Monday, July 23, 2007
The importance of saying stupid things
Not counting league, I've been in a leadership position on five different teams, including my current club mixed team. As I've gotten older, I've gradually become a little more aware of the way other people take my comments, and it's definitely affected the way I talk when I'm addressing either the team or the individual. A couple things I've figured out:
- There's a limit to how many detailed ideas a team can absorb in a huddle. I'd generally say that that number is one, or (on average) slightly less than one. I think that, oddly enough, this is why saying what I would consider stupid or pointless comments are so important. Comments like "they're tired, if we keep running hard we're going to run away with this game" are, on the face of it, pretty pointless. I mean, when I say that, I don't think there's a single person on my team who
1) was thinking "gosh, we can win this game without working very hard", and
2) was convinced of the error of their ways by my comment.
But that's not the point. The point is twofold. One, these sorts of comments are easily understood and get people agreeing with what you are saying, which helps set up any more meaty comments you have in store. Second, there's really nothing better to say there, because too many ideas is just as bad as none at all.
- In order to help people get better, you really have to treat them like individuals. What I mean is that you have to understand how they deal with failure and how they take criticism. There are some people (I am one of them) who are perfectly willing to discuss the thing(s) they screwed up that point the moment they leave the field. But there are other people who both need time away from the play, and need for constructive criticism to be couched in positive language*. This is more common when I'm dealing with women, but it is NOT just a male/female thing - there are definitely women who want to discuss things right away, and there are men who I really have to walk on eggshells with.
OK, I'm done icing my left heel and my right ankle, so that's enough for now.
* for clarity - when I don't "couch things in positive language", I still avoid expressing anger/frustration at them. My "non-positive" approach is a straightforward "you did X, this is why Y is better". Particularly on a mixed team, I try to make sure people know it's unacceptable to lapse into the pointless habit of screaming at someone when they screw up.
- There's a limit to how many detailed ideas a team can absorb in a huddle. I'd generally say that that number is one, or (on average) slightly less than one. I think that, oddly enough, this is why saying what I would consider stupid or pointless comments are so important. Comments like "they're tired, if we keep running hard we're going to run away with this game" are, on the face of it, pretty pointless. I mean, when I say that, I don't think there's a single person on my team who
1) was thinking "gosh, we can win this game without working very hard", and
2) was convinced of the error of their ways by my comment.
But that's not the point. The point is twofold. One, these sorts of comments are easily understood and get people agreeing with what you are saying, which helps set up any more meaty comments you have in store. Second, there's really nothing better to say there, because too many ideas is just as bad as none at all.
- In order to help people get better, you really have to treat them like individuals. What I mean is that you have to understand how they deal with failure and how they take criticism. There are some people (I am one of them) who are perfectly willing to discuss the thing(s) they screwed up that point the moment they leave the field. But there are other people who both need time away from the play, and need for constructive criticism to be couched in positive language*. This is more common when I'm dealing with women, but it is NOT just a male/female thing - there are definitely women who want to discuss things right away, and there are men who I really have to walk on eggshells with.
OK, I'm done icing my left heel and my right ankle, so that's enough for now.
* for clarity - when I don't "couch things in positive language", I still avoid expressing anger/frustration at them. My "non-positive" approach is a straightforward "you did X, this is why Y is better". Particularly on a mixed team, I try to make sure people know it's unacceptable to lapse into the pointless habit of screaming at someone when they screw up.
# posted by Tarr : 7/23/2007 06:43:00 AM
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Great post. I'm also struggling with giving criticism, and learning that different people deal with it in different ways. I think I'm like you, very willing to quickly analyze what I did wrong and how I can make it right.
Regarding discussing ideas during a game, I think I disagree here. Your right in that you can't give out too many sophisticated ideas at once, but I think that you can give out sophisticated ideas that may not be new. This is where practices become very important. I think you can discuss details during the game (between points and timeouts) IF they are things that have been discussed and emphasized at practice. Some common examples might include:
1) Our dumps are setting up too close to the thrower. Set up your dumps quicker and give yourself more room, throwers engage the dumps earlier.
