Coaching a basketball team can be an all-encompassing undertaking. Being a coach takes time and devotion. To do it well, you need both a micro and macro approach. Coaches need to do more than game plan or practice plan, they need to plan the entire season. What’s more, basketball coaches need to maximize their offseason to prepare for the next year.
Here’s a look at five ways a coach can make the most of the basketball offseason.
1. Stretch Yourself
The number one key to a successful basketball offseason is to stretch yourself. You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Just like your players have to be when all of a sudden your opponent switches from a match-up zone to a trapping defense. Be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone. For me, as a teacher and a coach, I got outside of my comfort zone and started a business. I did some other things that I thought would help me as a person and broaden my horizons. Make me read more and learn more.
You have to have a growth mindset.
2. Drop the Comparisons
Coaches talk. They share ideas and approaches. Some coaches talk about one another, sometimes behind their backs. What’s this guy doing? Another key to a successful basketball offseason is to drop the comparisons.
Don’t worry about the fact that you know this other coach is running an open gym every night. Don’t worry about the facilities that other teams have. Especially don’t compare what athletes these other coaches are bringing in.
Don’t compare, compete. You want to compete, so figure out how to get your team to the next level using what’s available to you. What skills can be worked on? How can you convince your players to compete and not compare themselves to the others?
3. Find the Golden Nuggets During the Basketball Offseason
Golden nuggets are key to find during your basketball offseason. Imagine how much better the world would be if we all got one percent better every day. Talk with your staff about the ways to improve your basketball program over the next few months.
Your approach probably won’t have huge increments. You’ll probably have small, measurable increments over time to track the overall improvement. The golden nuggets can be the touchstones of this process.
You have to accumulate the little things to make yourself better over time, even if it’s just one percent better.
4. Commitment
The fourth way to make the most of your offseason deals specifically with commitment. You have to determine how your commitment to becoming a better basketball coach for your players separates you. What separates most basketball coaches do during the offseason from the special state championship coaches?
Great coaches don’t base state championships and rings on hope, they do it on work. If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to commit and stretch yourself. You have to determine your commitment to becoming a better basketball coach, a better teacher, a better mentor.
5. Be the Wild Animal
Bet the wild animal, not the zoo animal? What do I mean by that? You have to have the energy of the hunt. You have to go get the food on your own–be the aggressor. No one wants to be the caged lion.
The zoo animal is dependent upon the zookeeper coming and feeding them every day. I want players and coaches that are willing to go out and find their dinner–find their food, and not have it just given to them.
This is a conversation between PGC founder Dena Evans and a High School Player. What a great conversation about between coach and player. It touches on the death, or end, of a basketball season.
Death of a Basketball Season
Dear Coach Dena,
I’m writing to share with you some feelings I’ve been having since my season came to an end. I am hoping that you will have some insights or thoughts to pass along to me.
First, let me just give you some facts about my season so you get a general overview. We finished 18-6 in the regular season. We won our first game and lost in the semi-finals to the team who won comfortably in the finals. Our game against them was a close game.
What I’m basically feeling is a strong sense of disappointment and sadness.
Last year, I was upset that we had lost (in the first round of the playoffs), but I was able to look back on the season and I was happy about it. But this year it’s a different story. I’ve been left with that feeling of wanting more, thinking about what could have happened, or how it could have been different had we won that game.
Perhaps part of it is knowing that I’ll never get the chance to play competitive basketball with some of my teammates ever again. Perhaps part of it is just missing spending time with the guys in the locker room, or out at team dinner. Either way, it’s been a tough pill to swallow for me. This year it just felt as if the dream and the goal of winning the State Championship had kind of slipped through our hands, and it was really just two games away…and the fact that I think this was our best shot, is maybe irrational, but something that makes it harder.
It’s tough to really get it all out there on the page, but that’s about the best I can do as far as explaining my thoughts for now. Any words would be greatly appreciated.
-Josh
Death of a Basketball Season: Coach’s Response
Hey Josh,
First off, congrats on a GREAT season. I say “great” not because of your record or how far you got (or didn’t get) in the playoffs. The ‘congrats’ is because (based on your email and on what I know about who you are) you gave this basketball season, your team, your coaches, your school, and yourself the very best you had to give. I realize that may sound hollow to you in this moment, but one day, when your career is over, I promise you that this will be the one thing you will be most proud of, and it’s what will give you the most peace about your career, no matter how many championships you win or don’t win.
But for now, I can totally understand and relate to everything you have said. I’ve been there. More than once…
My senior year of high school, we lost in the game to go to “State” (a big deal in Texas because only 4 teams go). My goal since 6th grade was to win a state championship. I was devastated.
One of the main reasons I went to the University of Virginia was to win a national championship. My sophomore year of college, after being ranked #1 most of the season, we lost to Tennessee in overtime of the national championship game. Devastated again.
My junior year, again after being ranked #1 all season, we lost in DOUBLE OT of the national semi-finals to Stanford. Once again…devastated.
