A good friend introduced the following idea. It’s something I’ve considered multiple times as a former basketball coach and current basketball official: Does yelling instructions from the sideline into a dynamic environment get through to the participants or is it lost?
With the NCAA women’s and men’s basketball tournaments currently underway, it is a timely topic. Watch the coaches gesticulate. Watch them yell. See them urge their players on. Read their lips. Is anyone listening? Do the players respond?
Here’s one for you: When the gyms are loud, can the players even hear their coaches? As a referee, I can guarantee you that there are many times coaches try to get my attention or my partners, and we cannot hear them. We are focused on the game.
If we are focused on the game, the players are as well. Which means they are flying up and down the court as fast as possible, and probably don’t hear a word the coaches scream.
When you dial into work in a situation that is highly fluid and active, almost by extension you must maintain an extremely high level of intensity on the task at hand. That’s not to say the words of a coach won’t penetrate your thought processes, but more than likely if their words do reach you, the effect is fleeting. Here and gone. The next play approaches.
That’s the nature of basketball and many other sporting events. Players and referees must read and react consistently. Both players and officials are taught, watch video, train, get feedback, analyze plays and prepare to execute in specific situations. That pregame prep is what gets you ready to do your thing on the court.
What makes for effective communication? My buddy is especially skeptical about basketball coaches pacing the sidelines to constantly bark out, “do this, don’t do that” comments.
I’m reminded of the days when I coached two of our kids through their lower grades and some select basketball as they got older. One of the very few comments I ever got from a parent was a suggestion to work on a certain play. I mentioned we had worked on that in practice during the week, and I had just reminded the girls in the huddle of what specifically we wanted to do when they got back on the court. They just didn’t do what I had taught them, and reminded them during our timeout.
You can yell all you want. That’s not going to change things.
What works much more effectively, IMO, is developing muscle memory. Work on situations/plays to know how you want to react most effectively as a player or referee. The more you do that, the more expert you become when a fast-paced action slams you in the face. A coach yelling at you isn’t going to change that.
Sideline yelling, in my buddy’s opinion (and I agree with him), is that the coach is expending nervous energy. They feel a need to be up and moving and affecting things. Words spew out. Most of them unnecessary and unheard.
My friend’s hypothesis is that dynamic situations are not conducive to clear instruction, basketball being a primary example. Based on my experience coaching and officiating, I agree.
Is there a lesson here? Prepare yourself and your team to be ready for as many situations as possible, so they can read and react in real time. Everyone (players, coaches, officials) make mistakes, but putting yourself though enough reps (and the right types of ones) beforehand gives you the best chance of success to execute properly on the court.
With the NCAA women’s and men’s basketball tournaments currently underway, it is a timely topic. Watch the coaches gesticulate. Watch them yell. See them urge their players on. Read their lips. Is anyone listening? Do the players respond?
Here’s one for you: When the gyms are loud, can the players even hear their coaches? As a referee, I can guarantee you that there are many times coaches try to get my attention or my partners, and we cannot hear them. We are focused on the game.
If we are focused on the game, the players are as well. Which means they are flying up and down the court as fast as possible, and probably don’t hear a word the coaches scream.
When you dial into work in a situation that is highly fluid and active, almost by extension you must maintain an extremely high level of intensity on the task at hand. That’s not to say the words of a coach won’t penetrate your thought processes, but more than likely if their words do reach you, the effect is fleeting. Here and gone. The next play approaches.
That’s the nature of basketball and many other sporting events. Players and referees must read and react consistently. Both players and officials are taught, watch video, train, get feedback, analyze plays and prepare to execute in specific situations. That pregame prep is what gets you ready to do your thing on the court.
What makes for effective communication? My buddy is especially skeptical about basketball coaches pacing the sidelines to constantly bark out, “do this, don’t do that” comments.
I’m reminded of the days when I coached two of our kids through their lower grades and some select basketball as they got older. One of the very few comments I ever got from a parent was a suggestion to work on a certain play. I mentioned we had worked on that in practice during the week, and I had just reminded the girls in the huddle of what specifically we wanted to do when they got back on the court. They just didn’t do what I had taught them, and reminded them during our timeout.
You can yell all you want. That’s not going to change things.
What works much more effectively, IMO, is developing muscle memory. Work on situations/plays to know how you want to react most effectively as a player or referee. The more you do that, the more expert you become when a fast-paced action slams you in the face. A coach yelling at you isn’t going to change that.
Sideline yelling, in my buddy’s opinion (and I agree with him), is that the coach is expending nervous energy. They feel a need to be up and moving and affecting things. Words spew out. Most of them unnecessary and unheard.
My friend’s hypothesis is that dynamic situations are not conducive to clear instruction, basketball being a primary example. Based on my experience coaching and officiating, I agree.
Is there a lesson here? Prepare yourself and your team to be ready for as many situations as possible, so they can read and react in real time. Everyone (players, coaches, officials) make mistakes, but putting yourself though enough reps (and the right types of ones) beforehand gives you the best chance of success to execute properly on the court.