#WomenWillWin – Keely Froling
Responsible basketball players are respectful, have a positive attitude and are active listeners – to not only coaches, but also officials and their team mates. These attributes ensure that players can continually develop their own personal skillset, and perform for the greater benefit of their team. Having a positive attitude is the one of the main ways you can take responsibility for your performance – letting the stress or pressure of a game affect your attitude will translate to your performance on the court. It can be hard to hear about mistakes or errors you’ve made in a game, especially if it’s been something you’ve been practicing hard to perfect, however it’s important to take on your coach’s feedback rather than see it as a personal attack or criticism – otherwise you’ll never improve as a player! Having a good attitude and listening to instructions goes a long way in improving your court performance! It doesn’t matter if you are the best player on the team, if you can’t take responsibility for your performance, your coaches and teammates won’t enjoy playing with you like they should!
Here are a few key tips for making sure you are taking responsibility for your court performance:
1. Listen to instructions
Basketball is a team sport, and to ensure you are playing for the greater good of your team and continually improve your court performance, it’s important to listen to your coaches, officials and fellow team mates. Taking responsibility for your performance means that if your coach pulls you up on something multiple times in a row, that you take on their feedback and use it to improve rather than thinking it is a personal attack against you. Even the best players in the world make mistakes, and will have their coaches show them how to improve. In the heat of the moment, coaches and teammates may seem critical of your performance, however, it’s important to see the instruction behind it rather than letting it affect your performance!
2. Communication with your coach is a two-way street
Coaches have a difficult and time consuming job, not only ensuring that the team is performing, but also responding to parents, fellow coaches, officials etc. There will be times that you may not understand what your coach means or why they’re telling you to do certain things, however it’s important to ensure you have open communication with your coach to clarify anything you don’t understand. A player that takes responsibility will understand that accountability is mutual between coaches and players to take care of any misunderstandings you may have.
3. Focus on your own performance, not others
Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you’re not LeBron James or Kobe Bryant and so still have areas in your game that you need to work on so you can improve as a player. It’s important to reflect on your own performance to assess what you can work on, rather than assessing the performance of your team mates and what they need to improve on. Whilst it can be frustrating seeing one of your team not playing their position correctly, it’s not up to you to call them out – that’s what your coach is for! Taking responsibility for your own performance means taking the good times with the bad, and demonstrates your ability to be realistic with where your skill level is at, and what your role is on the court.
By taking on these tips, you will see that your coaches and fellow team mates will have more respect and trust in you and also allow you to become the best basketball player you can be!
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