Handling the Bench Players

There are several coaching adages out there that deal with the bench player. “You’re only as good as your weakest player”, probably rings true. Even though, most coaches focus on developing the starters’ talents and abilities rather than the non-starters. Several problems could arise from ignoring the bench players or treating them differently than the starters. One of the most devastating problems to a team’s chemistry is poor attitudes which like a cancer will spread and eventually kill the team. Usually the negative attitude starts with players who are not getting playing time or who don’t feel like a valued member of the team. If this attitude goes unchecked and the coach chooses to ignore this problem rather than addressing it, then other players will feed off of this negativity and the team’s cohesion and performance will suffer.
There are many different ways to get bench players to feel like valued parts of the team. It will take a conscientious effort on the part of the coach to take some steps, but this investment will reap larger returns through the season.
Here are several proven ways to handle the bench players

1) Define a role for each player and communicate that with the player. One of the most important qualities of a coach is to be honest with their communications with a player. Let the player know that they will be getting a few minutes every game and that their job is to play great defense against the other teams’ leading scorer. Or possibly their role is to possess the ball and get it to another scorer. Need to communicate with that player and honestly let them know what their contribution to the team will be.

2) During practices, call out their names. This lets them know that you’re recognizing their efforts…and that you know their name! People like to hear their name being called.

3) Whenever possible, use their efforts as positive examples. Point out during practices what the player is doing well to the rest of the team. This gives them the recognition and satisfaction of knowing that the coach is noticing them.

4) Focus your “awards” to areas that bench players can excel. Many coaches give out daily, weekly or seasonal awards for various qualities. Rather than recognizing the MVP or the All-League players (the starters), choose awards for Hustle, Unselfish play, Effort and Sacrifice to the team. Maybe you recognize Spirit, Sportsmanship and Dedication. Focus on these types of awards and in your presentations, give those players their much deserved recognition.

5) In any communication, game summaries, school paper stories etc… give recognition to some of the bench players for the roles that they have. Give recognition to them for working hard as the scout team and that’s why the team was so well prepared. Again, give them recognition.

We’ve included more ideas from our video series on handling coaches from Coach Mac

Handling the bench players:

• Takes a conscientious effort on the part of the coach
• Can help build great team chemistry
• Can make it a positive experience for all players, coaches and parents

As coaches begin their new season, they will be communicating their expectations to their parents and players. Often times, coaches will substitute or supplement their expectations with Team Rules. “Don’t do this… and Don’t do that…” Then the coach will spell out the consequences for violating the team rule. BIG MISTAKE!

Coaches, here is some friendly advice from the experts at Kudda.

When you spell out specific consequences to violations of specific team rules, you’re boxing yourself into a corner. What if your star player is 2 minutes late for practice? According to your Rules, he will not play in the next game. However, it appears that the player was late because his car broke down or the bus broke down. No what do you do? You’ve boxed your self into a corner with your RULES.

Unfortunately many coaches only relationship with their players is that as a Rules-enforcer. They will only talk with that player after that player has violated a rule. The entire coach-player relationship is predicated on rules. Not healthy.

Rather than spelling out specific rules and specific consequences, why not make positive statements? Explain what they SHOULD do.

• “Players WILL make good decisions in the best interest of the team”
• “Players WILL be positive citizens within the school community”

And if you feel the need to add consequences, make it simple

• “Failure to do so will be handled on a case by case basis”

You’ll still be able to handle the players in a consistent manner, which is very important, yet not be predicated to act based on a RULE.

Two thoughts to take with you;

1. Focus on developing a relationship based out of respect…not fear or enforcement of rules.
2. Avoid creating a set of consequences for violating rules.

Many of us are starting the Spring Season and this is just a quick reminder of different things that we coaches need to address.

1. Clearance to coach- make sure you have registered and have completed your background checks
2. Found a team mom/dad/manager to help organize snacks and other events for the team
3. Have 2-3 assistants lined up?
4. Take your assistants out for a “coaches meeting?” Make sure everyone is on the same page
5. Submitted your roster to the league?
6. Registered for end of season tournaments?
7. Made hotel arrangements for out of town tournaments- team mom
8. Create list of new coaching tactics, ideas that you want to tryout this season- Need Ideas?
9. Double checked your equipment bag?
10. Uniforms?
11. Pre-season parents meeting- see other blog article
12. Develop a coaching philosophy and stick with it? See previous Blog Post
13. Developed practice plans in preparation for first contest?
14. Developed contingency plans when practice is canceled?
15. Created/developed a TEAM WEBSITE that can help foster communication?
16. Make sure you have insurance!!! See link to K&K
17. Distribute the Practice and Game Calendar

Kudda HIGHLY recommends that coaches hold a Pre-season meeting with the parents. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with the parents and help them understand what to expect from you. Take the initiative and be PRO-ACTIVE.

