Introduction
When I began attending USA Basketball coaching academies 3 years ago I was struck by the emphasis on Culture from so many top coaches. As a coach getting back in the game I was really eager for more Xs and Os, but everyone wanted to talk about Culture. What I came to realize was that without Culture your Xs and Os are just letters in the alphabet. A big part of establishing culture, I learned, was to ask yourself some powerful coaching questions.
To really know a team you must first know yourself. Just as a team is a work in progress, so are we as coaches. It is our responsibility to always be striving for our best. By “our best” I don’t just mean last second out of bounds plays (although those are important too, ha), I mean getting to the nitty gritty of who we are as people. Players will quickly see through phoniness. How can we ask our players to do things we are not doing for ourselves? That’s a great first powerful coaching question right there, now let’s examine some more…….
Powerful Coaching Questions
To really get the most out of this process it requires a piece of paper and a pencil and a quiet space to think. Being a mom of 4 kids I know that sounds easier than it is, but it has helped me a ton to start every morning with some quiet time to write and reflect. I hope you will take some time to answer the questions below and share some of your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page. Happy Reflecting….
- Why do you coach?
- Would you want your child/niece/nephew/friend’s child to be coached by you?
- Twenty years from now what do you hope your players tell their kids about you?
- What are you doing to continue to learn about coaching? Are you evaluating and learning from your past coaching seasons?
- How are you helping your assistant coaches continue to grow and reach their coaching goals?
- Do you consider yourself a good role model for health?
- How are you managing your stress?
- How do you feel when you see film of yourself during games? Practice?
- If a coach walked into your practice would they be able to name 3 things you stand for after watching your practice for 10 minutes?
- What are your coaching philosophies?
- What are your life philosophies?
- On the day you retire, what do you hope people say about you as a coach? As a person?