My senior year, after all the best players on our team had graduated and I had become the unquestioned team leader, we played as the underdog all year. We made it all the way to the Elite 8 and lost to Ohio State in the game to go back to the Final Four when my coach called time out just as I was releasing the game-winning 3-pointer. I hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, but it was waived off because the ref said my coach called the time out with 0.7 seconds on the clock. That was the way my college career ended. Devastated times a thousand.
Unless you’re the team that wins the last game of the season, I have never been able to figure out how to feel anything *but* sadness and disappointment at the end of a season, at least for a while.
I think you just need to allow yourself time to grieve. The word “grieve” may sound crazy because I know it’s not like anybody died or there was any great “tragedy.” But you *have* suffered a profound loss. The death of your basketball season (which you cared deeply about) is difficult. You will never play on this particular team (which you gave so much of yourself to for so many months) again; and you will never be high school teammates with some of those guys again (and those kinds of bonds are rare and special and hard to replicate in the “real world”).
People who have never experienced those kinds of losses can never understand just how much all of that hurts. You gave yourself completely to something, and it didn’t turn out like you wanted. And to make it even worse, now it’s gone. Over. Done. That’s hard and it hurts.
But (and this is the part you probably don’t want to hear, but it’s true so I’ll say it anyway…) that’s how life works. Everything passes. You’ll eventually lose everything-your parents, your friends, your health, your pets, your youth, and, inevitably, your life. It’s all gonna pass away, just like this season, and this team.
Which, to me, is all the more reason to give those things you love and care about everything you’ve got. It all goes by so fast, and the ONLY thing you’re guaranteed is that it WILL, in fact, go by.
This can all be pretty depressing UNLESS you just accept it as reality (because it is), and THEN you can be freed up to focus all your energy and attention on giving every single moment of the rest of your career the very best you’ve got….which brings me back to my very first point in this email.
As the seasons go by, and as you experience the feelings of sadness and disappointment that you’re experiencing now, and as you begin to get a clearer and clearer sense of the finite-ness (not sure if that’s a word) of your career, your sense of urgency will grow exponentially. That’s why seniors often play with such care and passion. It’s why aging superstars are willing to take less money and less playing time to get on a team that has a chance to win a championship. You begin to realize what matters and what doesn’t, and you begin to sense how precious an opportunity it is to get to be an athlete who’s playing for something that matters with people who matter to you.
So my point is…everything you’re feeling right now is appropriate and even good. Don’t resist it. Be sad. Be disappointed…Until you’re not anymore (and it will go away, I promise). And then, you will do what every great athlete and every great hero does…you will pick yourself up, dust yourself off, dream your next dream, and you’ll go at it again…even though you know the risk and how much it will hurt when it’s over. But really, that’s the only way to fly in my opinion. Way more fun, exciting, meaningful, and fulfilling than living a life where you play small and never put your heart on the line for anything that matters to you.
And one last thing…while winning a championship *would* feel really sweet and could be incredibly rewarding, the truth is that even THAT feeling will pass after a few weeks or even days.
And then you would STILL have to feel the sadness and disappointment of not playing with some of your teammates again and of not ever having this particular team together again. So don’t fall into the trap of believing that winning a championship will make you not have to feel the pain of the ending of something you love. Granted, it would make it a lot easier and is the preferable way to end a season. But what’s *more* important is always that you gave your best in every moment, regardless of whether or not you were fortunate enough to be on the team that won the last game of the season.
Those are my quick thoughts. I’m really glad you decided to write me. You’re doing big things, even though you may be feeling like you came up short this season. These are important conversations and important life moments, and it’s an honor to get to share them with you.
As coaches, it is vital that we check in our players frequently, but especially at certain points during the season. We schedule three basketball team meetings with our players throughout the basketball season. These go beyond just the simple evaluation of a single basketball game. The check-ins allow us to connect with our players and make expectations clear. It provides a forum for open communication, which is always important.
Basketball Team Meetings
The first meeting is the Beginning of Basketball Season Team Meeting. We will always have a beginning of the season meeting where we inform them of what team they will currently be on and what their role will be. This meeting allows us to make our expectations clear, so the players understand how best to improve their games and help the team succeed.
Our second sit down for a team meeting comes in the middle of the basketball season. During this meeting, we review the team and player performances thus far. By the middle of the season, we have a decent sample size for statistics, so that data is helpful. This meeting will consist of going over their stats. We discuss what they’re doing well and areas to make sure they are focusing on for improvement going into the second half of the season.
The final basketball team meeting of the season comes after we’ve completed our schedule. This meeting consists of a season-long review, going over what went well and what the next steps in development are. This post-season meeting provides a launching point for our team’s off-season work.
The Post-Season Team Meeting
The post-season team meeting provides coaches and players an opportunity to reflect on the season. You can touch on the highs and lows of the season, both the good and the bad. This is particularly useful for your returning athletes Improving as individuals and as a collective unit needs to be the emphasis for your off-season plans.
It is important to motivate players about where they currently are and hope to be over the upcoming off-season to prepare for next season. As coaches, we must engage in this dialogue and realize the important role we play. We need to make sure our players can state specific goals and ambitions they hope to achieve to become the best basketball player they can be.
