Coaching Management 14.3

Coaching Management VOL. XIV NO. 3

BASKETBALL ■

Developing a Coaching Philosophy

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Strength Training Warm-Ups

POSTSEASON

ALL FOR ONE Creating team chemistry

EDITION

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$5.00

2006

Circle No. 100

Coaching Management Basketball Edition Postseason 2006

CONTENTS

Vol. XIV, No. 3

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33

24

LOCKER ROOM

COVER STORY

Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

All for One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Minnesota lengthens high school games … NCAA steps up anti-gambling efforts … Arizona holds unsanctioned all-star game … Player sues coach for discrimination … Warning cards come to Ohio … Rutgers SCREAM program goes national.

Improving your team chemistry can make the difference between a promising season and a championship. The recipe for creating effective teamwork starts at the top, as coaches provide ways for their athletes to find common ground and work toward collective goals.

COACHING LIFE

Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Heart of the Matter . . . . . . . . . . 24

Danny Holzer, Head Coach at Upper St. Clair (Pa.) High School, talks about coaching multi-sport athletes and winning a championship without a single player taller than 6-foot-3.

Before you can help your athletes succeed, you need to know who you are and why you do what you do. Defining your coaching philosophy is your first mission.

OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

UNIFORMS & APPAREL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 TEAM EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 BASKETBALL FACILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 STRENGTH & CARDIO EQUIPMENT. . . . . . . . 44 COACHING AIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 MORE PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

In order for athletes to get the most out of their strength training, their muscles need to be prepared beforehand. One way to achieve that is through a new technique called movement prep.

ADVERTISERS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Publisher Mark Goldberg

Editor-in-Chief Eleanor Frankel Associate Editor Marketing Director Dennis Read Sheryl Shaffer Marketing/Sales Assistant Assistant Editors Danielle Catalano R.J. Anderson Kenny Berkowitz Art Director Pamela Crawford Abigail Funk David Hill Photo Research Greg Scholand Dina Stander, Laura Smith Signs of Life Studio

Ready to Lift? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

On the cover: At the University of Minnesota, Head Coach Dan Monson built team chemistry by focusing his athletes on discipline, teamwork, and the importance of representing the program well both on and off the court. Story starts on page 14.

Business Manager Pennie Small

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The Coaching Management Basketball edition is published in July and March by MAG, Inc. and is distributed free to college and high school coaches in the United States and Canada. Copyright © 2006 by MAG, Inc. All rights reserved. Text may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the permission of the publisher. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Coaching Management is printed by Banta Publications Group, Kansas City, MO. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Coaching Management, P.O. Box 4806, Ithaca, N.Y. 14852.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD Minnesota Lengthens H.S. Games As of the 2005-06 season, the Land of 10,000 Lakes can also be called the Land of 36 Minutes. Minnesota became the first state to replace eightminute quarters with 18-minute halves in all its high school varsity basketball games, adding four minutes to each contest. Many coaches applauded the move, but the support wasn’t unanimous.

in Minnesota favored the move. Merkle says surveys conducted by the MSHSL and the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association (boys’ and girls’ divisions) each found approximately 70 percent support for the new rule among their members. The MSHSL also surveyed officials to gauge their feelings on extra pay and

received mixed responses, though the decision on officials’ stipends remains with individual schools, leagues, or regions.

Ron Larson, Activities Director and Head Boys’ Coach at St. Francis High School, says the uninterrupted halves have greatly improved game flow, and the biggest difference for

The NFHS refused to grant a rules variance for the increased game length, and as a result Minnesota lost its representation in basketball rules-making nationally. Merkle says the NFHS only allows states to experiment with new rules if there is considerable support for making the change nationwide, and the Federation didn’t believe that existed for longer games. However, since implementing the change, the MSHSL board of directors has received several calls from other state associations expressing interest in how it has worked out.

The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) basketball committee proposed adopting the new format in Feb. 2005, and the league’s board of directors approved it, 12-7. The committee noted that the change would create 20 additional minutes of playing time for each team (four minutes x five players), and that basketball is the shortest timed sport in the state— shorter than football (48 minutes), hockey (51 minutes), and soccer (80 minutes).

“Our coaches had been talking about this for several years because they want increased playing time,” says Kevin Merkle, Associate Director of the MSHSL. “Coaches also believe not having the quarter intermissions enhances the flow of the game. And officials like that it takes away some of those tough decisions on last-second shots at the end of quarters.”

Despite these concerns, most coaches and athletic directors

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NCAA Steps up Anti-Gambling Efforts Dick Davey, Head Men’s Coach at Santa Clara University, believes his student-athletes are smart young men who already know the dangers of gambling on sports. Still, he knows that with state lotteries, televised poker, and prosports fantasy leagues, gambling is pervasive. He doesn’t stay awake at night wondering if his players are involved with gamblers. But still…

After two years of discussion, the Minnesota State High School League voted to expand playing time, restructuring its varsity games into two 18-minute halves. Here, Kyle Minett leads the RussellTyler-Ruthton High School Knights to the 2005 Minnesota Class 1A Boys Championship against Rushford-Peterson High School.

“It’s like raising your kids,” Davey says. “You have no guarantees. You know kids are sometimes going to make decisions that are not good.

If you have a sure-fire method of stopping it and can let us know, we’ll use it.”

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

Coaches and administrators who opposed the change worried that smaller schools wouldn’t have the roster depth to compete in longer games, and noted that onesided routs would be even worse with the extra minutes.

“Some people also suggested that officials would want more money for the additional game time, so there was a budget issue as well,” Merkle adds.

coaches is a heightened emphasis on developing bench players. “It’s now imperative that we get more kids ready to play, because when you lengthen the game you have to give more players a rest,” he says.

“Some coaches say, ‘I don’t have enough players in the first place, so where will I find that extra kid or two?’ I say it behooves all of us to try to find that extra kid or two, and to develop them so they can step in and help the team.”

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You gotta bring more than water if you wanna kick dehydration’s butt.

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD the early 1950s. Scandals of ’51, written by Charley Rosen, helps players understand that basketball is especially susceptible to point-shaving and fixing, and that gambling almost destroyed the game—crucial knowledge given today’s culture, when student-athletes may think of gambling as harmless. They begin to see that any involvement, however innocuous it might seem, could result in debts spiraling out of control and lead otherwise honest players to do something they never thought they’d do.

At Roanoke College, Head Coach Page Moir warns student-athletes about the dangers of gambling through talks during the season and reading assignments over holiday break.

The NCAA isn’t claiming it has a sure-fire way of keeping student-athletes from gambling on their sport or others, but its Sports Wagering Task Force is stepping up its anti-gambling efforts. An anonymous survey of 21,000 student-athletes in all three divisions found that 34.6 percent of male student-athletes had engaged in some form of sports wagering in the past year. Among female studentathletes surveyed, the figure was 9.6 percent.

Most alarmingly, about two percent of men’s basketball players reported that someone had asked them to affect the outcome of a game.

About half of one percent of basketball players said they had taken the money. The numbers are small but suggest the problem isn’t going away.

Thus far, the NCAA’s focus has been on educating studentathletes on the dangers of sports-wagering. An anti-gambling Web site is being developed in time for this year’s Final Four, and “Don’t Bet On It,” an educational brochure on

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the dangers of sports wagering, is currently available.

After citing their own personal values and the threat of stiffer punishments, student-athletes in the survey cited coaches as the most important antigambling influence. Jim Haney, Executive Director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and a member of the NCAA’s anti-gambling task force, agrees. “If you’re a coach, you don’t want to get into a situation where people are starting to make accusations because they’ve seen you betting on other sports,” says Haney. “You don’t want your integrity to come into question in terms of where you draw the line. You’ve got to take the high road and stay completely away from it.”

There are signs the NCAA’s anti-gambling education pro-

grams help. Survey respondents in Division I reported less sports wagering than in Divisions II and III, and NCAA officials suggest that’s because anti-gambling efforts so far have focused on the highestprofile division. Roanoke College Head Men’s Coach Page Moir, who has also coached in Division I, sees different kinds of challenges at the two levels.

In Division I, Moir remembers getting odd calls from strangers probing for team information.

Now in Division III, he sees his involvement more as a way to help athletes avoid personal financial troubles.

To educate his athletes, he talks about sports wagering formally before the season starts and informally through the year. Among the books he often assigns for holidaybreak reading is one on college point-shaving scandals of

A collection of NCAA educational materials against sports wagering can be seen at: www1.ncaa.org/membership/ enforcement/gambling/resources/index.html.

The National Council on Problem Gambling maintains a 24hour confidential help line: (800) 522-4700.

“When you get into betting on a sport, it can lead to greater problems than just losing 20 bucks at poker,” says Moir.

“Too many times it escalates into higher and higher bets, so for a Monday night football game night you’re losing 50 bucks instead of five. From there it can just keep escalating out of control, and that’s when it gets scary.”

Arizona Holds Unsanctioned All-Star Game Is high school basketball getting too big? This April, Arizona’s top seniors will put their skills on display in the state’s third annual boys’ and girls’ allstar games. Following closely behind the state tournament, they expect to have thousands of fans in the stands. But they won’t have the support of the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA).

“There are pros and cons,” AIA Director Harold Slemmer told the Arizona Republic, whose writers help select the game rosters. Slemmer says that in order to protect student-athletes from specializing in any one sport, the AIA has decided not to support the contest or allow the event to be held at a high school.

The AIA would rather see the all-star games played in the

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD summer, which would give student-athletes the chance to compete in multiple sports during the school year. But instead, the all-star games have continued without their approval, and in accordance with AIA bylaws, have been held without Arizona high school coaches, uniforms, or equipment.

Organized by Northwest Sports & Entertainment, which also hosts college exhibition games and professional charity matches, this year’s Arizona Republic All-Star Classic will be held on April 8 at the US Airways Center, home of the Phoenix Suns. Although the event takes place during a period when college coaches are restricted from attending high school contests, John Hines, Director of Northwest Sports & Entertainment, says the game is about showcasing high school talent to college coaches. After the 2005 game his company received over 30 requests from college coaches for videotapes of the game.

“They were usually looking for a specific kid,” says Hines, who makes it a point to highlight unsigned players. “Before the game, we make note of the kids who aren’t signed and make sure they get plenty of playing time.”

change. “We’re working on a television deal and think the game will be shown live on Fox Sports Net,” says Hines.

“We want to get it on TV and let everybody in Arizona see the best of what the state has to offer.”

Fast-paced and high scoring, both 2005 games featured the typical all-star recipe of porous defenses, acrobatic individual moves, and a slam dunk contest. Of the 20 participants on the boys’ teams, which were coached by former Phoenix Suns Eddie Johnson and Tim Kempton, 13 were signed or committed to play at fouryear colleges—including 11 to Division I schools. None of the athletes involved played a spring sport.

But how big is too big? At Scottsdale Christian Academy, where three student-athletes were chosen to play in last year’s game, Head Boys’ Coach and Athletic Director Bob Fredericks sides with the desires of his players, even when they conflict with his state association.

This year, Hines says there are some changes in the works.

For instance, the event will not be held before a Suns game and will be promoted as a stand-alone event. Fans of Arizona high school basketball can also expect one more big

“I’ll speak from my heart, and I won’t take a line driven by my AIA affiliation,” Fredericks told the Arizona Republic.

“As long as the game is limited to seniors and if the players invited are not currently involved in spring sports, then the game would have almost solely upside, in that those players who have been overlooked get a chance to shine.”

Warning Cards Come to Ohio The yellow card is a traditional warning to curb rough play on a playing field. But in some places, it’s also a caution for fan misbehavior.

At Springfield High School in Akron, Ohio, Athletic Director Ray Fowler began giving out yellow warning cards for over-the-line spectator behavior during the 2004-05 basketball season. The 3x5 cards are printed with the message: “We appreciate your attendance at our events. Our participants need your positive support and encouragement.

Abusive behavior toward players, coaches, or officials will not be tolerated. If your behavior continues, you will be asked to leave.”

The advantage of the cards, says Fowler, is that they make spectators think about their behavior without being confrontational. “They give fans an opportunity to realize what they’re doing, and gives you a chance to observe them,” he says. “If somebody doesn’t want to take the card, we still consider them warned.”

Arizona’s top boys high school basketball seniors showcased their skills at the third annual Arizona Republic All-Star Classic, held in April 2005. The contest, played without high school coaches, uniforms, or equipment, has continued without the support of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which would rather have all-star games played during the summer.

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Springfield has since expanded yellow-carding to all sports.

The system is explained to student-athletes and parents before each sport season and reviewed at parents’ preseason meetings. Last year, word of the cards spread through the community, Fowler found, and most spectators became aware of them. “It’s

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Fowler got the idea during a fishing trip with a fellow athletics administrator from Wisconsin. The conversation turned to poor sportsmanship, and Fowler’s buddy mentioned a carding program being used in neighboring Minnesota. Fowler called the Minnesota State High School League, which encouraged him to borrow the idea. A similar procedure is also followed in Maine.

ment, not police or security, to hand out the cards, since the idea is to head-off the need to involve those authorities.

When encountering an unruly fan, Fowler recommends that administrators try to be as unobtrusive as possible. “You’re not confronting the person as much as just handing them the card,� he says. “You simply walk up to them, give them a card, and walk away.�

Springfield High School in Akron, Ohio, gives these yellow warning cards to disruptive fans at its home athletic events. The advantage of the cards, says Athletic Director Ray Fowler, is that they help spectators think about their behavior without causing a confrontation.