Avoid these Common Mistakes coaches make in this meeting:

• On the field right after practice or game. Parents are not listening to you as they are more focused on getting out of there and on their way home.
• Don’t prepare for the meeting. Coaches attempt to wing it and talk at their parents for 20 minutes. Parents lose focus after 2-3 minutes and your message is not received. You also run the risk as appearing unorganized and this will cause the parents to wonder about how you organize practices and games.
• It‘s all about the Rules. “Don’t do this and Can’t do that.” Takes on a negative tone.
• Coach TALKS for the entire time. Again, very ineffective.

Here are some ideas of topics to cover and how to efficiently reach out to the parents

1) Have VISUAL PowerPoint… lots of pictures and Images rather than text. Use this as a guide and for the parents to see while they listen.

2) Have other handouts such as

• Expectations
• Philosophy
• Schedule both practices and games
• Contact info

3) It should be a requirement for all parents to attend and it should be held in a setting where there are little distractions. We suggest a separate room or a place where people can sit down. When people stand, they lose focus quickly.

4) Philosophy- here’s your chance to tell the parents what you’re all about as a coach. What do you value and what is important to you? Is it about winning the championship or to improve everyday?

5) Expectations- Kudda recommends that you give a handout of your expectations to the parents. Some coaches have both the parent and player sign this sheet. During the meeting, refer to it, mention 2-3 of the main ones and then move on. DON’T spend the entire meeting going over every expectation

6) Have the captains talk- give your captains the opportunity to exercise some leadership. Have them talk about why they love the sport and what they hope to accomplish this season.

7) Have team mom talk- Allow your parent liaison a few minutes to share their plans for the season. This allows them the time to get snacks and refreshment signups going as well as sharing any news about team events.

Review schedule- Give them a handout. Point out Key Dates only

9) Example of practice see examples

It should NOT be a RULES meeting. Be upbeat, let them get a sense of you as a coach/ person

Yes, there are 50 inches of snow on the ground and sub-artic temperatures. That means one thing… that Spring sports are set to begin in the next few days. Now the first few days/weeks are all spent indoor and as a coach, you’re happy if no one gets hurt. When you have 20 kids in a confined area with objects flying all over, the chances for a bloody nose go up astronomically. Eventually we do make it outdoors and begin to play games in the warm sunshine of 50 degree days. Try to keep that in mind as we shovel out the driveways.

With the beginnings of a new season, coaches are presented with the opportunity to positively influence another group of players.  As mentioned in previous posts, I’d highly recommend that coaches get the books by Jeff Janssen on coaching leadership. While you come to Kudda to help you become a more Competent coach, and you read Janssen books to help you develop leaders, there is still one major area that can make or break your season that you do have some influence on and that is Team Chemistry. There has been a lot of debate on Team Chemistry; can it be made or is it dependent on an act of nature? We all know that teams that have that tight chemistry, overachieve and tend to be much more successful than teams that are much more talented. So what can coaches do to help promote Team Chemistry?

Note that are various types of Team Chemistry. In the military, it’s called, “Pain-Retain”. Think back to all of the classic war movies where a group of soldiers go through basic training with the Drill Instructor. (I’m thinking Full Metal Jacket!!) At the end, that group becomes a cohesive unit. (minus Private Pyle) Well, that style probably no longer works in coaching as it may have 30-40 years ago. The successful coaches today are all about “relationship coaching”, creating a family type atmosphere. Here are some of the techniques and strategies that those coaches utilize to help promote and foster team unity and chemistry.

It all  starts with the coach clearly communicating their philosophy to the team. As discussed in an earlier post, the philosophy has to be something that the team can control while focused on the journey. Coaches also do a great job of letting their players know that they care about them. It could be the result of lots of sidebar conversations or scheduled weekly meetings. Coach John Wooden hand wrote notes and letters to each of his players.

