Why Breakfast Is My Favorite Meal

It’s the week after Spring Ball. From all indicators, it’s been a successful offseason. Your position unit worked hard. They progressed physically, technically, and mentally. You witnessed important offseason improvements. Before launching into final exams and summer break, however, it’s time for end-of-year player meetings. If you’re like many coaches I know, you print off a sign-up sheet with 15 minute increments, tape it to your door, and fire off a group text instructing your players to sign up ASAP. But is this the best way to connect and deliver essential feedback to your players?

Several weeks ago we wrote about the need to conduct consistent player assessments in the form of player evaluations and peer reviews. In this post, we’ll discuss Step 9 in our series on Crafting Your Team Culture — Provide Regular Counseling and Feedback.

Developmental Counseling is nothing more than a conversation between the leader (coach) and the led (player) with the intent to make one better. The endstate is to improve player self-awareness by identifying blind spots and performance gaps. Here are seven tips to maximize your next player counseling sessions:

1. Devote the time it deserves. Good counseling sessions will last at least 30 minutes — some may be double in length depending on how the discussion goes. In the end, player development takes time and will require your time.
2. Don’t get hung up on the format. The fact you are investing 1-on-1 time with your players is invaluable. You are building relationships. Remember, people desire to be part of a tribe where they are known and loved, and through this knowledge, challenged to be better. This is the essence of coaching.
3. Offer deliberate, targeted feedback using the critical factors of the Ideal Athlete (described in Step 3). Review your evaluation of the player’s talent, to include the areas of physical ability, technique, and athletic intelligence (e.g., Baseball IQ). Reinforce their strengths and ensure they understand their weaknesses. What must each player do to achieve his or her optimal potential?
4. Limit the feedback. If you’ve successfully conducted thorough player assessments, you will have character insights to share with your players. When discussing desired attributes, look for poor self-awareness. Highlight the 2–3 characteristics you believe need the most attention (e.g., coachability, dependability, etc). If players undervalue themselves, use the counseling session to “build them up” and inject confidence.
5. Alert your leaders. Every position group must have leaders. Ensure you know the leaders for your group and empower them appropriately. They should know you view them as leaders and will hold them accountable for not only their behavior, but also that of their peers. Outline specific expectations both on and off the field.
6. Track the trends. When incorporating behavioral observations, identify positive or negative trends and include in your feedback to the player. Behavioral observations help validate your value judgments. Instead of “you’re not accountable,” share four specific instances of unaccountable behavior. Players who are not dependable in academics (and/or in the weight room) are often not dependable on the field. How you do the little things is how you will do everything.
7. Lock it in. Finally, after you’ve given them good feedback, review what you discussed and have them set clear goals as part of their Individual Development Plan (IDP). This confirms they’ve received the feedback. For example, ask players to set 2 sport, one academic, and one character goal for the next semester. What specific commitments are they willing to make to achieve those goals? Commitments should be specific and measurable. “Practice more” or “eat better” is not a measurable commitment. “Run extra routes for 20 minutes 3 days a week” is a specific commitment. This action plan will launch them into their semester (or summer) training.

Ken Blanchard once stated, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” As coaching leaders, we must consistently ask ourselves, “What kind of meal am I serving up?”