|
3 POINTS TO TEAM Summarizing your team talk to 3 points it will help reduce confusion, requires thoughtful and intentional communication from you, and will improve capacity to produce a consensus understanding of the objectives.
Do not fill the air with your noise at halftime. Avoid thoughtless, rambling, emotional outbursts, and wordy explanations. These are confusing for the athlete, and difficult to understand and process. LESS can be MORE. |
SOLUTIONSBE SOLUTION ORIENTED It goes without saying that the goal of leading a halftime moment with the team is to solve problems as a team in a short amount of time. If problem solving is the focus, the athletes become energized and empowered to deliver.
Halftime is probably the WORST time to become "diagnostic". Avoid making a halftime a list of mistakes and errors. Do NOT retell the story of what went wrong. Halftime is not your time to become color commentator. |
INVOKEMOVE TEAM TO ACTION The coaches voice, animation, focus, intensity of message, charisma, and body are all important during this time. In fact they are infectious. If you desire composure, be composed. If you desire energy, be demonstrative in your presentation.
Do NOT be boring, unexciting, and monotone. Do NOT fail to make eye contact. Do not fail to show strong, victorious, body language. Do NOT show DEFEAT or QUIT or speak it into existence. Do not lose the moment. |
HALFTIME METHODS
MAKE IT VISUAL
Use a tactical board (magnetic or whiteboard) or cones (on the ground) to represent players. Be precise in how you manipulate the picture being sure to provide orientation of direction, scale, and location.
Use a demo player to show a functional, technical, or iso tactic so that the players can see the picture you are seeing.
Use an IPAD to show a functional group of players tactics or positional play.
Use a demo player to show a functional, technical, or iso tactic so that the players can see the picture you are seeing.
Use an IPAD to show a functional group of players tactics or positional play.
MAKE IT PERSONAL - MICRO MANAGE
Some players require individual messaging that is not intended for the team. Find time to micro manage as much communication as you can to individuals.
Follow the same principals for the team talk: CONCISE, SOLUTIONS to INVOKE action.
Follow the same principals for the team talk: CONCISE, SOLUTIONS to INVOKE action.
MAKE IT SOCRATIC - USE QUESTIONS INSTEAD OF DIRECTIVES
Try to use questions to drive thoughtfulness from the player.
This empowers free decision making, and freedom to fail forward moreso than directives.
Only use directives when you cannot find the right question to drive the right thought, or when the information is time sensitive.
Questions provoke greater decision making, and usually result in higher performance standards because they invoke buy-in from the athlete in the process you desire.
Directives condition behavior and while they result in lower performance standards, sometimes due to the time-sensitive nature of competition, and our incapacity to think fast enough, the directive is simplest for the coach to deliver if results are the day's near-term goal.
This empowers free decision making, and freedom to fail forward moreso than directives.
Only use directives when you cannot find the right question to drive the right thought, or when the information is time sensitive.
Questions provoke greater decision making, and usually result in higher performance standards because they invoke buy-in from the athlete in the process you desire.
Directives condition behavior and while they result in lower performance standards, sometimes due to the time-sensitive nature of competition, and our incapacity to think fast enough, the directive is simplest for the coach to deliver if results are the day's near-term goal.
MAKE IT WE - EMPHASIZE TEAM NOT "I" or "ME"
When you ask an athlete to complete something and it is needed, try to eliminate this phraseology:
"I need you to do this for me..."
The greatest motivator, the highest inspiration, is the invocation of the TEAM.
"Sally, the team appreciates your sacrificial runs..."
"Johnny, when you try to see the more, it helps the team by forcing the opponent to defend more space...."
Try to reduce and eliminate saying "me" and "I".
Once when I coached an entire season, I would use the phraseology, "The Sandites need you to...." "The Sandites will get more chances when you...." ETC.. ETC...
"I need you to do this for me..."
The greatest motivator, the highest inspiration, is the invocation of the TEAM.
"Sally, the team appreciates your sacrificial runs..."
"Johnny, when you try to see the more, it helps the team by forcing the opponent to defend more space...."
Try to reduce and eliminate saying "me" and "I".
Once when I coached an entire season, I would use the phraseology, "The Sandites need you to...." "The Sandites will get more chances when you...." ETC.. ETC...