Coaches are also all about keeping traditions. These traditions help to foster chemistry as players share some common experiences. For the UNC basketball teams under Dean Smith, traditions emerged that are now part of most programs. Simply standing for players as they come off the court or huddling up before free throws help build this sense of tradition.

My thoughts are that while the team chemistry really has to come from within the team, the coach can certainly create the structure and platform to promote this. It takes a conscientious effort on the coach, but when you realize the return on this additional investment in your team, it’s well worth taking time to help foster.

As many of you are starting a new season with a new group of players, please take a step back and think about what you want to accomplish with your team? Is it about winning the championship? Is it about helping them improve as players? Is it about increasing their enjoyment of playing sports? Take a moment and reflect on why you are out there and what you hope to provide for your players.
Having a solid coaching philosophy will really help your players, and their ever-encroaching parents, understand what to expect from you, the coach. When you develop your philosophy, here are a couple of pointers to help you along.

• First, focus on what you can control. You can control the work ethic and pace of practice. You can control how hard your players play. You can control how prepared they are to play. You CAN’t control bad calls, bad weather and bad luck. You CAN’t control if you win a game. Yet, too many coaches have a philosophy that is focused on winning the championship. What happens if you lose the championship due to windy conditions and some unlucky calls? Is your season a failure?
• Focus on what you can control and develop part of your philosophy around it. Part of Coach Dean Smith’s Philosophy was “Play Hard”. Something that they could control.
• Focus on the journey, not the outcome. Coaches get so focused on winning and being in first place that they miss the opportunity to have a positive impact on their players. They miss the opportunity to develop some close personal relationships with their players. Isn’t that why we’re out there? We love being around kids. When a coach focuses on the journey, their teams play a lot more unselfishly and with more unity and chemistry. Another part of Dean Smith’s philosophy was “Play Together”. Of course this had far reaching implications off the court. Players couldn’t be late to practice, games or classes as this would hurt the team. They couldn’t make bad decisions that might costs the team. By focusing on the journey, think about how your actions and body language might change during tight games? Will you still get visibly upset when a player misses a shot or makes an error? You may if you’re worried about the outcome. Hopefully you won’t if you think about how you can do a better job of handling your players during games.

I’m aware that there are many other concepts and qualities that you may want to share and emphasis with your players. Good citizenship, good sportsmanship, respect and many others are great qualities to include/be part of your philosophy. Try to not include everything as then this sounds artificial. Think about the 2-3 most important qualities. Build your philosophy around these. Chances are some of the others are underlying layers and cousins of the 2-3 that you pick. The key is to focus on what you control and focus on the journey.

Dean Smith’s book, “The Carolina Way” is not a typical “How to coach” book. Rather the book is divided into three parts for each topic.

1. First is Smith explaining a key concept or theme that made his team successful.
2. His former players then add their views as to why that concept or theme was so important to them as players and as people.
3. The last part of each chapter has a business guru explain how to apply that concept to the business setting.

My sense is that the last section, business, was the part that made this book so different and valuable. Many other coaching books make reference to a business setting with a few quick sentences. “The Carolina Way” focuses specific sections to concrete examples of how to apply these themes.

The setup of the book also allows for pleasant change of pacing while you read. Too many coaching books just keep coming at you and telling you more and more strategies until you get overwhelmed. Or they keep repeating the same concept and stories over and over. Smith’s book has a few pages of Smith explaining the theme, several pages of his players discussing that theme and then several pages of the business application of that theme. It’s very enjoyable.

Many of the coaches emphasis Unselfish play. That seems to be a common theme in most successful programs. Here Smith gives lots of concrete examples of how to coach an unselfish team.

A few themes jumped out at me. There’s a chapter on Routines and how routines help build team chemistry. Smith shares several examples of Carolina routines that are part of their tradition and how the players value those routines. One of them is that Carolina players always point to the passer after they score. This helps to reinforce the unselfish style of play. It’s a Carolina tradition to have all bench players stand and cheer for players coming off the court. Another routine that Carolina players had was the “Tired” signal. Coach Smith understood that playing his fast paced, (except for that Four Corners thing) high pressured defensive style of basketball was exhausting and he didn’t want tired players out there hurting his team. He devised a signal for tired players to come out and then be able to go back in when they were ready. This gave the players the right to re-enter when they were ready, rather than waiting for the coach to decide. The last area was on senior leadership. I liked that the seniors reinforced the standards of the team that Smith put into place. I did have mixed feelings about the treatment of the Freshmen which I’m sure is the case in most teams. Seems like there may have been too much senior privilege; first in line to get water, on the bus, on the plane etc. Why do teams dump everything on the freshmen, making them do all of the grunt work? It’s the senior’s team!! Take charge and set the example!