Only three times during the first season did Fowler use a

card. Each time, the spectator reined in the poor behavior, and each time the fan was an adult, not a student. It’s the job of the administrator in charge of game manage-

At Rutgers University, an educational program called “SCREAM Athletes� has been successfully preparing athletes to resist the pressures they face when their varsity status turns into celebrity access—to drugs, alcohol, or risky sexual interactions.

The acronym stands for Students Challenging Realities and Educating Against Myths, and every sports team on the Rutgers campus attends at least one performance of the SCREAM Athletes theater program, where they see studentathletes acting in skits that portray real-life situations. The performances are followed by discussions about the realities of student-athlete life. A video version of the program has recently become available to campuses nationwide.

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kind of like that slap on your hand you don’t want to get,� he says.

The cards are especially effective during basketball, when the indoor, intimate nature of the game seems to magnify poor fan behavior. “At a basketball game fans are up close and personal,� Fowler says. “It’s a natural place to have warnings. You’re indoors, and that makes a difference. And people who go to basketball games have a tendency to get a little riled up.�

SCREAM Program Goes National

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LOCKER ROOM BULLETIN BOARD This summer, the Rutgers Department of Sexual Assault Services and Crime Victim Assistance (SAS/CVA) collaborated with the athletic department to produce a 25-minute video version of the program that focuses on sexual assault.

According to Ruth Anne Koenick, Director of SAS/CVA at Rutgers, research shows that some aspects of college athletics culture make violence against women a particular problem—language, traditions, and practices that create an atmosphere she describes as “rape-supportive,” where violence against women is tolerated or even promoted. What makes SCREAM Athletes special is that it focuses not on problems within athletics, but on how athletes can be agents for change.

“Is there a difference between athletics culture and the rest

of campus on this issue? Absolutely,” Koenick says. “But we don’t approach this as, ‘Student-athletes are more prone to being sexually violent.’ Our stance has always been that student-athletes have a unique opportunity to take leadership roles on this issue. Let’s find a way to help them step up and say, ‘This is not behavior that I will tolerate in myself or in my teammates.’”

Both the on-campus program and the video take an unblinking approach to depicting realities that aren’t often discussed openly. “After a live presentation, there is usually dead silence in the audience,” says Ryan Westman, a senior on the Rutgers men’s track and field team and the program’s coordinator. “People are in shock at how realistic the skits are.

The theater productions create a very real experience that

leaves an impact. And that is something we strive for.”

The video program is appropriate for both college and high school audiences, Koenick says, although she cautions that some high school administrators may have concerns about language used in the film. For either audience, she strongly suggests involving an expert in the field of sexual assault when presenting the video. The program also includes a packet of instructions for facilitating the post-video discussion.

The video is available for purchase on the Web. Click on “SCREAM Athletes video” at sexualassault.rutgers. edu.

Player Sues Coach For Discrimination As a sophomore guard for Penn State in 2004-05, Jennifer Harris started 22 games and averaged 10.4 points per game, ranking third on the team in points, steals, and assists. But at the end of the season, Head Coach Rene Portland told Harris she would not be welcomed back.

Portland claimed Harris’s attitude and work ethic were detrimental to the team.

Harris, who sat out 2005-06 after transferring to James Madison University, tells a different story. Harris alleges that Portland repeatedly asked about her sexual orientation, pressured her to appear more “feminine,” told other players not to associate with her, and finally released her

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from the team because she thought Harris was gay. In late December, she filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Portland.

Harris, who says she is not gay, is being assisted by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) in her suit.

Harris’s dismissal is the third athletics-related anti-gay bias

case the NCLR has handled in the past two years.

In 2004, the center settled out of court with the University of Florida after softball player Andrea Zimbardi claimed she was kicked off the team because she was a lesbian. In the settlement, Florida agreed to pay Zimbardi’s tuition for her master’s and implement

mandatory training on homophobia for all of its coaches, athletic administrators, and staff.

In early 2005, NCLR assisted in a case in which Bloomburg (Texas) High School Girls’ Basketball Coach Merry Stephens accused the Bloomburg Independent School District of terminating her contract because of her sexual orientation. That case was also settled out of court after the Bloomburg School Board president testified under oath that Stephens had in fact been fired because she was gay.

“Jennifer Harris’s case is part of a bigger change in the way anti-gay bias is being handled in sports,” says Helen Carroll, Sports Project Coordinator at the center and a former NAIA basketball coach and NCAA D-III athletic director. “In the 1980s and 1990s, we tried awareness and education. But things didn’t really change until people began to take the issue to court. What these three cases are saying is that anti-gay discrimination in athletics is not going to be tolerated anymore.”

AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS

In order to help athletic departments discuss homophobia, the NCLR has collaborated with the NCAA and the Women’s Sports Foundation to produce a video and educational kit called “It Takes a Team,” which is available to administrators, coaches, parents, and athletes at high school and college levels. Navigating this issue successfully, says Carroll, begins with actively addressing it with your team.

With the help of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, guard Jennifer Harris has filed suit against Penn State University, her former school, alleging anti-gay discrimination.

“If you’re a basketball coach, you will encounter this issue,” Carroll says. “There will be lesbians on your team who are afraid of their straight teammates finding out they’re lesbians. There will be straight teammates spending their time trying to make sure the lesbian teammates don’t know they know, or straight

teammates who will be concerned that lesbian players are hitting on them. Historically, players have been left to deal with the issue on their own, but in today’s climate, coaches need to step up and deal with it.”

The solution begins with breaking the silence. “In the first five minutes of their first team meeting, coaches need to say: ‘As individuals, we have many differences. Those include our backgrounds, our races, our religions, and our sexual orientations. On this team, we are going to accept our differences and turn them into strengths,’” Carroll says.

“Most of the things on that list are commonly addressed by coaches in that setting, but few coaches will say, ‘We have gay players, straight players, and bisexual players—and that’s okay.’ Once a coach says that, no matter what their sexual orientation, players know their coach won’t allow discrimination.”

Talking about an issue that has a long history of silence can be tough, but simply by addressing the issue, coaches can prevent misunderstandings and protect themselves.

“Once you bring it into the light and start talking about it,” says Carroll, “it really doesn’t have to be that big of a deal.”

Free downloads of “It Takes a Team” are available at the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Web site: www.womens sportsfoundation.org/ cgi-bin/iowa/issues/itat/ index.html.

The National Center For Lesbian Rights provides educational materials, policy guidance, and free legal counsel, available at: www.nclrights.org/ index.htm.

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Q&A

Danny Holzer Upper St. Clair (Pa.) High School

With four players who have since risen to the college ranks, it isn’t surprising that Danny Holzer was able to lead Upper St. Clair (Pa.) High School to a regional title in 2005.

But would you be surprised to learn that those four athletes are playing football or soccer, not basketball, in college? And that none of his players were taller than 6-foot-3?

While the circumstances may sound unusual, the Panthers championship season can hardly be called a fluke.

Since Holzer took over the program in 1995, Upper St. Clair has won two Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) Class AAAA titles along with one runner-up finish, often welcoming multi-sport athletes onto the squad. Prior to Holzer’s arrival, Upper St. Clair had made only one, unsuccessful trip to the WPIAL title game.

Also the Director of Student Activities and a social studies teacher at Upper St. Clair, Holzer is the boys’ basketball program’s all-time wins leader with a 182-84 record headed into the 2005-06 season. He was previously an assistant coach at Duquesne University, a graduate assistant at California University of Pennsylvania, and an assistant coach at Thomas Jefferson High School in Pittsburgh. In this interview, he talks about coaching multi-sport athletes, college recruiting, and dealing with parents and administrators.

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CM: What’s been the key to your success at Upper St. Clair?

Holzer: Without question, it’s the relationships I’ve developed with our kids.

As a teacher, I get to see my studentathletes every day, and I touch base with them as often as I can. But I rarely talk about our basketball team during the school day. I tell the kids that no matter what happens at practice, when they see me in the hall during the school day, I’m a teacher. And I think that’s played a big part in developing a sense of family on our team.

In addition to that, as Director of Student Activities I’ve been able to interact with our entire student body. Our school spirit is terrific. When we won the WPIAL championship in 2005, we sold over 800 student tickets to the game and our enrollment was only 1,350. When the players have that kind of support from their peers, it really helps the bonding of the team.

had two kids who played football and basketball, and both are now playing college football. Two kids who played soccer and basketball are now playing Division I soccer, and our fifth starter was an allconference volleyball player.

I learned a valuable lesson from that: Let kids play the sports they want to play.

As coaches, we have a responsibility to encourage them to experience as much as they can.

How does your team succeed without a lot of height?

The most important thing is sharing the ball. We’ve really been fortunate to have unselfish kids, and our best players are all about winning. Our offensive system is a fast-break style where everybody

How do you build that sense of family?

During the season, I might bring breakfast before Saturday practice, and we watch parts of a college game or a highlight tape of one of our games. Sometimes, I bring my three-year-old son, and the team plays with him. Other times, we have coaches take on the players in practice. In the summer, we go away to a team camp. We also get together informally during the year for pizza parties to build camaraderie. The main thing is for me to be visible to them throughout the school day and for all of us to have fun together.

You’ve had great success with multi-sport athletes.

What do you think about the increase in specialization?

Kids should play as many sports as they want to, because the more they compete, the better competitors they’ll become. Last year, when we won our district championship, all five of our starters played multiple sports, and none of them considered basketball their number-one sport. We

Led by four multi-sport athletes, including guard/forward Sean Lee, the Upper St. Clair Panthers won the 2004-05 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) championship, finishing the season 21-5.

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Q&A gets involved. Defensively, we play manto-man, but we teach the importance of team defense and ball containment. We tell our kids, “Whether you’re guarding a 7-foot-1 or a 5-foot-3 kid, keep him in front of you and make him shoot a contested shot.” That sounds simple, but it works.

What do you do when you’re matched up with bigger teams?

We press and trap a lot. We don’t want the post to just catch the ball and make a play. We want two guys picking at him.

But if the system is going to work, all the kids have to believe in it. If you’re a smaller team and you have three kids who are going hard and two who aren’t, you’re in trouble.

How do you handle kids who don’t buy into that philosophy?

It’s rare, but when it happens we can usually correct it by sitting them on the bench.

Everybody has to believe in the “we” theory and if they don’t, the best way to teach it is to sit them down for a while.

How do you prepare your players for postseason play?

One of the keys is keeping the same routine through the entire season. If you change something you’ve been doing—whether it’s the time you practice or where you pick up the bus or how you warm up—it’s going to put the idea in the kids’ heads that this next game is different, and those thoughts can hurt your team. So we watch a lot of film during the season, and we scout teams a lot. Then, when the playoffs start, we just keep going like it’s simply another week.

When I set our routine for the season, I’ll be looking ahead to the playoffs.

For example, our games are usually on Tuesdays and Fridays, but in the playoffs they can be on any day. So this year, we’ll practice on Wednesday evenings. That way a game on another night won’t feel completely different from the routine.

The other key is to make the postseason fun. I always tell the players there’s nothing to get uptight about. Although we keep the routine the same, we do some special things that are fun for the kids, like shooting games, to keep the edge off.

Kids follow their coach’s personality.

If they see you’re uptight then they’re going to be uptight. I’m a positive, loose

kind of guy, and I stay the same way in the playoffs.

make good plays, but they also want to see him make mistakes.

What did you learn as a college assistant coach that’s helped you at Upper St. Clair?

Some high school coaches don’t worry much about what other teams do—they focus on preparing their team. But, to be successful, a coach has to be himself, and I’m a big believer in understanding your opponent. So I spend more time on

High school coaches need to be involved in the recruiting process. If a player wants to be recruited or try out at a certain college, I will personally call that coach. If I think he can’t play at that level, I’ll let the player know, but I’ll still call that school. I’ll give him that opportunity, because you never know what will happen. If you’ve done everything you can and that school says no,

“Kids should play as many sports as they want to, because the more they compete, the better competitors they’ll become. Last year, when we won our district championship, all five of our starters played multiple sports, and none of them considered basketball their number-one sport.”

scouting than many high school coaches do. As a college coach, I’d watch hours of film on upcoming opponents and I loved it. And I continue to watch a lot of film.

What have you learned as a high school coach that you didn’t know when you were recruiting?

The most important thing that college coaches should do is make sure they’re up-front with high school coaches. I want to do what’s best for our players. If a college coach tells me, “We want to recruit your player,” then I tell the parents. So if they call that school and are told, “Well, you’re on our list but we’re not sure,” it sends a mixed message that can cause problems for everyone.

I know recruiting is hard. As a college coach, you may think one kid can play for you, and then three weeks later you see another kid you think is better. But college coaches need to be honest with us, so we can send the proper message to our players and their parents.

What should high school coaches know about recruiting?

The biggest thing high school coaches have to understand is to not send college coaches highlight tapes. I know a lot of people do it, but when I was a college coach I very rarely watched highlight tapes. College coaches want to watch the game flow. They want to see the kid

both the player and his parents know it’s time to look at other opportunities.

There can be a lot of outside influence on a program, coming from parents, administrators, and community members. How do you handle that?

This is a terrific community. Almost all the people I have come across have been great. But when there has been a disagreement, I have always tried to sit down and talk about finding the best solution for everyone involved, with the student-athletes being the top priority.

As a coach, there will always be situations where people won’t agree with what you do, but I try to stay positive and always do what’s best for the entire team.

I also try to remember that we have such a huge impact on kids. They’re going to remember their high school coaches forever, so we have to be good role models.

As long as you treat your kids well, everything will work out in the end.

