One of the major problems in basketball today is that coaches don’t know how to inspire their players and create a culture of consistency. All too often coaches fail to communicate their philosophy effectively, sometimes because they haven’t spent enough time reflecting on it before jumping into pre-season practices. In many cases, these coaches bore their players with overused clichés like “Offense wins games, defense wins championships” or “Play like a champion today.” While the message behind these quotes is well-intended, most players will find little inspiration in a quote they have already heard hundreds of times prior to joining their current team. Hence, such quotes frequently become little more than boring wall-decorating banners in the locker room.
Part of the problem is that coaches don’t understand how to carry a message throughout an entire season and reinforce it in a meaningful way. Introducing even the most powerful quote or theme at the beginning of the season doesn’t have any long-term difference-making effect on a team culture UNLESS it is effectively integrated into practices and games on a daily basis. It’s no different from bringing in a motivational speaker during the pre-season but then failing to emphasize the speaker’s message throughout the remainder of the season. Within just a few days, players will have forgotten close to 100% of what the speaker shared.
Coaches, if you want to better than the rest and create a culture of consistency amongst your players, be different and emphasize mottos like “Absorb what is useful, discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own” (Bruce Lee) to encourage learning and creativity on the court, for example. Find what works best for your team. Follow this process:
- Remove all overused quotes and clichés from the locker room walls.
- Look up or come up with three UNIQUE quotes that directly speak to the culture you want to build within your team. Choose one quote for each of these crucial categories: (a) Attitude/Effort, (b) Learning/Thinking, (c) Team Cohesion/Leadership
- Pin the quotes up in highly visible areas in the locker room and tape a blank poster board or whiteboard underneath each.
- At your first pre-season team meeting, explain to your players what each quote means to you and why you chose it.
- During every practice, run at least one drill per quote that SPECIFICALLY emphasizes the quote’s meaning, so as to build a strong and well-defined culture.
- At the conclusion of the respective drill, briefly ask your team or a specific player to cite the locker room quote they think most closely relates to the purpose of the drill.
- After every practice, require your players to recognize outstanding achievement in each of the three categories. The name and specific achievement (e.g., outstanding encouragement of teammates) should be recorded on the poster board below the respective quote.
- To provide additional incentive, offer a weekly, monthly, or end-of-season reward for each of the overall winners in the three categories.
Always remember that creating a culture of consistency is the key to long-term success!