Basketball Training Tips

The Basketball Coach’s Changing Role 

What is the role of the coach in today’s basketball world? It has changed drastically in the past few years. Players have changed, parents have changed, fans and media have changed, so has the role of the coach. 

These days, in addition to the traditional role of teacher, the coach has become a negotiator. To be truly effective, today’s coach has to navigate the minefield of parents, advisors, private coaches and all the other people that are in a player’s ear. There are a myriad of people that conspire to test the loyalty and belief that the player has in the coach. In addition there are more easily available diversions for players than there were just a few years ago. There was a time when players had to leave the house to find things to do. For those interested in basketball, the courts were a stop on the way to and from other diversions. Now, with computers and video games, they don’t even have to leave home. The basketball coach has to find ways to step around and through all the obstacles to his success. 

The key to successful coaching is faith, defined as belief without proof. As the coach conducts his craft, to be successful, the players have to accept and believe that the information that they are given will help them be better players and a better team. Too often, there are things off the court that are working to shake that faith. Too often the coach fights against those forces. Sometimes it is better to embrace those forces. There is a common interest, the player. It is now the role of the coach to unite all the forces so they will allow him to do his job. 

Today’s world seems to revolve inside a ball of instant gratification. Win today, be good today or move on. There seems to be no room for development. The coach has to ignore those pressures and remember that his primary purpose is to try to get players to improve themselves. The coach must constantly reinforce, cajole, and mold players to keep them moving forward. Teaching them how to accept small successes, how to handle short term failures and how that aids their improvement. He must be a consistent positive force in his player’s experience. He will have ups and down, fueled by his performance and reinforced by people around him. The coach must always be an even keeled voice of reason and a steadying influence. 

Players today have to battle so many things. To get the most out of his players, to be able to mold their skills, attitudes and their teams, basketball coaches today have do a great job of managing the influences that pull at players outside the lines so they can be the players they can be between the lines.