danny daniel
Helluva Engineer
- Messages
- 2,613
Maybe we are overcoaching our D players. We put Simmons in; he makes some plays; coaches complain he plays outside the system and his PT is limited. (same with Curry to a lesser degree). We finally let Lewis get meaningful PT and he seems to have a good game making several good plays; result is coaches complain (similar to Simmons) and he sits the next game.
I once went to a baseball coaching clinic given by a successful college coach. He had very specific fundamental drills with serious discipline that he taught. Questions were asked about some pro players who had totally different fundamentals/techniques. The coach responded by saying that you should not overcoach (try to change) gifted players who have natural abilities to do it their way. His coaching techniques were aimed at players struggling to compete at their level and they need things simplified (and put through much repetition) so they can perform at their level. In other words if a player is gifted enough to play at a higher level and has his own way of doing things, do not try to change him. (Of course you have to play a basic responsibility within the scheme).
I come back to the overcoachng. Too much thinking and too many rules slow down D players. I coached about 300 players on D and the best player I had could not make the next team as he moved up. The reason he told me was the coaches had so many dos and don'ts rules he was thinking and not playing and so afraid of making mistakes that he was playing too slow to keep up (and this was a kid who made 144 tackles for me in a single season). We at GT play on D like we have to process too much info before our brain engages our feet. Our coaching technique may be more appropriate for our scout players!
I once went to a baseball coaching clinic given by a successful college coach. He had very specific fundamental drills with serious discipline that he taught. Questions were asked about some pro players who had totally different fundamentals/techniques. The coach responded by saying that you should not overcoach (try to change) gifted players who have natural abilities to do it their way. His coaching techniques were aimed at players struggling to compete at their level and they need things simplified (and put through much repetition) so they can perform at their level. In other words if a player is gifted enough to play at a higher level and has his own way of doing things, do not try to change him. (Of course you have to play a basic responsibility within the scheme).
I come back to the overcoachng. Too much thinking and too many rules slow down D players. I coached about 300 players on D and the best player I had could not make the next team as he moved up. The reason he told me was the coaches had so many dos and don'ts rules he was thinking and not playing and so afraid of making mistakes that he was playing too slow to keep up (and this was a kid who made 144 tackles for me in a single season). We at GT play on D like we have to process too much info before our brain engages our feet. Our coaching technique may be more appropriate for our scout players!
