What do you coach? (or coached at some point??)

Any advice to share with other coaches? Good workouts? Motivation?



I'm currently coaching JV Lacrosse and love it. I have never played LAX, but I have two assistant coaches that know their stuff... My advice is definitely don't be afraid to divide and conquer if at all possible. I've seen some head coaches that micromanage way too much, and doesn't seem to turn out for the best in most cases.

I've also coached wrestling in the past, however I took this season off due to my hurt back and a few other reasons.

3/26/2012 8:31:46 PM

I coach varsity basketball. What do you mean by "divide and conquer"?

How do those assistants feel about their boss being someone that doesn't know as much as them? I had problems with that in the past having middle aged tenured head coaches as assistants as well as former college players (I didn't play collage ball and was never very good in high school).

3/26/2012 8:38:03 PM

I coach men's basketball at North Carolina State University.

3/26/2012 8:42:02 PM

^^They are awesome with it. They get to bring more of their experience to the table and I am never a dick about being head coach or have power trip issues.

By divide and conquer I mean give assistant coaches autonomy and a good amount of input.

When I was the head coach for wrestling (Which i DID know very well), I used the same philosophy, and we got along great.

3/26/2012 8:49:53 PM

you should PM face

3/26/2012 8:57:09 PM

I'm in my 10th year coaching lacrosse. Started coaching JV lax when I was 18. I very much enjoy coaching.

3/26/2012 9:03:20 PM

^^ beat me to it

3/26/2012 9:11:31 PM

I, too, thought this thread was about face.

3/26/2012 9:13:23 PM

Haha, perfect thread for face

3/26/2012 9:24:24 PM

I've coached flag football

3/26/2012 9:26:44 PM

<--- pee wee basketball. we were defeated

3/26/2012 9:29:22 PM

I've coached soccer since I was 16 (27 now), basketball for a few years as well. Now I coach JV soccer, as well as middle school soccer & basketball (last 2 years as a school coach). Last year's boys soccer team made the playoffs for the 1st time in 11 years, & the basketball team won it's 1st ever championship this year in it's 37 year history (last year was the 1st time they ever made the playoffs).

I can't give any lacrosse advice, but I will say you have to have confidence in what you do. If you don't, your players won't. I've seen from working with others that players will see right through BS. Just be yourself as well. One thing I like to do is once in a while, get someone outside the program to come see the team, work with them, & talk with them. This year, we had a former ABA player, as well as an NBA/Euro league player come work with them. Sometimes you just need another voice to get the message across. As for the "divide & conquer" idea, it's not bad, as long as the.assistants & you are on the same page. Just know at the end of the day, the head coach has to make the decisions. But I love coaching. I pretty much coach year round now.

3/26/2012 9:34:21 PM

I started out as a JV baseball coach when I took a job at my current school six years ago. I inherited the varsity softball job last year when the coach resigned at the end of something like a 2-20 season.

I also coach girls' tennis despite knowing very little about the sport. I spend a lot of my free time looking for drills online and talking to other coaches in our conference to find out what works and what doesn't. Even though I know infinitely more about baseball/softball, our tennis program is a playoff contender now, and we're still in the early stages of rebuilding the softball program.

Coaching high school girls is quite challenging, particularly from the motivation standpoint.

3/26/2012 9:41:38 PM

The good thing about girls is they do EXACTLY what you tell them to do. For example, coaching a girls team about zone offense I told them to use fakes and misdirection everytime they get the ball to open up passing lanes to the middle. They do it exactly the way I taught them every possession.

Same thing with guys and fuckers will stand and dribble around the perimeter and look clueless about how to attack a zone.

Girls might not want to win as bad but they are infinitely more coachable if you explain why you ared doing what you are doing.

3/26/2012 10:10:52 PM

Quote :

"By divide and conquer I mean give assistant coaches autonomy and a good amount of input. "

ah, you mean delegate

3/27/2012 9:39:41 AM

I coached a travel ice hockey team consisting of mostly 13 year olds. I do not recommend it. Those fuckers thought they knew everything.