Goals of “getting better,” “getting shots up,” and “getting into the gym” just will not cut it. We need our players to be specific about their goals and ambitions. Think of goals like:
“I want to make 10,000 shots this off-season,”
“spend 3 hours a week working on ball handling,” or
“increase my squat max by 35 pounds.”
These are tangible, specific goals that can be measured. The more specific we can be with our athletes and make them the main character in their story the better player they will become and the bigger impact they will have on our program.
Post-Season Basketball Team Meeting Handouts
In addition to thinking about the physical side of the game, we must consider the mental and leadership side of our players as well. In these basketball team meetings, we strive to get our players reading leadership material. Anything from Jon Gordon will resonate with any high school athletes. Some of the best we have given include “The Energy Bus“, “The Hard Hat“, and “Positive Dog“. We want to make sure we are molding and building our future leaders to help take our program to the next level.
With the reading of the book, we also include a short assignment for them to complete as well to help in their learning of leadership qualities.
Handout 1- Off-season player handout.
We will go through this chart with each player, fill it out together, and they get a copy to take home with them.
Player:
22/23 Grade:
Spring:
3 Success from Season:
3 Areas of Improvement:
What do you want from basketball?
Plan to accomplish?
Handout 2– Spring Leadership Book Assignment.
This is a short assignment they can complete over the leadership reading of their choice.
Assignment: In a 1 page double-spaced paper, answer the following 2 questions:
Summarize the book. What are important lessons/themes you learned from this book? Be sure to provide some examples.
How can you take what you have learned from this book and apply it to both your teams and life at large? Be sure to provide 3 examples of how you plan on applying these principles in your life.
We are anxious to see what you learn from this reading!
At the end of the day, we need to make sure our players are improving as much as possible. We need to be their guide on their journey and make them become the main character in their story.
The season is over and spring workouts are starting to commence. It’s now time to start thinking about your Summer Basketball plans. As your players ease into their time off from school, summer stands out as the perfect opportunity to improve their game. It’s never too early to prep for next season!
As you prepare for the next season, it’s important to remember every other team will be doing the same. Communicate to your players that teams are planning and working towards defeating them on the floor. It’s up to them to be ready for the next challenge. Urge them not to wait until the next school year. Definitely tell them not to wait until September to physically prepare. Impress upon them the value of being the person that’s going to work harder than everyone else to improve. Your journey starts with summer basketball prep, so ignore the noise, embrace the grind, and love the challenge!
Consider these elements to help streamline the summer basketball prep work and to help have a great off-season.
Returning Opponent Data
Our staff loves to go through our upcoming opponents for next season and start gathering data on them. Summer is a great time to start this basketball scouting work. We look at their previous season record, returning players and starters. We also look at offensive average and defensive average.
By doing this, we consider what the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents are. This helps us think about the main question of our program: What do we have to do to be better than our opponents?
The answer to that question will help dictate what we focus on starting in our summer basketball practices.
Promote Basketball Summer Camp
The youth/feeder program is the lifeline of any successful high school program. It is important to have these upcoming athletes coming into your gym.
There are a variety of ways to run a summer basketball camp, but the most important thing is to find one that best fits you and your players schedules. With this ever-changing world, it is important to have all hands on deck. If your school requires service hours for their students, using your players as counselors for the youth summer basketball camp might fill that graduation requirement for them. It also keeps them busy and in the gym!
After locking in a date for your camp, promote it! Get into the schools to talk to your future campers, create a YouTube video, promote on social media, do whatever it takes to get as many people in the gym as possible.
Schedule Summer Basketball Games & Practices
This is something that needs to be done with your high school athletes, but you may want to even consider doing practices and games with your middle school athletes, too. Communication is key at either level, especially with parents. Make your expectations clear for the involvement with summer basketball work in your program.
Chat with your returning players about their schedules, get a feel on where they’d like to play games, and find ways to make these as fun but as cost effective as possible. Find local games against your local high school opponents but also consider an out-of-town trip to bring about some extra bonding with your team.
In addition to practicing with your high school players, find time to get into the gym with your middle school players, too. They can start to hear your voice, hear your philosophies, and start prepping them to be part of the high school program.
Overnight Summer Basketball Camp Trip
If possible, find a team summer basketball camp that is out of town. Get a hotel and find some activities to enjoy as a team. Take your players to cities they have never been to. Partake in activities they’ve never done (escape rooms, billiards, bowling, etc.). Eat at restaurants they haven’t been to, and play games against opponents they otherwise may never see.
These activities provide valuable team building opportunities that will strengthen the bonds between players and coaches. Summer basketball trips often create life-long friendships and memories that your players will cherish.
If you have some players with aspirations of attending college to play basketball, find schools they may be interested in attending after high school.
10K Shot Club
Motivate your players to get shots up on their own. As all high school coaches know, you can never have enough shooting. Encourage your players to log their shot attempts and track this. Reward them in the fall with prizes, recognition, food, whatever it may be. Do a shooting program not only for your high school athletes but your feeder athletes, too.
