Off-Season Coaching Development

You’ve Heard About Player Development – But What About Coaching Development?!

Coaches dedicate their lives to helping their players improve. Player Development is common phrase in basketball, usually referring to the offseason when individual growth is a focus for athletes.

However, Coach Development is just as important during this period!

This day and age, things change at a rapid pace. True for life in general, and definitely true for the game of basketball as it relates to coaching. A coach must keep up on everything: the latest trends, philosophies, technologies, coaching techniques, strength and conditioning and much more.

Don’t go into this season as the same coach you were last season! Here are three easy ways to grow using FastDraw.

WATCH

Watch as many games as possible. Your season, your league/opponents, college, NBA, European, summer league, etc. Study games using whatever resources you have available: old games on your DVR, YouTube channels, etc. Pause the game to put yourself in the situation. Think about what you would do, how you would react, what play you would call if you were that coach. And, of course, draw up sets you like in FastDraw.

READ

Read, a lot. Books, articles, our blog – which is a gold mine for coaching content! – whatever you can. Also subscribe to our FastModel Newsletter to get exclusive content right to your inbox.

Don’t make it all about basketball, either. Learn about successful coaches in other sports. Try something related to other areas of life as well, like business or leadership. See what makes the top CEO’s tick. It’s amazing how the skill set it takes to run a Fortune 500 company can translate to coaching basketball. Often you can find something you would not have thought of using with your team.

CONNECT

Most coaches know about attending clinics – formal gatherings which valuable for learning as well as networking. But they also usually have a cost to attend. Just as beneficial is organizing your own informal “clinic.” Message a group of coaches and host them at your gym or meet at a neutral location, and order some sandwiches for lunch.

Have each coach present on a topic they are passionate about, handing out FastDraw diagrams to the group. Share playbooks using FastTrade. Use FastDraw on the iPad for quick and easy diagramming on the fly. A more casual setting like this also allows for greater back and forth conversation than a formal coaching clinic.

Use the offseason as a time to develop yourself. Focus on growing in these areas to build an all-around coaching repertoire. The more tools you have in the toolbox, the better carpenter you will be!

Let us know how else you like to develop yourself as a coach in the offseason. Send us a message here or via one of our social channels.

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