3/27/2012 10:14:33 AM

I coach middle school boy's basketball

Looking to move up to high school and coach JV

3/27/2012 10:49:07 AM

Skooiann and face are both world-beating coaches.

3/27/2012 10:51:49 AM

Quote :

" ah, you mean delegate "

haha yes. We are starting a huge lull in our season... no game this week (the two teams our varsity plays do not have JV teams), no game next week (spring break) and no game the following week (again, no JV teams.)

It's going to be a challenge keeping it interesting... we are doing a lot of just playing during practice... 4v4, 6v6, and unevens.

Quote :

"I'm in my 10th year coaching lacrosse. Started coaching JV lax when I was 18. I very much enjoy coaching."

Where are you coaching? (if you don't mind me asking... you can respond via PM if you'd rather!)

3/27/2012 11:00:08 AM

this thread probably belongs in Old School.

3/27/2012 2:27:55 PM

Quote :

"the two teams our varsity plays do not have JV teams"

Are you playing Garner?

3/27/2012 2:35:14 PM

^^I don't understand the point of old school. I also can't post there for whatever reason.

3/27/2012 4:56:57 PM

it's for old people to talk about doing old-people things.

3/27/2012 4:57:31 PM

Doesn't look like thats whats going on now. Most of the threads on thefirst page are about grad school and young people stuff.

3/27/2012 5:04:39 PM

Quote :

"Are you playing Garner?"

that was a few weeks ago.

3/27/2012 7:25:33 PM

The Lakers just called me, looks like I'll be coaching Kobe next week.

3/27/2012 11:43:04 PM

I honestly don't see how you can coach a sport you have never played.

And as a player, I don't think I could respect or listen to a coach that I know more about the game than he does.

3/28/2012 2:34:22 AM

PM sent.

Coaching JV lacrosse in NC is a bit different. The sport is new to our area but growing fast. Most kids on jv have little to no experience so what you end up teaching is very basic. As long as you are a decent coach in general and are willing to learn the basics/commit some time to learning rules of the game it isn't an issue of the kids knowing more. Varsity would be different, but If you look the part and act the part kids will respect you at levels like jv and rec. If you show up unorganized talking out of your ass kids will see that and then there can be issues. I'm confident I could coach any sport at the jv or middle school level and do fine, even a sport I didn't know well.

3/28/2012 7:30:00 AM

I helped "coach" a kids basketball team a few years ago...

We won every game...

Thanks to being the only team with a 6 ft 7th grader.

3/28/2012 7:35:33 AM

Quote :

"honestly don't see how you can coach a sport you have never played. And as a player, I don't think I could respect or listen to a coach that I know more about the game than he does."

Well, to be honest at the beginning I was skeptical about it as well. My coaching experience comes from wrestling (which I definitely have a lot of experience in) and I am friends with the head Varsity coach we got to talking and decided he needed someone experienced with coaching in general for JV, and I wanted to get into lacrosse, so I started coaching jv lax under his guidance. I have two very experienced assistant coaches (both played in college) who bring their experience to the field.

I don't make any bones about it, and the kids know full well that I didn't play, and they respect the fact that I don't pretend to be an experienced LAX playerr... although what I don't have in lax experience I think I make up in general coaching experience, which helps. I have a very good rapport with my team (which is well over 50% brand new to lacrosse.)

3/28/2012 8:36:58 AM

Yeah, I never was a soccer player, but have been successful, even had a couple players play college level. I worked with experienced coaches, & learned from them. Now, I'm a head coach, but still bring some of my mentors in tobhelp sometimes. Plus, soccer is similar to basketball, to me, which makes things easier. I never played basketball at a higher level, but have always had a mind for the game (coaches I played for would run ideas through me). I'm sure playing helps to an extent, but studying the game, plus having the chance to learn from an experienced coach goes a long way in coach development.

3/28/2012 1:50:29 PM

Quote :

"I helped "coach" a kids basketball team a few years ago..."

The quotes make this sentence creepy.

3/28/2012 1:53:47 PM

I've coached swimming before.

3/28/2012 1:54:33 PM