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How to be a leader in basketball
How to be a leader in basketball
USA Basketball - 5 Steps to Being a Great Leader
In addition to always finding new exercises, drills, and training techniques, a good portion of my professional development is focused on leadership. I have dozens and dozens of books, have binders full of notes and handouts, and read several weekly blogs all focused on the topic of effective leadership. I have been fascinated by the qualities that make great leaders for as long as I can remember. And continuing to improve my own leadership skill set is one of my top priorities.
I truly believe there is a tremendous lack of leadership in today's game; specifically with today's youth. Basketball is a team game that thrives on leadership; from both the coaches and players.
You can't underestimate the power of a great leader. Great leaders make the impossible seem possible.
Some folks think leaders are born; some think they are developed. I happen to think it is a little bit of both. Regardless, I am confident anyone can work to improve to their leadership skill set.![]()
The traits needed to be a successful leader apply to both players and coaches at every level. If the coach is the only leader in the gym; that team won't be very successful.
Here are five traits that contribute to effective leadership:
Learn From Your Mistakes
To be a good leader you have to take calculated risks and you will certainly make some mistakes along the way. Admit them. Learn from them. Don't repeat them! These mistakes can be in the classroom or on the court.
"Success comes from good decisions. Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions."
Lead by Example
The old adage "do as I say, not as I do" doesn't fly in today's world. If you expect it from the people you are leading, you have to expect it from yourself. You must hold yourself accountable before you can hold anyone else. If you expect your players or teammates to be on time, then you need to be on time. If you expect them to know every play in your playbook, then you need to know them too.
If you want to be a leader, people notice.
"Do what has to be done. Do it when it has to be done. Do it as well as you can. Do it this way all of the time."
Put Others' Needs First
Compassion and empathy are extremely important to quality leadership. It is impossible to be selfish and be an effective leader. If you are a player, are you playing for the scoreboard or the scorebook? Are you playing for the name on the front of the jersey or the back? If you are a coach, do you listen to your players' feedback and thoughts? Treat your teammates and players right and genuinely care about them.
"No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."
Have Confidence
Your attitude is something you have complete control of and will influence everything you do in life. A positive attitude helps build confidence. You must have a strong self-worth and be confident in your abilities, without being arrogant or cocky. It sounds corny, but you have to feel good about yourself to be a good leader.
No one is going to follow someone who doesn't believe in themselves. Confidence comes from a sound work ethic and from being prepared. If you are going into a game and aren't confident you can win; it's because you know you didn't do what was necessary to prepare!
"Don't ever take a shot you aren't confident you are going to make."
Set a High Standard
If you do everything to the best of your ability, then you can expect it from those you lead. If you are always on time, always work hard, and always put your heart and soul into every practice, workout, and game--then you can expect your teammates and players to do the same. But you have to believe your teammates and players can meet this standard. A good leader will motivate those they are leading to do so. You want to be the type of leader who raises the level of everyone around you. Set the bar high and then lead them to it!
"It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you often get it.
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These are just some of the traits needed to be an effective leader. Whether you are the point guard on a high school basketball team or an assistant college coach, your ability to be an effective leader will dictate your success as well as your team's success.
How to Become a Team Captain
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By Daniel Benjamin
Basketball is a team game where player leadership is essential. Player leadership can be the difference from your team being good rather than mediocre.
You may be asking, “ Why do I need to be a leader, when my coach is an exceptional leader?”
The reason player leadership is so important is because athletes typically respond to peer motivation and peer pressure at a much deeper level than when the message is received from a coach.
Being a team captain is not easy but it is a very important part of the composition of your team.
Team captains are generally selected a couple of ways; either the coach chooses the team leaders or there is a team vote.
Either way it is a great honor to be named captain and it shows the team and coach have confidence in your leadership ability. Remember you don’t have to be the star of the team or starter to be a captain.
Here are 10 qualities you need to be an effective team captain.
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You must be self-motivated. Team captains are the heart and soul of a team, going all out every minute you are on the floor during games as well as in practice. You also should be the first one at practice and one of the lasts to leave.
Team captains firmly believe that the best interest of the team always comes first.
Team captains are bold, tenacious, fearless, prepared, fluid and enthusiastic.
Team leaders are great listeners and have a thirst to improve. When a coach tells you something, you should listen to the meaning of the words and not how it is said.
If a coach didn’t care, he wouldn’t bother to help you become the best player possible.
Team captains expect and demand the best from themselves and their teammates.
Know your role. A key part of being a leader is knowing your role on the team (scorer, rebounder, shutdown defender, sixth man, etc.). If you don’t know, ask.
Team captains choose their words carefully. The words of the team captain mean more than that of any other player.
Encourages teammates. A good leader keeps the team upbeat and positive. If a teammate is down, the captain picks the player’s spirits up.
