I
recently ran into a friend and former college basketball player from Europe who now lives in the U.S. He
was telling me about his first year in college. “As it turned out, our team wasn't that great,
but we ended up winning the conference championship. In our very
first practice, the coach started yelling at us and punishing us for
not giving full 100% effort. Not 80%. Not 90%. He expected 100% from
Day 1. And when the season started, if he saw you not giving 100% in
a possession, he pulled you out. If he saw you miss a defensive
assignment he pulled you out. If he saw that you didn't go after each
and every rebound he pulled you out. It made us play hard and that is
why we won the championship.”
This
coach successfully caused his players to be mindful of
the consequences of failing to give full effort. Not giving full effort is not only something one finds on college teams, but some years ago Joakim Noah
took himself and his teammates to task for not giving 100% effort in
NBA play … and these are highly paid professionals!!
Imagine
if the surgeon who was operating on your mother or father was guilty
of not giving 100% effort. Or the pilot flying the plane you were
traveling on!!
The fact is that there are few Kobe Bryant's out there who are so competitive they don't need anyone else to hold them to that standard of excellence. Truth to tell, most of us need the coach who is going to call us out on our effort.
The fact is that there are few Kobe Bryant's out there who are so competitive they don't need anyone else to hold them to that standard of excellence. Truth to tell, most of us need the coach who is going to call us out on our effort.
However,
I have more often seen coaches who pulled players out not because of
their lack of effort BUT because of mistakes they made. And that is
almost always on the offensive end.
In
the course of my sport psychology work I have talked with MANY MANY
players who are often seen glancing toward the bench to see if he can
make out if the coach is pleased with him or not, fearful of being
taken out of the game should he make a mistake.
These
are frequently the same kinds of players who can light it up in
practice but fall flat in games. One player I worked with could hit
outside shots like crazy and dunk with authority … in practice …
but in games could go 1 for 20. This is a terrific example of a guy
with a good PHYSICAL skill set but not such a good MENTAL skill set.
Knowingly
or not, coaches create and support this kind of mindset when they
bench guys for mistakes (as opposed to benching them for effort).
When
this happens, usually the the player's TRUE goal when on the
court ends up being not so much to get the victory for his team but
to avoid making mistakes that will get him benched. He becomes a
TENTATIVE player who starts to second guess himself rather than an
AGGRESSIVE COMPETITOR. His focus is too much in his head and not ON THE COURT!!! What coach would want THAT player out on the floor? And yet that is what coaches so often end up supporting.
HERE
IS THE POINT:
If a
player thinks he may get pulled out for messing up on the defensive
end he is probably going to become more AGGRESSIVE and ramp up his
GAME INTENSITY. If he thinks he is likely to get pulled out for
messing up on the offensive end, he is going to become more
SELF-CONSCIOUS and HESITANT. Physiologically, his muscles are
probably going to tense up, so that his timing and his release will
be off and/or he may hesitate for just that fraction of a second
where he gives the defense the advantage as he tunes into that voice
of doubt in his mind WHEN HE REALLY NEEDS TO BE FEELING CONFIDENT AND
RELAXED.
When
it comes to effort, there is NO excuse or reason to not be giving
ones full effort! But when it comes to missed shots, a player will do
better to look inside and re-adjust his mental state rather than
looking to the bench to see his coach's face.
If a
player isn't working on THAT skill set in practice along with his
full physical effort, then he isn't TRULY giving 100%