Another theme that I appreciated as a coach hearing from one of the greats is the respect Smith showed every person connected with the team. He treated starters, bench and role players and managers with the same amount of dignity and respect. Too often, coaches focus on the just the starters or the high profiled players. With Smith, that wasn’t the case.

The last them was how during the recruiting of players, Smith never promised playing time. Many other coaches would guarantee and promise the world to recruits. Smith would only promise them that they would be on the team if they worked hard and kept their grades up. My sense is that Smith truly cared about the individual rather than just the basketball player.

I just finished reading Tony Dungy’s “Quiet Strength”. It’s a summary of his playing and coaching experience and how his spiritual side has helped guide him. I’m not one to quote scriptures nor do I read the Bible. And I don’t like having that forced down my throat either. Some may find Quiet Strength as having too much Bible connecting to coaching. I found it a pleasant change, a different perspective to coaching. Many of the scriptures and quotes were very relevant to coaching and working with others. The one that I felt was important was how Dungy was explaining to his players that it was the journey to the championship, not just about winning the championship. I believe the Bible quote was something along the lines of, “if you conquer the world, what about your soul… I’ll have to double check the exact wording.
It was a different approach to coaching. It was about here is how to run a team. Great balance between coaching and spiritual side.

Completing the Total Athlete

For the past three months I have been a book hound for anything that deals with coaching leadership. I’ve read a ton of books written by current and former coaches on how to be a better leader. I’ve also read Dorfman’s Coaching the Mental Game which really helped to spell out the leadership qualities that we should be striving towards. However the most comprehensive and easy to understand book I’ve come across is by Jeff Janssen entitled The Seven Secrets of Successful Coaches. How do you become a coach where your players overachieve because of your leadership qualities? How can you work on and improve those qualities? Janssen answers these questions while providing lots of examples from successful coaches in college and the pros. The leadership and mental approach to sports is going to be the next big revolution in sports.

It seems that athletes are becoming more and more skilled as they are playing their sports younger and younger. They hire personal trainers to help them achieve more speed and strength. What we see today are athletes that are bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled than athletes of 5-10 years ago. My sense is that the next phase of athletic development won’t be based on what happens inside the gym or athletic field but rather on what happens inside a player’s psyche. My sense is that players who can better control their emotions and learn how to lead their teams will be the new “superstar” athletes in the next few years.

Janssen also wrote a book focused on how players can become stronger leaders. The Team Captains Leadership Manual is a must read for all high school, club and college players. Not just the captains; all players.
Kudda highly recommends these two books by Janssen.

One of the worst experiences as a sports parent was the year my son, Kyle, wrestled when he was in the 1st grade. We’d go to these all day tourneys. Get there at 6:30 am for weighins… first match starts at 8:45. Over 15 seconds later as Kyle gets pinned by a kid 7 years older but who weighs the same as a 1st grader. Next match is at 11:00. That too, is over 30 seconds later as Kyle gets pinned again. Next match 2:30. This time Kyle pins his guy in 20 seconds. Last match starts at 5:30 and once again Kyle gets pinned in under 15 seconds.
Hours spent at a wrestling match…12.
Total time watching your son wrestle… 90 seconds.
Watching him get turned into a pretzel… priceless.
Well not quite a Mastercard moment.

Of all of the sports to watch your kid play, wrestling was the most difficult to watch. There is this incredible anxiety of who is he going to wrestle? “Oh please let it be a girly boy!” Please let him wrestle the kid who flops on the ground and giggles every time someone touches him. (That was me during my brief but notable wrestling career) Unfortunately most times it was the tall lanky farmboy w/ the crew cut who proceeds to
introduce Kyle’s right ear to the back of his left ankle. It took every ounce of restraint for me to stop from running onto the mat and smacking that kid around. As I’m watching this I’m thinking to myself, ”What if he is in the army and has to be able to do hand-to-hand combat, he’s going to die!” Needless to say that wrestling was a one year experiment in humility.

My hats off to all of you wrestling parents out there. Not only are you dedicated and willing to spend entire weekends at meets, but you control the anxiety that you must fell before every match. That’s a lot of control!!!