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Understand that mistakes will be made. Team leaders can’t get down on themselves or others when mistakes because if you do others will follow. So, instead of chastising yourself or teammate learn from the mistake and move on. Simple statements like “I got you next time” or “Relax, I will get the ball again next time”, will do wonders for a player’s confidence after a mistake.
Team captains do not allow others to talk negatively about the team. You should take any insult about a team member as an insult against the whole team.
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I want to be a leader ⋆ Basketball information portal
Today we will talk with you about leadership. After all, every team has a leader, regardless of its performances and results. Scientists have long argued who is the leader? Are these qualities inherent from birth or can they be trained? I believe both the first and second statements are correct. Leadership qualities can and should be developed. Let me give you one experiment as an example.
Scientists...
Today we will talk to you about leadership. After all, every team has a leader, regardless of its performances and results. Scientists have long argued who is the leader? Are these qualities inherent from birth or can they be trained? I believe both the first and second statements are correct.
Leadership qualities can and should be developed. Let me give you one experiment as an example. Scientists for the study invited student volunteers, who were divided into several groups, three people each. The students did not know each other before. Each of the groups received some tasks. Each time one of the group members took the main initiative, thereby becoming the leader. The groups decided to mix, those who were leaders before, immediately tried to become leaders in new groups, if not in the whole group, then at least in some specific tasks.
A basketball player can be a leader on the court while remaining quiet in the dressing room.
But there is another type of leadership - a latent (ie hidden) leader.
If translated into the language of basketball, it looks like this - the team is playing its far from the best match, the game is clearly not going well, and then one of the middle players takes the threads of the game into his own hands. He can coordinate defensive actions or show his attacking skills, or he can simply take the ball and command him to perform a certain combination, regardless of his position in the team. Then again demonstrate their usual level of play, not particularly standing out against the general background. You are probably familiar with this situation.
A latent leader, with a high degree of probability, can develop into a full-fledged leader. The whole problem is that he is not yet aware of his leadership or simply does not know how to do it.
So what is the difference between a leader and ordinary players? Here are the main characteristics of a real leader:
1. Responsibility. If a basketball player brings a lot of benefits to the team, scores a lot of points, etc.
, this does not mean that he is a leader. The leader is responsible for the result of the team, for the result in each individual episode. He must be prepared that at a difficult moment, it is he who will lead his partners along with him.
2. Passionate desire. Passion is a very important quality for a true leader. Passion and a clear goal allow the leader to keep the focus, he should not rush about, he should systematically achieve the task set for the game.
3. Aspiration. The leader must be clearly aware of his goal, he must strive for it with all his might. Even being in a difficult situation, he should not stop, play out each episode, help his partners, and not give up.
4. Creative approach. A leader should not think in patterns. He must be able to improvise, to do unexpected things. It's nice to surprise your partners and leave your rivals in bewilderment.
5. Self-confidence. Only confidence will help you make the right decision in a difficult situation.
And in case of defeat, confidence will allow you to quickly recover and continue to follow your goal.
Pavel Beskhitrov
sports psychology consultant
What it takes to become a leader - Messina Online - Blogs
I want to start this post with something that those who follow our matches must have noticed. In the past three months, JR has come to the fore and has shown incredible leadership not only in terms of points and assists, but also in terms of setting an example for the team. If we evaluate basketball performance and leadership qualities, I think JR is showing his best basketball in all the time that I know him.
Of course, his self-confidence has been greatly improved since winning the EuroBasket and he has proven to be a great player against top playmakers like Tony Parker and all the others. Therefore, it would be interesting to discuss what it takes to become a team leader.
There are two different types of leadership. First silent.
This is when a player leads by example, hard work, attitude, composure in difficult situations. Second sonorous. There are players who lead not only by example, but also by words. In America they are called vocal leaders. They are able to talk to other players in difficult moments to help them overcome their fears, to push those who are not playing their best basketball. Being a silent or resounding leader depends on the character of the person.
Sometimes the best player is satisfied that he carries this burden and tries to do everything for the team to win
I believe that the concept of leadership is closely related to the concept of responsibility. Only those who can assume responsibility and perform their duties on and off the court are considered leaders in a team or other organization.
The best player is not always the leader. There may be various reasons for this. Firstly, he may have much more talent than what he shows, and he does not force himself to give all the best in daily training.
When players see that someone is not giving 101 percent effort every day, they have a minimal chance of becoming a leader. Another reason Sometimes the best player is satisfied simply by carrying the load and trying to do everything for the team to win. He does not need the extra burden of responsibility for his comrades that a father or older brother usually feels. It doesn't mean he doesn't want it. It's just that what he's already doing is enough for him. He is more comfortable when others support him, and not when he supports someone.