Did you know that Coaching Management publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on all the latest news in coaching and administration? Sign up for “Tools of the Trade” by e-mailing: lists@MomentumMedia.com. You can also preview the current issue in the Bonus Editorial section of: www.

AthleticSearch.com.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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COVER STORY

ALL FOR ONE Improving your team chemistry can make the difference between a promising season and a championship. The recipe for creating effective teamwork starts at the top, as coaches provide ways for their athletes to find common ground

BY R.J. ANDERSON and work toward collective goals.

“Can’t we all just get along?”

That’s what University of Minnesota Head Men’s Coach Dan Monson might have been thinking as he watched his talented team flounder through the 2003-04 season, finishing 10th in the Big Ten. Despite having a future NBA lottery pick manning the post, with veteran players surrounding him, the Golden Gophers could not parlay their superior talent into a winning record.

The cause of their dysfunction, says Monson, was team chemistry that was more combustible than compatible.

The players didn’t trust one another—a fact that was perfectly obvious whenever they stepped onto the basketball court.

Fast forward to 2004-05. From the first day of preseason, Monson set out to change the team’s collective mindset, challenging players to focus on team-oriented goals and work on their interpersonal relationships both on and off the court. His strategy worked: Despite losing their leading scorer and rebounder to the NBA, the Gophers experienced one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball, finishing 21-11 and making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.

“We improved defensively and we improved our shot selection, but nothing improved more than our team chemistry,” says Monson. “That’s what made the big difference.”

Most coaches realize that team chemistry is what separates a promising team from a great one. While having a roster

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of best friends is every coach’s dream, the reality is that players are periodically going to not get along.

The trick is to minimize those episodes by providing an environment where teammates can find common ground. By learning to defuse conflicts and encourage teammates to work toward collective goals, coaches can find the missing ingredient to team harmony.

Start at the Top Effective teamwork starts at the top.

Before examining their players, coaches need to take a look at their own commitment to team chemistry. That was the case for Monson, who left a successful program at Gonzaga University to take the reins at Minnesota, which was in the final stages of an NCAA-ordered probationary period resulting from a series of academic scandals.

Despite recruiting talented players during Monson’s early days, Minnesota continued to lose. After taking a long look in the mirror, Monson decided the problem was a lack of team chemistry, and realized that change needed to start with him.

“Like any other relationship, you get out of it what you put into it,” says Monson. “As head coach, I realized that I had to consciously put more effort into strengthening my connections with the athletes. So I started meeting with each player for a few minutes every week, just to make sure we touched base about things other than basketball. We

talked about their academics, or what’s going on at home, or anything else they wanted to talk about. It gave us a chance to be with each other off the court.

“Until you lose team chemistry, you don’t realize how important it is,” continues Monson. “And that work has got to start with the head coach. It’s your program, and like shot selection and defense, building chemistry is something you have to put time into.”

At Oregon State University, Head Men’s Coach Jay John agrees. “The most important thing is to spend time with your athletes and show you care about them,” he says. “Before they’re going to listen to what you say, you have to make that commitment to them as individuals. When players respect and trust their coach, they are more apt to respect and trust each other.”

John also recommends spending time together in social settings. Team dinners at the coach’s house, community service projects, and sightseeing excursions on road trips are good places to start.

One particularly effective way to unite players, says John, is to put them in situations where they can work with children, either as basketball teachers or as volunteers in a school-sponsored reading program. “You’ve got to make time for your athletes to relax, laugh, and have a good time together,” says John. “That will R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. He can be reached at rja@MomentumMedia.com.

By challenging his players to focus on teamwork, University of Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson led the 2004-05 Gophers to one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball.

COVER STORY

probably take you 80 percent of the way toward effective team chemistry. As for the rest, well, you have to work on that when adversity kicks in.”

Handling Adversity Winning typically breeds good team chemistry, and vice versa. But at some point, every program has to deal with adversity, and coaches need to handle those challenges while keeping their athletes together.

“2004 was a good example for us,” says Rick Crotts, Head Boys’ Coach at Glenvar (Va.) High School, whose team overcame a slow start to reach the quarterfinals of the Virginia State Boys’ Basketball Championships. “We had a lot of inexperienced kids coming in and we went through some tough times at the beginning of the season.”

Early on, Crotts’s team had problems with role definition and acceptance, which is typical of a group of athletes

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who haven’t spent much time playing together. As a result, teammates grew frustrated with one another and relationships became strained. To overcome the bad feelings, Crotts had each player take a validation survey. He gathered his athletes into a room and had each tape a piece of paper to his back. Then, Crotts instructed his players to think of something positive to write about each of their teammates.

“They walked around the room, sharing what they appreciated about one another and writing down each other’s strengths,” says Crotts. “That built up everyone’s confidence because by the end, each athlete had 11 different compliments.” Most hung the notes in their lockers, while others taped them up at home.

Crotts also rewards athletes who work to promote team chemistry. Chosen by the athletes, the “Glue Award”— a giant Elmer’s bottle—goes to the individual doing the best job of holding the team together.

“At the beginning of the season, I’ll have them vote on it every week,” says Crotts, who got the idea after reading Championship Team Building, by Jeff Janssen. “Then as we get into the season, I’ll do it again if I think we need a jolt. It always gets guys fired up—I get chills just talking about it.”

Players of all abilities have won the bottle, says Crotts, and his team has become increasingly conscious of what the award truly means. “At first, the voting was for one or two guys, but now it’s spread out,” he says. “Everybody works to hold the team together, and even the least talented players want to have something to do with it. It’s just been great for us.”

No matter how well a group of players get along, even the tightest teams experience some sort of conflict and adversity during the course of a season. Whether it’s arguments over shot selection or unhappiness about playing time, how a coach and his or her players handle these rough patches can often be the difference between harmony and team dysfunction.

“The big thing is to catch problems early,” says Janssen, who in addition to being an author of team-building and leadership books, also helped design leadership development programs for the athletic departments at

COVER STORY

S

ome coaches foster team chemistry by hosting a team dinner at home. Andy Landers, Head Women’s Coach at the University of Georgia, threw a twist into this age-old practice: Instead of providing the meal, he asked his athletes to create the menu, buy groceries, and prepare the dinner themselves.

“One year over winter break, we divided the team into four groups and had a different group prepare dinner each night at my house,” says Landers. “It became a competition to see who could create the best meal, and within each group people had to orchestrate who would do what. They had to communicate and follow each other’s directions in order to earn their teammates’ approval.

“They loved it,” he continues. “It was one of the strongest team building exercises we’ve done.”

SHARING MEALS the University of North Carolina and Stanford University. “Team captains are your smoke detectors for this, and establishing good communication with your captains can keep a small issue from becoming a major distraction.”

When problems arise, Janssen’s advice is simple: Tackle them head-on. “The biggest thing with conflict situations is being honest and straightforward with kids,” he says. “As the coach, you need to have a one-on-one conversation where you say, ‘You are a powerful influence on this team, and I’d like you to be a positive leader. If you continue to be a negative force, I’ll have no choice but to excuse you from the team.’

“Too often coaches gamble on a very talented player who has a lot of baggage,” Janssen continues. “Sometimes, keeping that type of kid around does more harm than good, because they destroy the team’s chemistry.”

Roll With It Getting players to accept a supporting role is often one of a coach’s biggest challenges. This is especially true when dealing with upperclassmen who are asked to give up playing time to younger, more talented athletes.

To help a player accept his or her role and build teamwork at the same time, Janssen suggests talking about roles as a team. For example, during a preseason meeting, Janssen will ask each player to name two things the team needs from each teammate in order to succeed.

“A reserve might hear, ‘We’re going to need you to play great defense for

four or five minutes in a game and push the starters in practice,’” says Janssen.

“Even if the athlete isn’t playing a lot, that lets the athlete know that he or she plays an important part in the success of the team. It’s a neat way to help kids clarify their roles by hearing what their teammates expect from them.”

Another tool that can aid in the acceptance process is a buddy system.

“If you’ve got a very talented group of younger players coming up, it’s good to help them build relationships with the older players before roles are determined,” says Janssen. “Developing a bond with the athlete who may one day take your place on the court makes a smoother transition.”

To facilitate that process, says Janssen, coaches can create a formal buddy system, or if they have a strong leadership group, can empower those experienced players to draw up a plan. “Rotate buddies every week or two, so that each young player has multiple opportunities to bond with his teammates,” he says. “It’s a good way for players to interact with kids they might not normally connect with because of differences in position, cultural background, race, or age.”

For college players, the buddy system can be used to determine rooming assignments on road trips. At every level, coaches should encourage buddies to stretch together and spend five or 10 minutes before the first practice of every week talking about how they can challenge each other to improve.

“They should say things like, ‘Before I leave practice every day, I want you to

challenge me to make five free throws in a row,’” says Janssen. “Hopefully, that buddy will be there rebounding and holding him accountable.”

Setting The Tone Getting off on the right foot is another key to building trust and relationships. At Minnesota, following the team’s disappointing 2003-04 campaign, Monson decided to change things at the beginning of the 2004-05 season.

While many college programs were opening their seasons with “Midnight Madness” celebrations packed with rowdy fans, the Gophers were tucked away for the weekend at an isolated junior college gym, practicing in front of only Monson and his assistant coaches.

“I wanted enough time to explain how we were going to change our mindset,” says Monson. “Having the local media at every practice and having the players’ girlfriends waiting for them afterward would have made that impossible. So I took them out of town for a weekend mini-training camp.”

By having the players share meals and spend the weekend socializing together, Monson and his staff helped forge a team identity. “To change our mindset, we had to emphasize what we could do as a sum instead of just being talented parts,” says Monson. “We learned that building relationships on a basketball team takes work. You can’t just see each other at practice and expect everything to come together. By going on a retreat, we’re not just working on our man-to-man defense, we’re working on the off-court relationships that make us a family.”

While not every coach can afford to go on a weekend retreat, most can find the time and resources in-house to produce similar results. Janssen recommends that coaches meet with players before the first practice to identify common goals that every player can help the team meet.

“To set effective team goals, I tell coaches to divide their athletes into three different groups, with both older and younger kids in each group,” says Janssen. “Then, they ask each group, ‘What do you think our team can achieve if we really put things together?’

That gets the kids involved in what kind of season they have. And 95 percent of the time, what the groups say is similar to what the coach already believes.”

COACHING MANAGEMENT

17

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Circle No. 109

COVER STORY

At the beginning of each season, Crotts’s team lists its goals on a piece of parchment, which each athlete then signs. The signed paper is then framed and hung in the team room for everyone to see on a daily basis.

“Goal-setting can be tough,” says Crotts. “You have to be really careful about guiding your athletes through the process instead of just telling them what you think. They have to give feedback and really believe in each other.”

While goals are important components of the chemistry equation, if they aren’t revisited on a regular basis, they aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. After establishing common goals, both coaches and players need to continually evaluate whether they’re committed to reaching those goals. If they’re not, changes need to be made.

Once his team’s goals are in place, Crotts constantly refers back to them. “I ask athletes, ‘Are you achieving this goal right now by doing what you’re doing?

Are you giving 100 percent effort in every drill? Is the guy next to you giving

100 percent?’ By asking those questions, each player becomes accountable for the actions of his teammates, and they hold each other to a higher standard.

And that’s what you want.”

Wristbands & Books At Minnesota, Monson has his players wear their commitment to team principles on their sleeves. At the beginning of the season, he gives each player a wristband inscribed with the word “MINDSET.” Based on the design of Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG wristbands, Minnesota’s style is more function than fashion. Monson uses the acronym as shorthand for his team ideals: ■ M is for Minnesota—Minnesota is bigger than any person.

■ I is for Indivisible—stay together as a team.

■ N is for Not about me—avoid selfcentered thoughts.

■ D is for Discipline.

■ S is for Serve the program—represent it well on and off the court.

■ E is for Excellence.

T is for Thankfulness.

Monson expects every member of the team to wear the wristbands, and if a player is caught without one or doesn’t remember what a letter stands for, the entire team is punished with an early morning run. “There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t refer to it,” says Monson. “For example, before one exhibition game this preseason, we told the team to emphasize the D in MINDSET. And they knew that meant they had to play disciplined.

“During a timeout, I might say, ‘We’re violating the I in MINDSET,’” he adds.

“Or when Nike sends us an order of shoes, I’ll ask the team, ‘What letter do we need to address today in our MINDSET?’ And the kids will say, ‘T for thankfulness.’ We need to be thankful for where we are and what we’ve got.’”

Andy Landers, Head Women’s Coach at the University of Georgia, underlines his message about teamwork with the written word. During off-seasons in Athens, Landers gives his athletes reading assignments to reinforce the value of ■

Circle No. 110 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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COVER STORY

leadership and team unity. This past summer, Landers used John C. Maxwell’s The 17 Essentials of Being a Good Teammate as a textbook, meeting with his team four days a week to read one chapter each day.

To get them started, Landers had the team pre-read each chapter the night

chapter,’� says Landers. “Everybody took a turn leading the discussion, and sometimes I assigned two people to lead a chapter together. Breaking down the text made people think, but more importantly, it helped us bring those ideas onto the court and work on setting an example for one another.� has used all types During off-seasons, the University of Landers reading material to get his players thinking and talkof Georgia’s Andy Landers gives ing about teamwork. One his student-athletes reading year he had his team read assignments to reinforce the value the best-selling book, Who Moved My Cheese, Spencer of leadership and team unity.

