Coaching Morale

[aaronic]

I just read a little quote in today's newspaper from Craig Choate, SJSU, whose team plays Hawaii this evening.

He says(last night):

"Beating Hawaii is a long shot, but we've met a lot of the criteria (for NCAA selection). We've finished strong, won four of the last five.

"We've had goals all season. The goal tonight was to win. We don't have a goal for tomorrow except to play well and see what happens."

"We were the underdog tonight," added Spartan middle Burke, who added 21 kills and was in all three of the team's blocks. "We will be the underdogs against Hawaii. We never stopped fighting tonight and we need to have that same idea tomorrow."

Maybe i'm being a little narrow-minded or something in thinking this, but if you were a coach, wouldn't you tell your team that you wanted to WIN?

Any thoughts....

BRB.

[Wolfgang]

I think the rationale is a time-honored one:

Focus on the little things, play each point well, put in the effort, think of the process process process that you learned in practice, and if you do all that, the outcome SHOULD be a win.

Let's say you have a two-sided jigsaw puzzle. One side is a mass of incoherence and the other side is a clear and recognizable face, say BIK's scoundrel face. Well, you can work on one or the other side, but if you work on the easier side (i.e., the clear and recognizable face of BIK), it's an easier route to solving the puzzle. By getting that done, you will also solve the puzzle on the opposite side.

All you coaches, you have my blessing to use my post (THIS post) as your pregame (or intermission) inspiration speech in the locker room.

You're welcome, in advance.

[Deleted]

wolfgang said:

I think the rationale is a time-honored one:

Focus on the little things, play each point well, put in the effort, think of the process process process that you learned in practice, and if you do all that, the outcome SHOULD be a win.

Let's say you have a two-sided jigsaw puzzle. One side is a mass of incoherence and the other side is a clear and recognizable face, say BIK's scoundrel face. Well, you can work on one or the other side, but if you work on the easier side (i.e., the clear and recognizable face of BIK), it's an easier route to solving the puzzle. By getting that done, you will also solve the puzzle on the opposite side.

In addition to Wolfie's point, it is important for the coach to maintain credibility. And sometimes, humility will motivate much more than a rah-rah, we can take them if... approach. There is no one one answer; frequently depends on the context. I doubt Woody Hayes or Frank Leahy gave the same speech at half-time. To say nothing of Bill Walsh, but of course, that was pro--not college--ball.

BTW Wolfie, the progressive jigsaw puzzles that give more bang for the buck, so to speak, have all pieces that are the same sized squares. That way, by solving one side, one does not also solve the puzzle on the opposite side.

[roy]

I sort of agree with what has been said. Players know when they are out matched in a game. They know which matches are winnable, which matches will be fairly even, and which matches they can only hope for a win. That doesn't make the players play any less hard if a coach is realistic about the chances of winning.

And I completely agree with publius. A coach can try to tell his/her players that the match is winnable and try to pump up his players in a tough match. But that coach can also use the mentality of "hey, we're the underdogs and while we may be out-matched, anything can happen when you get on that court." It depends on the coach and the players. Some players need that pump to get motivated for a match. However, those players (from what I know from my own experiences) are more likely to self destruct when during a match when they start getting blocked or dug. Some players play better with the nothing to lose mentality from the coach. They go in knowing they are outmatched, so mistakes don't bother them as much.