Sometimes a leader is a player of average talent, a very diligent, very responsible and empathetic person who can take care of the people around him. Sometimes one word from him is enough to relax or excite those who need it.
The coach cannot appoint a leader. This is the most interesting fact. A fact that is often overlooked. In order for the team to have a leader, it is necessary that the players identify it. Ratings or medals do not necessarily make a person such.
The group selects it according to other criteria. Leadership is not always combined with influence or power. More often it is based on respect for your knowledge and experience, on the fact that you care.
For a team to have a leader, players must identify one
A coach can help his players expedite the process of determining who will take on the leadership role. But the coach himself never defines it. On the teams I've worked with, I've had players who were brilliant at playing and leading by example, but who weren't able to talk to their colleagues. Other basketball players were not the best, but they were great at inspiring teammates, emphasizing the importance of fulfilling the responsibilities of everyone on the road to victory.
Now it's much more important how you choose a team than how you train it. If you find good players who are capable of being leaders, you will have much less problems as the season progresses. If there are no leaders among your players, no matter how good they are, you may suddenly find that there is no one to lead your team.
In my opinion, a coach cannot be a leader in the dressing room. You can force the team to obey some rules, but you are always dependent on the fact that within the team there are one, two or three leaders.
During our three years at CSKA, we had many leaders on and off the court. From Panov to David Vanterpool, Trajan, JR and more. At different times we needed different types of leadership, and we always got exactly what we needed.
Ability to coexist with other people and work towards common goals quintessence of leadership
Everyone can be a leader to a certain extent, provided that he accepts responsibility, especially if he does it under pressure. When you show that you do a great job under pressure and are not afraid of responsibility, someone is sure to follow your example, even if you don’t say a word.
The ability to coexist with other people and work towards common goals the quintessence of leadership. If you think of leadership as an opportunity to rise above others, you are on the wrong track.
I've seen a few examples where the command was mistyped. Fortunately, there are few such examples. Negative leaders (in sports or other form of organization) are also good for influencing people, but they are driven primarily by their personal goals. They confuse others, but can be just as loud and persuasive as real leaders.
Even a young player can become a leader one day. All it takes is to take responsibility and fulfill your responsibilities. The strongest of leaders is the person who truly, sincerely rejoices when the team wins, regardless of how he himself performed. If there is even a bit of discontent left in your soul, or you are not completely happy for others, it will be more difficult to lead a team. The leader takes responsibility for the entire team.
Of course, it is more difficult for a young player to become a leader. You need to show the best of your abilities under pressure and perform at the highest level in key moments. It is rare for a young man to be a resounding team leader.
But there are exceptions that reveal leadership as an innate quality to some extent. Joan of Arc commanded the French army at the age of 18. Jesus led people when he was in his early 20s. Most of our players are either leaders or have the potential to become leaders.
In any team, leadership is either distributed or concentrated in the hands of one person. I don't think it's good to have one leader. In CSKA we have several people who can lead depending on the circumstances. This is what makes us different from the rest. When we need a leader, we have one, especially at the end of the seasons.
Sport is like a chemical reaction that the expectations of a large number of people make it proceed faster
In the early part of the season, our team is trying to find an internal balance by getting different types of leadership from different players. At this time, the risk of defeat is greater, but when it ends, we do not suffer from a lack of leadership qualities.
The balance is not only in the distribution of minutes, shots, rebounds, it is based on the decision of who will come out on top when circumstances require, on trust.
Injuries to key players force the team to seek a new balance. For example, Matjaz is one of our leaders. After his injury, other players had to redistribute his responsibilities among themselves. It took a while, but now the balance has been established. When Matjaz returns, we will have to change the balance again.
This is a great example of a dynamic, constantly evolving balance. For me, this is the most interesting part of the work, not only in sports, but, generally speaking, in any organization. The balance we have now may be different in two or three months. Some players get injured, some play better basketball and are more trustworthy, some play differently. As a result, you get a completely different situation. Not worse or better just different. Every situation, every experience changes people, and their inner relationships often change.
You can no longer rely on the same as before, you need to transform what is there so that it fits in the future.
In sports (which is why people who study group behavior and like to focus on sports) where there are a lot of games and a high degree of pressure, all the factors described are accelerated. It's like a chemical reaction that the expectations of a large number of people make it happen faster. Similar things happen in banks, offices and many other organizations. People leave, come back, come to the fore, recede into the shadows. They experience success, failure, stress, and in the end they are no longer who they were. They change from month to month. And every time we need to find a new balance.
However, all this pressure, all this expectation leads to huge differences. In a typical office, if you mess up, almost no one will notice. It will remain behind closed doors. Here we are open to all eyes. All processes are greatly influenced by the fact that we are evaluated from the outside.