Johnson’s parable about living with change. “On the before the discussion and take notes on first few days, players often grumble, but the things they found most meaningful. by the fourth day they arrive early and He also asked them to cite examples in are waiting for me to start,� says Landers. their own experience that reflected the “Then we get halfway through the book lesson. The voluntary sessions generally and they want to analyze two chapters lasted 30 to 40 minutes, and Landers a day.� made sure everyone actively participated For coaches, the keys to building in the discussion. enthusiasm for projects like these is to “Some days I led, and some days I’d demonstrate a commitment to using the tell a player, ‘Tomorrow you lead the lessons to build team chemistry. “Only

when they start to dissect information and apply it back to the team do they realize how much it can help,� says Landers. “Once they saw that I was sincere about the lessons, they started liking both the books and the message.�

Recognizing Effort Building team chemistry isn’t a coach’s easiest job. And no matter how hard you work at it, there are no guarantees that it will ever pay dividends. So if you find yourself working with a group of athletes that has gelled, it’s important to publicly acknowledge the part that plays in their success.

Landers, who has seen his share of ups and downs regarding team chemistry, makes sure his athletes know how much he appreciates their efforts. “After one practice early this season, I thanked my team for some of the changes that occurred since last year,� he says. “They worked hard to embrace our core value system, which was simply to be appreciative, respectful, honest, and trustworthy.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

BASKETBALL AND HYDRATION: NEW RESEARCH INDICATES FLUIDS ARE KEY

www.gssiweb.org

TO MAINTAIN PERFORMANCE Kris Osterberg, MS, RD, Senior Scientist, Gatorade Sports Science Institute

EFFECTS OF DEHYDRATION Dehydration negatively impacts performance. In fact, sweat losses of just 1.5% - or just 3 pounds in a 200-pound athlete – can impair performance.

During exercise, blood is diverted to the working muscle- delivering oxygen and nutrients -and to the skin to cool the body. As an athlete sweats and fails to replace their fluid losses, blood volume shrinks. Consequently, the heart has to work harder to meet the demands of the working muscles.

Ultimately, this reduction in blood volume compromises blood flow to the skin, causing an increase in core body temperature and decreases blood flow to the working muscles making exercise more difficult.

Data collected over the past two basketball seasons with two different NBA teams showed that players routinely arrive at practices and games inadequately hydrated. These results are consistent with other team-sport athletes, including one study that showed 70 percent of high school football players began practice hypohydrated1. Over the past two seasons, urine samples have been collected from various NBA players prior to practices and games. Of these samples, urine specific gravity measurements indicated that 63 percent of the NBA athletes tested were above the NATA threshold of 1.020, indicating they were not adequately hydrated. Starting the game dehydrated makes fluid replacement during the game that much more difficult and important.

SWEAT RESPONSE Sweating is the body’s natural response to an increase in body temperature.

As sweat evaporates from the skin, body heat is lost and core temperature is maintained at safe levels. The stop-and-go nature of basketball causes rapid increases in body temperature and, consequently, large sweat losses.

During 2004 summer league play, 15 NBA players from two teams were tested to determine sweat loss and fluid intake. The players were weighed in light shorts before and after their games and ingested fluid out of specific bottles in order to account for fluid consumed during the game.

Average sweat loss for the players was 2.4 quarts, ranging from 1.1 – 4.9 quarts, with a high sweat loss of 1.2 gallons. Most players did an adequate job drinking fluids and were only slightly dehydrated, with an average dehydration of 1.4 percent of their total body weight. However, one-infour players experienced losses above 1.5 percent of their total body weight, a level of dehydration that can negatively impact performance. In some extreme cases, players ended up losing more than 3 percent of their total body weight. This level of fluid loss coupled with inadequate hydration prior to the game may result in significant levels of dehydration2,3,4.

FLUID INTAKE Most athletes do not drink enough to match their sweat losses during practice and competition, even if fluid is available. This observation has been termed “voluntary dehydration” and occurs in virtually all athletes. A recent study allowed runners to drink as much as desired throughout a 10mile simulated race. During the study, the runners only replaced a fraction of fluids lost through sweat. Furthermore, when asked how much they perceived losing through sweat, they underestimated actual losses by an average margin of 46 percent5.

Similarly, the NBA players competing in summer league play replaced approximately 35 percent of what they were losing. The average fluid intake was only about 27 oz., with the average sweat loss being 2.4 quarts

(77 oz.). When conditions are dry, such as in a gymnasium or arena, sweat evaporates very quickly making it difficult to estimate how much is being lost. To combat this problem, keeping weight charts that track players’ weight before and after practices and games is advantageous in helping to monitor sweat loss. It also serves as an effective teaching cue to demonstrate how much sweat athletes are actually losing on the court. Easy access to fluids and ample time to drink those fluids will also help keep the players in better fluid balance.

COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND PERCEPTIONS OF FATIGUE Hydration will inevitably play a role in the latter stages of a game when errors in judgment may be especially costly. Recent studies have found that dehydration can negatively impact cognitive performance. Research has revealed that as little as 1-2 percent dehydration leads to reductions in perceived alertness and ability to concentrate – a necessity when a player is standing at the free-throw line during the final moments of a game6.

Perceptions of fatigue are also higher when a player is inadequately hydrated. A study completed in France found that dehydration of 2.8 percent impaired cognitive abilities of perceptive discrimination and short-term memory, as well as, subjective estimates of fatigue7. In practical terms, this means that running the floor and playing defense will feel much more difficult when a player is not keeping up with his sweat losses.

Sport-specific skills may also be affected by dehydration. Scientists at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom studied highly fit soccer players who undertook an intermittent exercise protocol designed to mimic the demands of a soccer game8. In one trial, athletes were allowed to drink fluid. In the other, they competed without. After each trial, they performed a soccer skill test and a mental concentration test. They found that soccerskill performance deteriorated 5 percent after the “no fluid” trial, while performance was maintained in the fluid trial. Research continues to support that hydration is an essential ingredient to maintaining mental and physical performance, especially at the end of a game.

SUMMARY Basketball is physically and mentally demanding. Dehydration is easy to prevent but, if left unmonitored, will rob players of their edge. Recognize which players are at risk and educate them to help prevent this unnecessary lapse in performance. Players that are light sweaters and adequately hydrated prior to the game will likely not experience performance-impacting levels of dehydration. For some players, however, special care must be taken to ensure that they are meeting their fluid needs.

For more information, please visit www.gssiweb.org.

REFERENCES 1

Stover, E.A., Zachwieja, J.J., Stofan, J.R., Horswill, C.A., Murray, R. Sweat Rate and markers of hydration in high football players. Int J or Sports Med. In Press.

Osterberg, K., Sperber, T., Lacambra, M., Baker, L. Murray, R. Fluid balance, hydration status, and sweat electrolyte concentration in NBA basketball players during summer league games. Presented at the National Athletic Trainers Association’s annual conference. June, 2005.

3 Schoffstall JE et al. Effects of dehydration and rehydration on the one-repetition maximum bench press of weighttrained males. J Strength Cond. Res. 15(1):102-8. 2001.

4 Walsh RM et al. Impaired high-intensity cycling performance at low levels of dehydration. Int. J Sports Med. 15:392398, 1994 5 Horn, M., Stofan, J. Passe, D., Murray, R., Perceptions of fluid intake and sweat loss during a ten mile race. Med. Sci. Sports and Exerc. 33 (5) S256. 2001 6 Maughan, R.J. Impact of mild dehydration on wellness and on exercise performance. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 57 Suppl 2:S1923, 2003.

7 Cian, C. Barraud, P.A., Melin, B., Raphel, C., Effects of fluid ingestion on cognitive function after heat stress or exercise-induced dehydration. Int J Physcholphysiol 42(3): 243-51. 2001.

8 McGregor, S.J., Nicholas, C.W., Lakomy, H.K., Williams, C. The influence of intermittent high-intensity shuttle running and fluid ingestion on the performance of a soccer skill. J Sports Sci. 17(11): 895-903.1999.

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Circle No. 112

COACHING LIFE

At the University of Idaho, Head Women’s Coach Mike Divilbiss has distilled his philosophy into three words: hard, smart, together.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

BY LAURA SMITH

24

COACHING MANAGEMENT

‘What are you doing here? Who are you?

What’s important to you?’

“I expected the experience of moving to Division I to be about adjusting to a higher level of competition and focusing on the scoreboard,” he continues. “Instead, I ended up completely re-examining my coaching philosophy and really asking myself, ‘Why coach basketball in the first place?’”

Divilbiss’s soul-searching resulted in a personal philosophy statement that’s published on Idaho’s athletics Web site. In place of the usual collection of stats and Laura Smith is an Assistant Editor at Coaching Management. She can be reached at: ls@MomentumMedia.com.

PHIL ELLSWORTH/ELLSWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY

W

Before you can help your athletes succeed, you need to know who you are and why you do what you do. Defining your coaching philosophy is your first mission.

hen Head Women’s Basketball Coach Mike Divilbiss moved from Lewis-Clark State College to the University of Idaho, he felt prepared for the pressure of climbing the coaching ladder. He’d built the LC State program into an NAIA Division I contender, winning 33 games in his last season and taking his team to the Final Four. He was ready for NCAA Division I competition.

Or so he thought.

“In my first two years at Idaho, we won 11 and 10 games,” says Divilbiss, now in his fifth season at Idaho. “Coming off a season with 33 wins, that was a soulsearching time for me. I asked myself,

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Team Statistics South Team Statistics

8, 2005 (07:05 PM) Tuesday, February at Blacktop Court Tournament game Game #4 North 65 South All Stars 67, 1 23 11

Score by quarter North South All Stars Team stats Points Field goals 3 point field goals Free throws Rebounds (Total-Off.) Assists Turnovers Steals Total fouls Points in the paint Bench points North * Pack, J Cross, A * Graves, R Johnson, A * Miller, R * Harrington, A Jones, F Smith, J * Taylor, J Anderson, K Foster, J Team totals

2 10 16

3 17 17

4 15 23

North 65 24-65 (36.9%) 6-19 (31.6%) 11-14 (78.6%) 47-7 16 8 7 20 12 24

Final 65 67 South 67 26-80 (32.5%) 4-9 (44.4%) 11-15 (73.3%) 55-22 17 7 7 18 26 8

BLK TO STL PF MIN PTS REB AST 1 0 3 3 1 10 21 41 2 0 0 0 0 7 12 26 3 2 1 0 4 10 10 44 1 1 0 0 7 3 9 38 1 2 0 0 2 3 6 27 5 1 0 0 0 4 4 29 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 14 2 0 0 3 0 1 1 10 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 20 7 8 6 16 47 65 48

South * Hamilton, S * Hill, R * Jones, B * Matthews, C * Williams, T Stevens, J Hunter, L Adams, L King, M

Team totals

BLK TO STL MIN PTS REB AST 1 1 0 5 5 21 48 2 2 1 2 10 11 42 1 1 1 0 16 10 44 0 2 0 4 4 10 39 1 0 2 2 6 7 26 1 1 0 2 4 6 20 1 0 0 2 0 2 10 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 9

48

67

55

17

4

7

2:48; Attendance: 2,765 PM; Game length: South All Stars 8-7 Game start time: 7:05 ffensive): North 6-1; Team rebounds (total-o on, S Technical fouls: Hamilt Charles White , Smith, Terry Jones . The final score Game officials: John team by two points ete the defeated the North and the South team fourth quarter to compl of the 2004 season a strong second and Today is opening day r, the South team used after the 1st quarte was 67-65. Down 12 comeback.

Total Cumulative Statistics Player GP Matthews, C 10 Hamilton, S 10 Hill, R 10 Williams, T 10 Jones, B 10 Stevens, J 9 Hunter, L 10 Adams, L 7 King, M 7 Jackson, C 4 Totals: 10

MIN 426 430 395 389 425 150 152 89 58 41 456

FGM-A 61-131 64-151 48-103 41-95 35-88 21-51 13-33 10-25 4-15 3-9 300-701

3PM-A 14-35 17-33 15-36 15-35 2-7 1-4 5-12 2-9 2-4 0-0 73-175

FTM-A 46-55 33-43 29-42 10-15 32-57 19-27 6-9 9-17 0-0 2-4 186-269

REB-O 40-14 56-19 85-24 69-25 105-33 28-10 12-2 13-7 4-0 8-1 439-151

AST 45 39 25 22 16 3 12 9 3 4 178

STL 16 18 10 20 11 4 10 7 2 2 100

BLK 7 5 19 7 30 7 3 3 0 0 81

TO 24 26 19 15 20 9 8 7 5 4 137

PF 24 25 32 31 30 14 11 15 6 5 193

PTS 182 178 140 107 104 62 37 31 10 8 859

Percentages and Averages Player GP Matthews, C 10 Hamilton, S 10 Hill, R 10 Williams, T 10 Jones, B 10 Stevens, J 9 Hunter, L 10 Adams, L 7 King, M 7 Jackson, C 4 Totals: 10

MPG 42.6 43.0 39.5 38.9 42.5 16.7 15.2 12.7 8.3 10.3 45.6

FG% 46.6 42.4 46.6 43.2 39.8 41.2 39.4 40.0 26.7 33.3 42.8

3P% 40.0 51.5 41.7 42.9 28.6 25.0 41.7 22.2 50.0 0.0 41.7

FT% 83.6 76.7 69.0 66.7 56.1 70.4 66.7 52.9 0.0 50.0 69.1

REB-O 4.0-1.4 5.6-1.9 8.5-2.4 6.9-2.5 10.5-3.3 3.1-1.1 1.2-0.2 1.9-1.0 0.6-0.0 2.0-0.3 43.9-15.1

AST 4.5 3.9 2.5 2.2 1.6 0.3 1.2 1.3 0.4 1.0 17.8

STL 1.6 1.8 1.0 2.0 1.1 0.4 1.0 1.0 0.3 0.5 10.0

BLK 0.7 0.5 1.9 0.7 3.0 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.0 8.1

TO 2.4 2.6 1.9 1.5 2.0 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.7 1.0 13.7

PF 2.4 2.5 3.2 3.1 3.0 1.6 1.1 2.1 0.9 1.3 19.3

PTS 18.2 17.8 14.0 10.7 10.4 6.9 3.7 4.4 1.4 2.0 85.9

Team Shot Chart

(vs. South, 02/08/05, L 67-65)

2 pt. FGs 0 to 10 ft.

