A year ago, my word for the year was [color]“finish.”[/color] I was bent on finishing the book I was writing. But after I finished writing I discovered that there was much more to do: editing, formatting, layout, cover design, then getting concerned with publishing – self-publish, tradition, hybrid – and marketing. To do it right, to accomplish my goal of sharing my ideas with others through this book, I had to go beyond my notion of the book being “finished” after the words were written.
I wasn’t “finished;” I needed to go beyond. My word for 2012 is [color]beyond[/color].
This brings me to solution-based basketball: never be satisfied with where you are today as a coach; always go “beyond” to the next level, the next game, the next season. There is always something more to learn, a way to get another edge, an opportunity for deeper understanding, the need for an even stronger, effective relationship with players.
As a coach you must be ready for the games and for the seasons, but you must also go beyond to new levels every day because you never know what you’ll encounter. Solution-based basketball gets you ready for the games, the seasons and for life.
Solution-based basketball allows you to discover who you are as a coach. You do this by learning, by growing, by reading, by studying, by preparing and by going beyond where you are. This allows you to go beyond being a coach to becoming a teacher, to strive always to become the best you can be. And to have your players go beyond just playing the game to becoming a player of life.
I have tried to capture the essence of solution-based basketball in my book, The Golden Whistle. Here is a summary of the story’s plot followed by the titles of the Ten Golden Nuggets that are contained in the book:
Coach Faylor has had a long and highly successful career. He is thought to be one of the great coaches in the history of the game. Legend has it that many years ago he received the Ten Golden Nuggets of coaching, that the wisdom contained in this book could turn a coach’s whistle to gold and that this has been the secret to Faylor’s success.
Faylor’s star student assistant, an eager and ambitious young man, asks if he can stay on after graduation as assistant. Instead, Faylor sends him to a coaching position at a nearby high school that hasn’t had a winning season in twenty years. Two years later, the young man is fired and returns to Faylor’s office with his head hanging. He is astonished when Faylor says that he wants to share the secrets of the Ten Golden Nuggets with him, explaining that he is far from a failure.
1. Change How You Learn the Game
2. The Love Chapter
3. Desire Deters Failure
4. Put the Beating Stick Down
5. I Can Choose to Increase My Value
6. Circumstances and Situations Be Damned
7. Do It – Do It Right – Do It Right Now
8. Opportunities In Disguise
9. I Will Mine Each Loss for Nuggets
10. Lord, I Ask That You Bless Me Indeed
You’ll have to read the book to learn about the young man’s experiences as a first-time coach and why Faylor would want to share cherished insights with someone who had just been fired.
In the meantime, I hope you will check out my blog and join the community of solution-based basketball coaches. I’d love to hear from you.
I’ll close this with a Besop’s Thought. These are based on Aesop’s Fables, which I love and which I’ve adapted to basketball.
[color]Pass It On[/color]
The Insight: Come on in and sit down. There are some things you need to understand.
You’re a good player.
You can get better.
Physically, you’ve got to push yourself harder.
Mentally, you need to increase your awareness of the game.
You need to think team first and me second.
But you must go beyond.
Your education must come first and you need to attend every class.
The Pep Talk: Can you do these things? My high school coach’s words still ring clear in my mind. He made a difference in my game and in my life. Well, I’m coaching now and I hope to make a difference. The best pass in basketball is to pass it on! Always go beyond.
Hope you’ll become as a good a coach as you can possibly be. See you at the blog. [color]Go beyond![/color]
JimBurson.com
