same thing happened in 2014 and 2015, however those two times were during the state playoffs. We didn't panic because we had prepared during the regular season and, again, when we got back on the floor we were successful. Detours can't cause you to lose your composure.
A Rest Stop Is OK.
Typically late in the season I'll give my team a day or two off. Giving the team a break to reset their minds and rest their bodies before trying to make a run at a goal. I have found that trying to push right through isn't the best way sometimes, but it really comes down to reading your team.
The regular season is long. Maybe you put your team through a tough preseason in the fall, most of your team probably played all summer and I am sure there were individual and team camps that were attended as well.
That's a lot of basketball being practiced and played and the chance of mentally and / or physically breaking down under the pressures of trying to reach a goal goes up.
When we hit mid-January, we start to reduce the amount of practice time each day. Instead of going for an hour and forty-five minutes, we go for only an hour and a half or an hour and fifteen minutes. My feeling is that we should know the meat and potatoes of the meal by now and practice is used to add an item or two specific to an opponent we are about to play.
Don't think pausing for a minute so everyone can catch their breath is going to cause you to not reach your destination. If anything, it may allow for the final drive to be a little smoother because everyone is refreshed and excited about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
In Conclusion:
However you want to chart your course is your choice, but do try to plan ahead. Identifying possible delays, handling unseen detours and taking a break here and there can help you reach your ultimate goal.
Remember, be patient. Most of the time you can't rocket ship your way straight to whatever goal you've set. Just make sure to keep things moving, enjoy the scenery and have fun with those who are traveling the way with you.
Yours For Better Basketball Always,
Brian Robinson / Coach R