7-15 46.7% 11 to 15 ft.

4-12 33.3% 16+ ft.

7

Cumulative team...

7-19 36.8% 3 pt. FGs 6-19

Player Pack, J Cross, A Graves, R Johnson, A Miller, R Harrington, A Jones, F Smith, J Taylor, J Anderson, K Foster, J Totals:

GP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

31.6%

MIN 41 26 44 38 27 29 14 10 4 5 2 48

Percentages and Per Game Averages Player GP MPG Pack, J 1 41.0 Cross, A 1 26.0 Graves, R 1 44.0 Johnson, A 1 38.0 Miller, R 1 27.0 Harrington, A 1 29.0 Jones, F 1 14.0 Smith, J 1 10.0 Taylor, J 1 4.0 Anderson, K 1 5.0 Foster, J 1 2.0 Totals: 1 48.0

FGM-A 8-19 4-6 4-13 3-9 2-7 2-6 1-1 0-2 0-1 0-1 0-0 24-65

FG% 42.1 66.7 30.8 33.3 28.6 33.3 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 36.9

3PM-A 0-0 1-2 2-7 1-2 2-6 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 6-19

3P% 0.0 50.0 28.6 50.0 33.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 31.6

FTM-A 5-5 3-4 0-0 2-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 11-14

FT% 100.0 75.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 78.6

REB-O 10-0 7-3 10-0 3-3 3-0 4-0 2-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 47-7

AST 1 0 4 7 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 16

REB-O AST 10.0-0.0 1.0 7.0-3.0 0.0 10.0-0.0 4.0 3.0-3.0 7.0 3.0-0.0 2.0 4.0-0.0 0.0 2.0-0.0 1.0 1.0-0.0 0.0 1.0-0.0 1.0 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.0-0.0 0.0 47.0-7.0 16.0

STL 0 0 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 7

STL 0.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 7.0

BLK 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 6

BLK 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0

TO 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 8

PF 1 2 3 1 1 5 3 2 1 1 0 20

TO PF 3.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 5.0 0.0 3.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 20.0

PTS 21 12 10 9 6 4 2 1 0 0 0 65

PTS 21.0 12.0 10.0 9.0 6.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 65.0

Team shot chart. ..and more.

Box Score...

: Players of the Game rebounds and 1 steal. on with 21 points, 5 ds and 3 blocked shots.

(South) #4 R. Hamilt with 21 points, 10 reboun (North) #3 J. Pack Next Game: Tuesd

North Team Shot Chart

ay Night 8:30 @ West

Date printed: 07-28-2004

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Circle No. 113

COACHING LIFE

accolades, Divilbiss’s bio describes how he goes about molding a basketball team into a family and teaching his players to handle successes and failures in life.

“In the end, I came back to the fact that winning wasn’t the most important thing to me and that success was about much more than the scoreboard,” he says. “Changing jobs ended up providing me with the chance to truly define my coaching philosophy.”

What’s your coaching philosophy?

Whether you think about it daily, analyze it once a season, or rarely reflect on it at all, it’s the framework on which your performance is built. Coaches who take the time to clarify and refine their philosophies are rewarded with a roadmap for better decision-making and a deeper, more meaningful experience for themselves and their athletes.

Here, we ask veteran coaches in three different sports at three different levels of competition to talk about their coaching philosophies. They discuss their philosophies, describe how they evolved, and recall the experiences that formed their beliefs.

Focusing on the Journey Mark Guthrie, Head Coach of Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, has used a coaching philosophy with three basic principles to guide 19 teams to NCAA Division III titles. The first principle is that the experience belongs not to him, but to his student-athletes. “I had my time, and this is their time,” Guthrie says. “So I let them tell me what they want to accomplish. I allow the student-athletes to set their own individual and team

M AKING A STATEM ENT Along with figuring out your coaching philosophy, consider writing a personal philosophy statement.

Developing a concise, written description of your philosophy will allow you to think about what is important to you and communicate that to others.

When there’s a decision to be made, your philosophy statement will serve as a personal guide to steer you in the right direction.

Here is a way to break the task down into a six-step process.

Write a list. The first step is to create a list of everything important to you in life—everything. If family is important to you, list it. If having time to exercise is a priority, list it. How about your professionalism? Winning? Salary? Try to include everything that may impact your daily behavior.

Prioritize your list. Next, prioritize each item on the list: 1 = very important, 2 = somewhat important, and 3 = moderately important. Here’s an example: Family: 1 Influencing students: 1 Success of athletes: 2 Friends: 3

Winning games: 1 Championship titles: 2 Lifelong learning: 1

There is no right or wrong in this process. The items listed and the numbers next to them should reflect your true feelings.

Create the statement. Look at all the items you’ve given your highest priority and write a paragraph or more that links them together. If some of them do not seem to fit what you want to say, it’s okay to leave them out. And you may decide to upgrade a few “somewhat important” items because they help to define what you are truly about. Elaborate and add text to bring out what really inspires you on a daily basis.

The following is an example of the opening of a philosophy statement: “I love to learn, and learning inspires me to teach others. Through coaching, I hope to positively influence today’s

26

COACHING MANAGEMENT

goals, and my role is to help them reach those goals.”

Second, Guthrie believes in regularly putting his student-athletes into challenging competitive situations, even if they feel they’re in over their heads.

“We’re a D-III school, but we run at Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, and the Drake Relays and the Kansas Relays,” he says. “I believe in taking my athletes to places where they are going to see fantastic talent. It gives them confidence when they get to the most critical situation we face: our national meet.”

A team focus is the third hallmark of Guthrie’s philosophy. “I talk to my athletes a lot about how every member of the team contributes to the final result, whether they score points or not,” he says.

Guthrie says that watching other coaches—both those he respects and

By Dr. Dennis Docheff

youth, so they might be good citizens tomorrow. Patience, kindness, and love direct my interactions with athletes. Although I like to win, it is imperative that I do so in a fair and just manner.

I believe in doing what’s right.”

Publish it. When people think of publishing, they typically think of books or magazines. But coaches have many avenues to publish their philosophy statement. The simplest way is to place it in a frame and hang it on the office wall or post it in the locker room where athletes can read it. Other ideas include: placing it on a Web site; printing it on 3x5 cards you hand out to athletes; and including it in a preseason packet for athletes and parents.

Put it into practice. The most important part of the process is putting the philosophy into action. Try setting one or two monthly goals that are directly related to your philosophy and check your work at the end of each month. Another idea is to create a term “report card,” either on your own or with a mentor, to gauge progress toward your larger goals. Or keep a journal, where you write about your daily activities, then reflect on how well your behavior matches your philosophy.

Review it. As people grow and mature, things that were once important in their lives may change and thus their philosophy may change, too. Even if the philosophy statement remains the same from year to year, reviewing the document will refresh your perspective.

Certainly, trying to live out a public philosophy puts pressure on a coach. It takes courage to tell people, “This is what I’m about.

Please hold me accountable.” However, writing and reviewing your philosophy will help you coach in a manner that truly represents who you are. And the longer you use it, the more likely you will be to reach your goals.

Dennis Docheff, EdD, is a Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Central Missouri State University and a former football, basketball, and track and field coach.

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COACHING LIFE

those he doesn’t—has helped him refine his philosophy over the years. “I remember early in my career watching a coach chew out a kid who had screwed up in a meet,” he says. “I knew right then that wasn’t going to be part of my philosophy.

Some coaches say, ‘You have to tear kids down to build them back up,’ but I don’t believe that. When an athlete screws up, they know it, and the last thing they need is to be torn down. I tell them, ‘Tomorrow is another day. Let’s start over from here and do what we need to do.’”

Guthrie tests his beliefs by watching how they stand up in tough situations.

“Going into the D-III indoor championships two years ago, one of my athletes was the top thrower in D-III history in the 35-pound weight, and we were counting on him for 10 points toward the title,” he says. “Instead, he fouled three times. It was a big blow, but I followed my philosophy. I told him, ‘The sun is still coming up tomorrow and even though this is pretty important to us, it’s not the end of the world.’

“Then at the outdoor nationals, he

threw a lifetime personal record and won the hammer. If I had jumped down his throat at the indoor nationals and told him he had let us down, I’m not sure he would have had the confidence to put it behind him. So I believe my philosophy served me well, and it goes back to when I saw that one coach early in my career do just the opposite.

“The longer you coach, the more your philosophy evolves,” he continues. “You see what works and build on that, and you see what doesn’t work and change it. It’s a slow process. I think it takes at least a decade before you have a fairly solid philosophy. And even after that, you don’t want to get locked in—there is no such thing as a permanent coaching philosophy. Good coaches never stop looking for ways to adapt.”

Guthrie sets aside time after each season to think about his approach and core beliefs. “The toughest time to evaluate your philosophy is when you’re succeeding,” he says. “After a losing season, it’s easy to look back and try to figure out what went wrong. But it’s just as impor-

tant to go back after a great season and ask, ‘Did we do everything we could, or is there a better way to do it?’”

Over the years, Guthrie says his philosophy has evolved to be much less about wins and losses and much more about the process. “I’ve come to realize that it’s all about the journey, and I’ve developed a little tradition to communicate that to my athletes,” he says. “I make sure we are always the last ones to leave a competition.

We wait, and after the noise has died away and all the other teams have left, we just stand there for a minute and look around so they don’t forget the experience.

“The medals will tarnish and the ribbons will fade, but the memories will carry them for the rest of their lives,” he continues. “I tell my athletes, ‘Just stand here a minute and soak it in so you’ll always remember what you’ve been through and what you’re a part of.’”

Three Little Words Divilbiss has a philosophy that’s distilled down into three words: hard, smart, together. He freely admits the words are

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COACHING LIFE

borrowed from legendary basketball coach Dean Smith, but Divilbiss has put his own stamp on the phrase that has come to stand for a very specific way of doing things.

On the basketball court, “play hard” translates to putting in maximum effort every day. “Play smart” reminds his players to take care of the little things: boxing out for rebounds, making the sure pass, reading defenses properly. And “play together” means that every athlete understands teamwork—when to pass the ball and when to take it to the basket.

The meaning of “hard, smart, together” also extends beyond the basketball court. “It applies to every facet of their lives, and of my life too, because I ask it of myself,” Divilbiss says. “I expect them to play ‘hard, smart, together’ in the classroom and socially as well. I expect them to extend maximum effort in their schoolwork and to ‘play together’ by helping one another make good decisions in social situations.

“I don’t believe you can be one person in one part of your life and a differ-

ent person in another part of your life,” he continues. “My philosophy is that we have to build quality people who are ready to make good decisions and give maximum effort on and off the basketball court. ‘Hard, smart, together’ has become shorthand for that.”

Divilbiss regularly spends time thinking and reading about coaching philosophy, even after nearly two decades as a head coach. “Reading has shaped my philosophy a great deal and still does,” he says. “I spend a lot of time listening to other coaches, too. I go to clinics not so much to learn about basketball as to hear coaches talk about why they do what they do. And of course, my philosophy has also developed through my experiences.”

One of those experiences came at Lewis-Clark when his team was 26-0 and ranked first in the country as it entered the conference finals. When his team lost the game on a half-court shot at the buzzer, Divilbiss says his own reaction disappointed him.

“I didn’t get down on the kids, but I didn’t lead,” he says. “I lost my perspec-

Circle No. 118

30

COACHING MANAGEMENT

tive and I was making it all about the scoreboard. Ever since, I’ve wished I could have that moment in the locker room back. But evaluating that experience helped me return to who I am and what I believe in.”

Along with pivotal moments, Divilbiss uses his daily experiences and interactions to refine his coaching philosophy.

“One way that I evaluate how well my philosophy is working is to continually ask myself, ‘What does this team need from me?’” he says. “I also ask my captains and listen carefully to their answers. If I’m constantly adjusting my approach to give them more of what they need, I know I am working from a sound philosophy.

“There’s really no time when I’m not evaluating my philosophy,” he adds. “It’s synonymous with who I am as a person, and that’s something I think about every day.”

From the Heart Ask most football coaches for their coaching philosophies, and you might not expect to hear much about love. But

COACHING LIFE

Al Fracassa isn’t most football coaches.

He’s won more games than any other football coach in Michigan and has been honored with an NFL High School Coach of the Year award.

Head coach for more than three decades at Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Fracassa sums up his coaching philosophy this way: “Work hard and do the best you can every day. Know what you expect from your players and make sure they know, too. Never forget that each member of your team is equally important. Above all else, make sure you care about your kids, because there is a whole lot of love involved in being a good coach. If you don’t truly care about your players, you will not ultimately be successful. But if you do, your kids will remember it for the rest of their lives.”

Fracassa says his philosophy began with what he learned from his high school coaches and solidified when he competed for Michigan State as a student-athlete. “The coaches made every player feel they were a part of the team,”

Circle No. 119

he says. “They were disciplined coaches, but they also cared about each player as a person. I believed at the time—and I still believe—that was the reason we won the national championship in 1952. I’m going back a long way, but that was definitely the beginning of my philosophy.”

Fracassa says the biggest developments in his coaching philosophy have reflected changes he’s seen in his players.

“Years ago, I was tougher in the things I said to athletes,” he says. “But as the culture has changed and the expectations of athletes and their parents have changed, I’ve eased up a lot. I still let them know when I don’t like their effort, but I’m more conscious of saying it in a way that’s not going to hurt their feelings.

It’s important to evaluate and adjust your philosophy as times change.”

Winning has dropped in importance as Fracassa’s philosophy has evolved.

“When I was a young coach, I went into every season thinking we had to win all our games,” he says. “But over time I started asking, ‘Is this really what it’s all about?’ It’s good to teach to win. But

what’s important is that kids are a part of something. The lessons they learn come from being out there every day, not from winning a state championship, and that’s become my philosophy.”

Throughout his career, having concise phrases to sum up his philosophy has helped Fracassa define what he’s about as a coach. “My high school coach used to say, ‘Do it better than it’s ever been done before,’” he says. “I borrowed the phrase, ‘Never give up,’ from Vince Lombardi.

And how about, ‘Contentment with past accomplishments stifles future achievements’? I got that from a Salada tea bag, but it fits into my philosophy.

“If you’re trying to figure out your philosophy, make it simple,” he adds.

“Figure out what you’re about as a coach and put it into simple terms that you can put up on the wall and repeat to yourself.

It helps guide your coaching, and when players come back 10 years later, those are the concepts they’ll remember.” ■ A version of this article has appeared in previous editions of Coaching Management.

Circle No. 120 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Circle No. 121

OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

READY TO LIFT?

In order for athletes to get the most out of their strength training, their muscles need to be prepared beforehand. One way to achieve that is through a new technique called movement prep.

MIKE POWELL/GETTY IMAGES

BY GRAY COOK & AARON TAYLOR

HOW DO YOUR ATHLETES WARM UP BEFORE HITTING THE WEIGHTROOM? For years, some coaches have emphasized static stretches—bending and stretching while sitting and standing. Other coaches have used a general warmup, with the idea of simply getting the muscles moving.

But neither approach is truly in your athletes’ best interests. Getting athletes ready for intense activity is not just about stretching, nor is it just about warming up the body. For your athletes to get the most out of their weightroom workout, they need to use a more integrated approach.

Embracing Integration We have developed a group of exercises that we call movement preparation (or movement prep) to ready the body for intense activity. Pre-activity warmup and stretching are still necessary, but they must be woven into neuromuscular activities that prepare the body for a much higher level of functional activity.

The main idea of movement prep is to let go of isolation and embrace integration. As an example, think about yoga. In

yoga, the athlete does not simply stretch one muscle group at a time. In a particular yoga posture, one muscle group may feel a greater stretch than others, but the focus is the pattern of movement.

So what goes into a movement prep exercise? Simply put, there are three areas covered in every exercise: stabilized static stretch, dynamic movement with stabilization, and balance drills to address left-right symmetry. The stabilized stretch helps increase muscle length

Gray Cook is Clinic Director and Aaron Taylor is Sports Medicine Coordinator at Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Dunn, Cook, and Associates, in Danville, Va. Cook is also the author of Athletic Body in Balance, published by Human Kinetics.

COACHING MANAGEMENT

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

and basic posture and pattern proficiency, the dynamic movement functionally prepares the body for complicated movements, and the balance drills ready athletes for using both sides of the body.

In movement prep, we provide specific exercises to be accomplished with specific lifts: the lunge, squat, and deadlift. For all three, the goal is to provide a preparatory exercise that engages the core and readies athletes for the specific movement pattern of the lift.

Before Lunging Many workout programs incorporate the lunge, which strengthens the muscles of the core, hips, and legs. It is a simple exercise, but a very dynamic one. The abdominal muscles and hip

flexors must be warmed up and working together to get the most out of this exercise. Here are two movement preps we use to get ready for the lunge: Hip Flexor Stretch with Chop Motion: This is a stabilized static stretch, which engages the core, stabilizes the pelvis, and lengthens the hip flexors.

When doing a lunge, the hip flexors will often try to assist or compensate where the abdominals should be working.

Movement prep for this motion ensures that hip extension and core stabilization work together. It enhances core stabilization while improving the hips’ ability to extend. This movement prep also provides an excellent way to compare left and right function and target the weaker side prior to exercise.

MOVEMENT PREP EXERCISES

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Acro Roll Out Circle No. 122

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

Bend with Stick

Tubing Deadlift

OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

Instructions: The hip flexor move begins with one knee down and the other foot in front in a half-kneeling position. Hold a stick in front of you, in line with the down knee and an arm’s length away. Your base should be narrow, with legs no more than six inches apart. While holding the stick with both hands, push down in a chopping motion at an angle away from the front foot. This will engage the core and stabilize the pelvis. Rock forward while continuing to hold and put pressure on the stick. Hold the stretch for 10 to 15 seconds, then return to an upright position.

Verbal Cues: ■ Maintain a tall spine.

■ Look forward throughout the entire movement.

■ Maintain a narrow base.

■ Exert pressure on the stick before and throughout the stretch.

Static Stretch with MedBall Chop: This prep exercise is a dynamic movement with stabilization. It will improve static and dynamic balance reactions for lunge-related activities. The quick movement of the medicine ball chop pass stimulates stabilization reactions within the core. Maintaining the half-kneeling position provides the stretch, and the movement provides an excellent way to compare left and right function and target the weaker side prior to exercise.

Instructions: Get into the same narrow half-kneeling position as in the first movement. Using a medium to light medicine ball, throw a bounce pass to a partner. This movement should follow a chop pattern, starting from a point above one shoulder and finishing by the opposite hip. Make 10 to 12 passes to a partner and have the partner return the passes in the same direction. Catch the medicine ball at the top of the arc and immediately pass it back. Try to pick a spot on the floor for the medicine ball to hit so that the bounce is the same each time. Speed up the delivery every two to three passes and try to increase the height of the bounce.

Verbal Cues: ■ Maintain a steady and consistent position throughout the movement without any collapse in the pelvis.

■ Keep the front knee in a straight, up position without letting it collapse.

■ Maintain an erect spine and move the arms in a diagonal pattern.

Solid Squats To effectively perform a squat, an athlete’s hips need to be ready for deep range of motion, and the knees, ankles, and feet also require a warmup. In addition, the core must be prepared to balance and support weight. To warm up for this lift, we have our athletes complete two very different prep exercises: Acro Roll Out: This is a dynamic movement with stabilization, which promotes bilateral hip extension in the

presence of an actively stabilized core.

Having an athlete roll out on Acro wheels stimulates balance and core reactions to stabilize the pelvis while the hips go through the range of motion required of squatting movements.

Instructions: Start in a quadruped position with knees shoulder-width apart.

Toes should be pointing down and hands a little wider than shoulder width.

Hips should start over the heels with hips and knees in a flexed position. Slowly

Circle No. 123 COACHING MANAGEMENT

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OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

roll forward with the Acro wheels while maintaining hand- and arm-width positions and lower your hips to neutral or 0 degrees. Keep toes pointing straight down. Return to start position.

Verbal Cues: ■ Maintain a tall and erect spine without any lag at the hips or core.

■ Keep shoulders and scapula movement within position.

■ As movement improves, let arms increase flexion while taking the hips to neutral position.

Squat with Tubing: This is another dynamic movement with stabilization.

The tubing assists in two ways for the squat. First, the anterior weight shift supports the technique by stimulating plantar flexion and hip and knee extension.

Second, the adduction creates a need for enhanced glute medius activity.

Instructions: Place the points of attachment of the tubing (Lifeline FMT) at knee-height and spread the handles about the size of a door-width apart from each other. Then give the band a twist so that the tubing crosses in front

of you. Step inside and face the point of attachment. Position the foam handles at the outside of your knees. Point your toes straight ahead with your feet shoulderwidth apart. Start your squat. While pushing your knees down, keep feet flat, and cross your arms over your chest. As you descend, keep your heels down and go as deep as you can comfortably go. Then return to the standing position.

Verbal Cues: ■ Keep the line of your spine parallel to the line of the lower leg (tibia) and keep your knees over the outer half of your feet.

■ Do not let your heels rise off the ground.

■ If you’re unable to go completely down, use a heel lift and slowly decrease the size of the lift over time, working toward a squat with the heels flat.

■ For increased difficulty, keep moving back to create more resistance.

Lively Deadlifts We often ask our athletes to perform single-leg, single-arm dumbbell deadlifts,

which require intense balance and spine stabilization. Our movement prep activities for these deadlifts involve athletes balancing on one leg while lengthening the hip muscles. We also use the movement prep activities to look closely at left vs. right side strength discrepancies. Here are the two exercises we use: Bend with Stick: In a balance drill to address right/left symmetry, the athlete bends over on one foot while holding a stick across his or her spine. The stick creates feedback for spine stabilization while the single-leg stance requires intense balance reactions by the hip internal and external rotators as well as the adductors and abductors. This is also an excellent way to compare left and right function and target the weaker side.

Instructions: Start in a standing upright position while holding a stick in both hands behind you or slightly off to one side. You will raise the opposite leg.

Place one hand (still holding the stick) behind the neck with the palm facing the body. Position the other at the lum-

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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EQUIPMENT OPTIMUM PERFORMANCE

bar area with the palm facing away. In one motion, balance on one leg and flex forward (without rotating) while raising the straight leg and keeping the toes pointed up. For the down leg, the knee should be slightly bent. Four points of contact should be maintained: the back of the head, between the scapula, the hips, and the calf. Then return to the upright position.

Verbal Cues: ■ Maintain a straight line from head to toe on the up leg. Only go as far as you can while maintaining a straight line.

■ Concentrate on sustaining the points of contact.

■ Keep the knee of the down leg slightly bent.

Tubing Deadlift: This is another balance drill to address right/left symmetry. Here, we are mimicking a single-leg deadlift with little weight, using elastic resistance instead of a dumbbell. By adding the tubing resistance to the deadlift, balance and stability mistakes are quickly detected. The tubing also creates greater rotational force, which enhances

stabilization and targets the core for single-leg stance activities. As with the previous exercise, it also provides an excellent way to compare left and right function. This same movement can also be done with a dumbbell.

Instructions: Place the tubing (Lifeline FMT) at a low attachment point. Loop the tubing around the shoulder that is above the down leg.

Place the same-side hand on the lower back to help maintain a nice arch while doing the single-leg deadlift. Standing upright, grab the handle of the tubing with the opposite hand. This will create a rotational force, so it is important to maintain good posture throughout the movement. Keep shoulders parallel to hips by not letting the shoulders rotate out. Rotate forward in the same fashion as in the single-leg forward bend by keeping the body in a straight line from head to toe with the down knee slightly bent.

Verbal Cues: ■ Keep the body as tall as possible throughout the movement.

■ Descend only as far as this posture allows.

When & How While these movements are meant to prepare the body for three fundamental lifts, they don’t all have to be done before strength work begins. They can be performed either as a single set of exercises prior to activity or as a superset between activities. Either way, they will reinforce and improve technique for the lifts.

These movements are effective because they are an extension of rehabilitation exercises that specifically focus on the neuromuscular system and the correction of movement patterns. They do not just isolate specific muscle groups.

Instead, they integrate stretching, movement patterns, balance, and core work into quick and easy exercise patterns that can provide benefits to every athlete. ■ A version of this article appeared in Training & Conditioning, a sister publication to Coaching Management.

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Uniforms & Apparel Fergo Athletics 888-OK-FERGO WWW.OKFERGO.COM Fergo Athletics offers high schools, colleges, recreation teams and clubs some of the industry’s lowest prices on custom-made athletic apparel, guaranteed.

Services include imprinting, sublimation, and embroidery work on any type of apparel. Teams can have custom-designed uniforms, T-shirts, practice wear, warmups, caps, bags, team jackets, fleeces, and even banners. Call Fergo Athletics for more details about these services and find out how the company can help your team meet its needs.

Circle No. 500 Fergo Athletics is an apparel manufacturer that passes huge savings directly to teams. It custom-designs athletic apparel for high schools, colleges, clubs, and recreational leagues in every sport. As part of its dedication to schools, Fergo will meet any quote or bid in price, quality, and style and then write your team, school, or club a 10percent royalty check on the total order. Call the company for more details about this offer and to find out more about all Fergo products.

Circle No. 501 Moyer Sports 800-255-5299 WWW.MOYERSPORTS.COM Moyer Sports offers a full line of stock and custom team apparel for men and women, including uniforms, warmups, travel suits, jackets, jerseys, and bags. Top names such as adidas, Dynamic Team Sports, and Moyer’s custom line are among the many brands available. The company’s in-house let-

tering facility enables Moyer to offer quicker service than the competition. A free color catalog is available.

Circle No. 502

today, and a Proball representative will guide you through the entire ordering process.

Circle No. 505

Moyer Spor ts in Ellicott City, Md., offers a complete line of shooting shirts and tearaway pants with custom styling, available in men’s and women’s cuts.

Call Moyer for more information or to place an order.

Circle No. 503

Sport Chalet Team Sales 800-250-4923 WWW.SCTEAMSALES.COM

Proball 800-401-9708 WWW.PROBALLUSA.COM Teams wanting to design their custom basketball uniforms have it easy. All they need to do is visit Proball online and sketch their own special requirements in the company’s custom design template, then send the sketch to Proball for design and price confirmation.

The company will fill this order using the very highest-standard uniform fabrics in the industry, including air-cool mesh, shimmer, dazzle, micro mesh, and mock mesh. In short, having a custom-designed basketball uniform is now an elegantly simple and costeffective reality.

Circle No. 504 Proball USA provides truly customized uniforms, warm-ups, shooting shirts, and practice uniforms with one set price and no extra charges. All uniforms and warmups are designed to the coach’s specifications, and there are no limitations. Turnaround time for all custom warm-ups, shooting shirts, playing and practice uniforms is between four to six weeks. Call Proball

Sport Chalet offers a basketball spirit pack that can be delivered in just 14 working days.

The pack includes a heavyweight 100percent cotton T-shirt, reversible tricot mesh jersey, big and baggy tricot mesh shorts, and a pair of socks. All garments include your choice of custom screen printing with no setup charges. There are three jersey styles offered: men’s reversible tank top, men’s reversible cap sleeve style, and women’s cut pattern.

Circle No. 506 Sport Chalet has created this unique custom design game uniform in both men’s and women’s patterns.

Offered in 10 home and 10 away color combinations, this dazzle cloth game uniform can be custom lettered in just 14 working days. Complement this uniform with their shooting shirt and dazzle cloth tear-away pants in seven matching colors.

Circle No. 507

Check out

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

39

Great Ideas For Athletes...

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COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Active Ankle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Coachingware.com (CompuSports) . 31 Courtclean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 CyberSports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Digital Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . 8 Fergo Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 FieldTurf Tarkett . . . . . . . . . . BC Fitness Stride. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Gatorade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Human Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 JV Pro, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 K&K Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 LRSSports Software . . . . . . . . 12

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Moyer Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Nevco Scoreboard Co.. . . . . . . 5 OPTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Power Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Powernetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Proball USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Promats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SignCo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Spalding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Specialized Seating . . . . . . . . 31 Sport Chalet Team Sales . 22-23 Stadium Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 U.S. Sports Video . . . . . . . . . . 29 Xvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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Active Ankle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Bison (Baseline Breakaway) . . . . . 42 Bison (Scorers’ Tables) . . . . . . . . 42 Cho-Pat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Courtclean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 CyberSports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Digital Scout (Statware 5.0). . . . 46 Digital Scout (subscription) . . . . 46 eFundraising.com . . . . . . . . . . 48 Fergo Athletics (custom-made apparel) . 39 Fergo Athletics (huge savings) . . 39 FieldTurf Tarkett . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Gatorade (Endurance Formula) . 48 Gatorade (Nutrition Shake) . . . . 48

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Nevco (Model 2650) . . . . . . . . . 42 Oakworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 OPTP (Axis Roller) . . . . . . . . . . . 44 OPTP (Core Challenge Roller) . . . 44 Power Lift (Belt Squat) . . . . . . . 44 Power Lift (Leg Press) . . . . . . . . 44 Power Systems (Power Yoke) . . 45 Power Systems (PoweRope) . . . 45 Powernetics (Dominator) . . . . . 44 Powernetics (Power Trainer) . . . 45 Proball (customized apparel) . . . 39 Proball USA (uniforms) . . . . . . . 39 Promats (digital graphics) . . . . . 42 Promats (padding) . . . . . . . . . . 42

Human Kinetics (Periodization) . 44 Human Kinetics (Speed/Agility) 44 Jump Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 JV Pro, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 K&K Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 KDM Electronics. . . . . . . . . . . 43 LRSSports (Gamer Video Editing) . 46 LRSSports (GamerEZ) . . . . . . . . 46 Moyer Sports (shirts/pants) . . . 39 Moyer Sports (team apparel). . . 39 Nevco (Message Centers). . . . . . 42

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SignCo (Rotating Fascia Signs) . . 43 SignCo (Rotating Scoring Table) . 43 Spalding (catalog). . . . . . . . . . . 43 Spalding (Slam-Dunk Pro Goal) . . 43 Specialized Seating . . . . . . . . 43 Sport Chalet (game uniform) . . . 39 Sport Chalet (spirit pack) . . . . . 39 Stadium Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Xvest (Don Chu) . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Xvest (Fire Fighter model). . . . . . 45

Team Equipment Active Ankle 800-800-2896 WWW.GETCHAMELEON.COM

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Ankle protection isn’t black and white anymore. With Active Ankle®’s new All-Sport Chameleon™, athletes can choose from eight bright interchangeable strap covers that come with each brace. The solid U-shaped frame ensures maximum strength.

The molded, fabric-lined EVA padding provides lightweight comfort. The All-Sport Chameleon offers great style with the same great protection that has made Active Ankle one of the top brace manufacturers in the industry. For more information, visit online.

Circle No. 508

Cho-Pat’s patented Dual Action Knee Strap® provides an extra level of relief for painful and weakened knees. It applies pressure to the tendon below the knee to reduce patellar subluxation and improve tracking and elevation. It also puts pressure on the tendon above the knee to provide added support and stability. The Dual Action Knee Strap allows full mobility.

Circle No. 509

Whether at home or away, Oakworks® ensures you will have everything you need to care for your athletes at a great price. The Training Room Combo Package represents a savings of almost $500 and includes: the Portable

Need help fundraising for your team?

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Taping Table with casters and carrying case, the PowerLine Treatment Table (solid hardwood construction), and the P3 (Patient Positioning Platform). Both tables have a dynamic weight capacity of 500 pounds, and store and assemble easily.

Circle No. 510

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41

Basketball Facilities Bison Recreational Products 800-247-7668 WWW.BISONINC.COM Bison’s new Sport Pride Graphic Scorers’ Tables blend safety, function, and school pride all in one package.

Dynamic full-color graphics are printed on the padded front panel, and the school mascot name is printed on each side of the pad.

The vinyl padding is over two inches thick and is comprised of urethane foam.

Built-in, floor-friendly casters make for easy transport. These floor and bleacher tables have seating for four and include 110-volt receptacles for a computer, a possession arrow, and more. Bison gives a free possession arrow with each table ordered. Free artwork on orders for delivery by June 30, 2006.

Circle No. 511 The first breakaway goal with true 180degree deflection is now available from Bison. From the left, the right, or down the lane, the Bison Baseline Breakaway has smooth flexibility from any direction, with a ring assembly that floats on 13 hardened-chromium bearings.

As the only 180-degree breakaway with the popular positive lock release mechanism, its field-adjustable pressure release design ensures a preferred feel throughout the life of the goal. The Bison Baseline meets all NFHS, FIBA, and NCAA rules— including the new Division I rule for rebound elasticity testing—and comes with a seven-year limited warranty.

Circle No. 512 Courtclean 800-900-2481 WWW.COURTCLEAN.COM When slippery gym floors and wrestling mats are a problem, Courtclean is the answer. It’s fast, easy, safe, and affordable. With the Courtclean system, one person can easily damp mop your floors

42

COACHING MANAGEMENT

or disinfect your mats in less than five minutes, and play can start immediately.

Satisfaction is 100-percent guaranteed.

Circle No. 513 JV Pro, Inc. 800-962-2440 WWW.JVPRO.COM JV Pro offers custom-made, freestanding, and convertible bleacher-mounted scoring tables. Standard options include an LED possession arrow with bonus indicators, illuminated shatter-proof lexan panels, heavyduty softrubber casters for easy movement, and collapsibility down to 16 inches for easy storage. JV Pro also offers heavyduty courtside chairs in school colors featuring your logo or mascot to complement your scoring table. These products create the perfect image for your sports program.

Circle No. 514 Nevco Scoreboard Co. 800-851-4040 WWW.NEVCOSCOREBOARDS.COM Whether your goal is to increase advertising revenue, excite the crowd during the big game, or promote upcoming events, expand your possibilities with Nevco Message Centers. Their high-quality resolution and fullmatrix design provide enhanced text and graphics capabilities.

Nevco’s message centers allows you to display text, logos, multiple fonts, moving messages, and corporate advertising. There are indoor and outdoor models available in monochrome (red or amber) or full-color.

Circle No. 515

Nevco scoreboards and accessories provide customers with complete scoring and display systems. Nevco sales

reps can assist you in designing a customized solution for your facility.

Message centers and video displays provide customers with additional ways to inform their fans, excite the crowd, and generate sponsorship revenue.

Customers can now design their own system online at the company’s Web site. The Model 2650 is shown with a monochrome message center and team/sponsor signs.

Circle No. 516 Promats 800-678-6287 WWW.PROMATS.COM Promats, one of the most innovative names in the wall-padding industry, presents its full line of quality, wideformat digital graphics. With bold colors and crisp images, team pride can be shown in a whole new way.

These represent the pinnacle of wall-padding graphics and are available on a full line of wall-padding products.

Call today for more information and examples of Promats work.

Circle No. 517 Promats offers a full line of products that are compliant with the new ASTMF2440 standard for impact protection.

Promats provides a larger variety of filler materials, attachment methods, and vinyl coverings than most manufacturers. With over 20 years experience in custom manufacturing, Promats can produce padding to suit any application. Call today or visit online for more information.

Circle No. 518

Basketball Facilities SignCo 866-848-6646 WWW.SIGNCO.COM One of the easiest and most effective ways to generate revenue for your fundraising program is through corporate sponsorship and advertising. With SignCo’s Rotating Scoring Table, 20 advertising spots can be displayed right next to the action. Call SignCo toll-free, and start earning money for your program today.

Circle No. 519 SignCo’s Rotating Fascia Signs offer every school and organization tremendous opportunities to generate amazing revenue for their fundraising programs. With each sign capable of holding up to 20 ad/ logo panels, you will be able to offer all your advertisers the one prime location within your arena.

Call SignCo toll-free, and start earning money for your program today.

Circle No. 520 Spalding 800-435-3865 WWW.SPALDINGEQUIPMENT.COM The Spalding Slam-Dunk Pro Goal is ideal for collegiate and high school play.

This performance breakaway goal is factory-calibrated to meet rebound elasticity requirements, and it includes continuous ram for easy net installation.

The SlamDunk Pro Goal meets all NCAA and NFHS specifications and comes with a five-year warranty. For a free product catalog, please call or visit the company’s Web site.

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Spalding has a long history of providing quality products to athletes, ranging from high schools to the pros across the world. Its extensive product line includes portable and ceiling-suspended basketball backstops, backboards, rims, basketballs, pads, training equipment, balls, and accessories. Call toll-free for a free product catalog.

Circle No. 522 The Stadium Chair Co. 888-417-9590 WWW.STADIUMCHAIR.COM The SidelineChair is among the best seats on the market in its price range, with the durability and quality you’d expect from higherpriced products.

It features two- or three-inch pads covered with quality vinyl that provides two large imprint areas. The extrasturdy powdercoated frame comes with dual-reinforced steel support bars on the back legs and carries a 10-year limited warranty.

Circle No. 523 Specialized Seating 877-SEATING WWW.SIT123.COM Sit back and relax with the seating professionals at Specialized Seating. The company has seating for team benches, sidelines, locker rooms, meeting rooms, fundraising, and even for time outs.

Schools can also order official NCAA Tournament Chairs from Specialized. Call the company to design your own custom sideline package and sit with the pros.

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FieldTurf Tarkett 800-724-2969 WWW.FIELDTURFTARKETT.COM The new FieldTurf Tarkett leads off its sports flooring venture with a new hardcourt line of lighter, cleaner, denser,

all-Northern Maple sports products that provide higher shock absorption and better ball rebound. The products meet or exceed all MFMA guidelines, with a more consistent grading and longer board length. All FieldTurf Tarkett hardwood court systems are laid by certified installers. As part of a $2 billion company, FieldTurf Tarkett introduces a revolution in customer protection, with a new groundbreaking warranty.

Circle No. 525 KDM Electronics Inc. 800-567-6282 WWW.OCTASOUND.COM With a large space, reverberation can seriously affect clarity and speech intelligibility. Octasound Speakers by KDM Electronics offer a real advantage for voice and music. Four discrete horns project sound in all directions, giving you true projected--not reflected-sound. The large woofer radiates bass, and the speakers’ remarkable efficiency provides you the headroom needed to keep things crystal clear with minimal amplifier power.

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Strength & Cardio Equipment Human Kinetics 800-747-4457 WWW.HUMANKINETICS.COM In Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness, top sport and conditioning experts present the best available information on testing, techniques, drills, and training programs so you can perform a step ahead of the competition.

The bonus DVD allows you to see exactly how to perform key tests and execute the best and most complex drills from the book. Sample training programs are included for 12 sports, including basketball. 264 pages, $21.95 U.S. Circle No. 527 Dr. Tudor Bompa is recognized worldwide as the foremost expert on periodization training. In Periodization Training for Sports, he explains how to use periodized workouts in order to peak at optimal times.

He also explains the importance of strength training for explosive sports, and provides yearly training plans for college and elite basketball teams. Use this guide to see the benefits of smarter workouts in competition. 272 pages, $19.95 U.S. Circle No. 528 Jump Stretch, Inc. 800-344-3539 WWW.JUMPSTRETCH.COM The goal at Jump Stretch is to provide equipment that simulates actual game conditions to improve performance, such as utilizing anaerobic training.

Most sports require short bursts of explosive power. Squats and squat thrusts performed with Flex Bands® provide a safe and highly-effec-

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tive method for improving explosiveness. Jump Stretch has been helping pro, college, and high school teams improve vertical jump, speed, and power since 1980.

Circle No. 529 OPTP 800-367-7393 WWW.OPTP.COM/AD Geared for athletic training professionals, OPTP’s Axis Roller gives all the benefits of traditional rollers without breaking down. The Axis Roller is made up of solid foam “beads” that get compressed during the molding process—eliminating any possibility of collapsible air pockets. The Axis’ black molded-foam technology is firm in density, has a smooth surface, and will not lose its shape after several months of moderate to heavy use.

Circle No. 530 OPTP’s Core Challenge Roller® combines the essential properties of exercise balls and rollers into one dynamic

inflatable fitness roll for the entire body.

The size, shape, and physical properties optimize exercises that strengthen and tone the abs, obliques, and core muscle groups while improving stability, balance, and flexibility. Use the roller to keep the thoracic area open, work core stabilizers, or stretch key muscle groups. For more information call OPTP, or visit online.

Circle No. 531 Power Lift 800-872-1543 WWW.POWER-LIFT.COM Power Lift’s new Uni-Lateral Linear Leg Press is an independent leg-training unit capable of locking together to create a bilateral training system. Its heavy-duty

steel frame allows linear-movement carriages to glide on 16 high-grade polyurethane wheels and holds 18- to 45-pound plates, with optional holders available. The straight-legged starting position with two back pad positions and adjustable stops fits a wide range of users. Standard floor bumpers, weight storage, and a 40-degree angle seat are included. A Bi-Lateral Leg Press is also available.

Circle No. 532 The Power Lift® Belt Squat is a great way to train hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, and hips while eliminating spinal compression. From a standing position, athletes disengage the work arm to start the exercise. The squat belt attaches to the work arms on each side over an athlete’s hips. The force is evenly distributed through the athlete’s heels, emphasizing the muscles in the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. The machine is ideal for teaching the squat, rehabbing injuries, and performing one-legged squats, and lunges. Weight storage and three custom belts are standard.

Circle No. 533 Powernetics 800-829-2928 WWW.POWERNETICS.COM Powernetics offers a line of strengthtraining machines that develop power by providing a consistent ratio of speed, resistance, and intensity. The Dominator builds strength in one unbroken line from the feet to the hands. The machine’s groundbased torquing motion works both sides of the body, while also providing an explosive chest punch. The unit will more than double strength in the 90-degree torso rotation.

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Strength & Cardio Equipment Power Yoke’s heavily-padded shoulder harness with built-in hand grips will hold up to two 45-pound Olympic plates on each side. For more information on all Power Systems products, visit online or call toll-free.

Circle No. 537 Powernetics also offers the Power Trainer, which for more than 10 years has made the power clean a safe exercise for athletes from junior high to the collegiate level. The Power Trainer enables an athlete to not only do cleans safely, but also to reverse the clean. The unit can be used to perform seven different exercises: the clean, reverse clean, dead lift, lift jump, high row, bench press, and shoulder press.

Over the years, the Power Trainer has proven to be among the safest and most effective tools used to perform the power clean.

Circle No. 535 Power Systems 800-321-6975 WWW.POWER-SYSTEMS.COM Develop cardiovascular endurance and improve speed, strength, explosiveness and coordination with this nine-foot, weighted PoweRope™ jump rope. Available in five sizes (halfpound and one to four pounds), the weight is evenly distributed throughout the solid rubber rope. Padded and swivel PVC handles make the rope spin faster, reducing stress on the wrists, elbows, and shoulders.

Circle No. 536 Intensify your lower-body training and conditioning with the new Power Systems’ Power Yoke. The compact design and cambered ends maintain an athlete’s proper form without compromising biomechanics while performing step-ups and lunges. At 38 inches wide, the Power Yoke allows more athletes to work at the same time without competing for floor space. The

Xvest 800-697-5658 WWW.THEXVEST.COM “I have found the Xvest to be an excellent tool for providing overloads in plyometrics, strength training, conditioning, and rehabilitation programs.

The fit and adaptability are excellent. The Xvest allows freedom of movement and doesn’t interfere with any of the agility, bounding, or running programs that I write for a wide variety of athletes, both collegiate and professional.

The Xvest has proven itself in my programs.

Thank you for all your efforts and help in improving my capability as a strength and conditioning specialist.”

--Donald A. Chu, Ph.D., PT, ATC, CSCS, author of Jumping Into Plyometrics Circle No. 538 Xvest has a new weight configuration, and it’s heavy: 84 pounds of heavy. The new Xvest, known as the Fire Fighter model, was developed especially for fire fighters and their rigorous training. It has the same basic design as the original Xvest, but internally it has a new weight configuration that allows for 84 pounds of weight. Because of its ability to adjust weight like the original Xvest, everyone from body builders to military personnel is buying them. For more information on all the Xvest models, call the company or visit its Web site.

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Check out

www.AthleticBid.com to contact these companies.

Testimonial

In-Stock Basketball Wall Structures Mean On-Time Project Completion Bison has revolutionized the ordering process for custom-built basketball goal wall structures with fast turnaround— something other manufacturers can’t do because of long lead times. Swing-up, side-fold, or stationary structures with extensions up to 12 feet can be ordered and packaged with backboards, rims, and padding to fit your needs. Bison’s unique telescoping extension design allows installers to put the face of the backboard exactly where it needs to be in relation to the existing court layout.

“When I was asked on short notice by the University of Nebraska athletic department to help coordinate a basketball goal upgrade at an existing auxiliary practice facility for the men’s and women’s basketball programs, I turned to Bison. Its heavy-duty in-stock wall mount structures allowed us to complete the project in time for the beginning of practice and avoid the long wait typical of most manufactured custom-built structures. The teams love their renovated facility.”

Doug Lillie Building Superintendent, Devaney Center University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, Neb. “We have installed virtually every manufacturers’ basketball structures and always welcome an opportunity to install Bison’s in-stock wall structure units. Bison’s unique telescoping design allows us to get in and out fast with perfect backboard alignment to existing court lines. Its tubing, brackets, and pivot points are extra-heavy and result in a rigid, stable assembly that makes us confident that there will be no call-back problems.”

Dave Smith, Installer Jos. A. Copperstone Co., Inc. Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Bison Recreational Products 603 L ST., LINCOLN, NE 68508 800-247-7668 WWW.BISONINC.COM COACHING MANAGEMENT

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Testimonial

Live-Game Software That Keeps Up With The Action Since 1994, TurboStats Software Company has provided coaches with highquality software at affordable prices.

“We used TurboStats at all of our team tournament events this season and found the palm software to be very easy to use. On laptop-based programs we always needed to have a spotter alongside the statistician, but the easy-to-use features of the TurboStats ScoreKeeper program simplified the steps for recording the stats for both teams. The media and coaches at each of The Hoop Group events were pleased with the printouts we were able to provide them at half time and end of each game. The TurboStats desktop software made it very easy for us to post the game stats on our Web site for fans to see as well. We will continue to use the TurboStats program for all of our team tournament events.”

Pete Kirschner Director of Team Tournaments The Hoop Group Neptune, N.J. “TurboStats is a great tool for any coach, program director, or fan. It is incredibly easy to use, compact, and has everything you would need. Coaches will love the amount of information available. Efficiency ratings, shot charts, play-by-play, hustle plays, and other stats can all be tracked in the palm of your hand. TurboStats takes basketball stat-tracking to a whole new level.”

Jay Gomes N.J. Hoops Newsletter Old Bridge, N.J.

TurboStats Software Company P.O. BOX 144 TOWACO, NJ 07082 800-607-8287 SALES@TURBOSTATS.COM WWW.TURBOSTATS.COM

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Coaching Aids Better Basketball, Inc. 800-238-8372 WWW.BETTERBASKETBALL.COM

LRSSports 888-LRS-0001 WWW.LRSSPORTS.COM

In April 2006, Better Basketball will release a video breaking down the most under-taught skill in the spor t— playing without the ball. Scoring WITHOUT the Ball has groundbreaking chapters, including reacting to your teammate’s dribble penetration, getting open when denied on the ball side, using screens, working from the weak side, and more. For coaches who want to stay ahead of the cur ve and dominate player development, visit Better Basketball’s Web site.

LRSSports’ Gamer® Video Editing Systems for Basketball can be used on a single laptop or in a network with coaching and viewing stations, and over the Internet or Intranet that uses a View2Win™ product.

Gamer offers filtering so coaches and staff can quickly find clips of their next opponents. Other features include text overlay, drawing capabilities, and zoom options. Visit LRSSports online and find out why its customers call Gamer a slam-dunk.

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Digital Scout 800-249-1189 WWW.DIGITALSCOUT.COM

Gamer®EZ from LRSSports is one digital video editing system that ever y team can afford easily, and now you can see for yourself with its free trial software.

GamerEZ is flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of both team and individual sports. Check out the GamerEZ online demo, and then contact LRSSports to find out how easy it is to get your free 30-day trial software.

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New Basketball Statware 5.0 delivers expanded features to one of the nation’s leading statistics software programs.

Statware enables real-time analysis at the game and instant box scores, reports, and shot charts immediately following the game. Version 5.0 adds new player on-court combination performance reports, the ability to use both live and Quick Entry in the same game, and new reports and player cards with season or career stats, player photo, and team logo. Free trial download at Digital Scout’s Web site.

Circle No. 540 Digital Scout, a leading provider of statistics software, now offers a lower-cost software subscription that includes software use, support, upgrades, and shipping.

The annual budget-friendly subscription is $74.95 per team. Boost your productivity with a uniform statistics management program for up to seven sports. (Coming soon: Digital Scout Track and Field.)

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CyberSports 315-732-4333 WWW.CYBERSPORTSINC.COM Georgia Southern Assistant Basketball Coach Craig Kennedy has been working with CyberSports for six years now, and the reason is simple: The company continually works with basketball coaches to expand its ser vices for recruiting studentathletes. “Their new CyberMail product is amazing,” says Kennedy. “It allows me to track which recruits open up the e-mail and which ones click on the link to our Web site. Plus, their hands-on customer ser vice is incredible. They are always there to help us and to make our work as easy as possible.”

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More Products eFundraising 866-235-9660 WWW.EFUNDRAISING.COM

The Gatorade Co. 800-88-GATOR WWW.GATORADE.COM

eFundraising’s Scratchcards are one of the most profitable fundraising products in America, with up to a rare 100-percent profit opportunity. Check

Gatorade Nutrition Shake is a balanced nutritional supplement that’s ideal for use as a high-energy meal replacement, or a pre-event or between-meal snack.

Gatorade Nutrition Shake contains vitamin C, calcium, and iron, so it’s great for athletes who want to perform at their best and need to supplement their diet with a convenient, balanced, and nutritious product. Gatorade Nutrition Shake is available in two flavors: chocolate and vanilla.

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out the company’s special offers and fundraising tips online, and find out how this fundraiser can be personalized for your group. Here is just one of the many success stories: “You have helped our organization reach our goals. After attempting various forms of fundraising in the past, we decided to tr y the Scratchcard fundraiser. This by far has been our most successful fundraising event we have participated in. Thanks.”—Dwan Lee, Capitol Athletic Basketball.

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After years of extensive research, scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute have developed Gatorade Endurance Formula for athletes’ longer, more intense workouts and competitions. Gatorade Endurance Formula is a specialized sports drink with a five-electrolyte blend containing

nearly twice the sodium (200mg) and three times the potassium (90mg) of Gatorade Thirst Quencher to more fully replace what athletes lose in sweat when fluid and electrolyte losses become substantial.

Circle No. 547 K&K Insurance 800-426-2889 WWW.KANDKINSURANCE.COM K&K Insurance offers coverage for a variety of amateur and professional sports organizations, including teams, leagues, camps/ clinics, events, instructors, officials, stadiums, arenas, and sports and fitness facilities. For over 50 years, K&K has been providing superior coverage and service for the unique needs of the sports and recreation industry. Call today to find out how K&K Insurance can help your organization.

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Your source for fundraising tips, support, and suppliers:

www.fundraisingforsports.com

Web News Customize Your Baseball Needs At Beacon Athletics Visit Beacon Athletics online for all your field maintenance, training, and field equipment needs. Beacon Athletics has been improving athletic performance since 1948. The company’s Web site has been designed to provide valuable information along with easy online ordering. Features include convenient, secure online purchasing—shop 24/7; custom design information— Beacon Athletics can customize your field needs; detailed information regarding netting, padding, windscreen, tarps, batting cages and turf protectors; educational materials that offer helpful tips; and seminar information.

www.beaconathletics.com Fresh-Look Web Site Delivers On Function, Too OPTP announces the launch of its completely redesigned Web site. With a fresh new look and increased function, the new site features state-of-the-art programming for quick and easy navigation and secure check-out. (Professionals, be sure to register to receive correct pricing.) Plus, with printable newsletter and catalog page PDFs, downloadable DVD clips, and a frequentlyupdated ‘What’s New’ section that features promotions and sneak peaks at new products, this site is an unequaled, highly userfriendly information source. OPTP’s updated Web site is fast, easy, and secure. Visit online and experience it for yourself.

www.optp.com/ad

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The new hardwood court system from the brand that revolutionized the artificial turf industry.

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Higher shock absorption Better ball rebound Certified installers Cleaner, denser, Northern Maple Consistent wood grading

Long-term extended warranty protection.

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8088 Montview Montreal, QC H4P 2L7 Tel: 514-904-2590 Fax: 514-904-2594 Toll Free: 1-866-904-2590 www.fieldturftarkett.com info@fieldturftarkett.com Circle No. 130