2) We are not getting open, because our deep cuts are not real deep cuts. We are just taking a step deep to set up our in cuts. The defense isn't respecting our deep cuts because we are not actually cutting deep. This is why we are not getting open on our in cuts, or if we do get open we only gain 5 yards on the pass.
These concepts are way too complex to bring up during a game; but if these are concepts that have been emphasized at practice, then the players already have an understanding of the concept and reminding them about these ideas may allow them to fix what they are doing wrong.
I've often heard "we need to run harder". This does the opposite of motivate me, and I think that example 1 or 2 might actually be the problem, not that we're not running hard enough. I'll admit that you won't be able to discuss these concepts somewhere like summerleague, where you are on a team that doesn't practice together. Come to think of it, summerleague is probably where I've heard "we need to run harder" most often.
Regarding discussing ideas during a game, I think I disagree here. Your right in that you can't give out too many sophisticated ideas at once, but I think that you can give out sophisticated ideas that may not be new. This is where practices become very important. I think you can discuss details during the game (between points and timeouts) IF they are things that have been discussed and emphasized at practice. Some common examples might include:
1) Our dumps are setting up too close to the thrower. Set up your dumps quicker and give yourself more room, throwers engage the dumps earlier.
2) We are not getting open, because our deep cuts are not real deep cuts. We are just taking a step deep to set up our in cuts. The defense isn't respecting our deep cuts because we are not actually cutting deep. This is why we are not getting open on our in cuts, or if we do get open we only gain 5 yards on the pass.
These concepts are way too complex to bring up during a game; but if these are concepts that have been emphasized at practice, then the players already have an understanding of the concept and reminding them about these ideas may allow them to fix what they are doing wrong.
I've often heard "we need to run harder". This does the opposite of motivate me, and I think that example 1 or 2 might actually be the problem, not that we're not running hard enough. I'll admit that you won't be able to discuss these concepts somewhere like summerleague, where you are on a team that doesn't practice together. Come to think of it, summerleague is probably where I've heard "we need to run harder" most often.
You have to be very careful about bringing up multiple concepts in the huddle, even if they are concepts that have been gone over time and again in practice. It's simply not very effective. Most of your team will tune you out and not internalize more than one comment, and those who are exceptions to this are probably the ones who didn't need to be reminded anyway.
Does the average person on your team understand everything you say? Yeah, probably, since you've gone over it at practice. But there is a wide chasm between understanding a concept, and improving in that area in the middle of a game. See, it's not a question of whether people get it. It's whether the comment does any good.
If you have more concepts that you absolutely feel need mentioning, then there are a few avenues available:
- file them away and bring these ideas up later, perhaps between games. I think you can sometimes get people to really listen to and think about a couple extra concepts between games. It depends on the team. If it's something fundamental that's really killing you, then run a drill on it for five minutes. Focussed drills like this are a lot better than running the same old endzone or box drill before the next game.
- bring up the same idea individually with many people. You have to be careful with this because it can come off as criticism if you approach it the wrong way or at the wrong time. But at least this way you know you have that person's attention, and people will think about things that you tell them one-on-one.
Does the average person on your team understand everything you say? Yeah, probably, since you've gone over it at practice. But there is a wide chasm between understanding a concept, and improving in that area in the middle of a game. See, it's not a question of whether people get it. It's whether the comment does any good.
If you have more concepts that you absolutely feel need mentioning, then there are a few avenues available:
- file them away and bring these ideas up later, perhaps between games. I think you can sometimes get people to really listen to and think about a couple extra concepts between games. It depends on the team. If it's something fundamental that's really killing you, then run a drill on it for five minutes. Focussed drills like this are a lot better than running the same old endzone or box drill before the next game.
- bring up the same idea individually with many people. You have to be careful with this because it can come off as criticism if you approach it the wrong way or at the wrong time. But at least this way you know you have that person's attention, and people will think about things that you tell them one-on-one.
I think it's also worthwhile to mention that an established coach, especially one who is older/wiser than most of the players, will communicate his ideas more successfully. More people will pay attention and internalize a basic group concept (make better deep cuts), and players will accept individual criticism better overall if it comes from a coach.
It seems to me, though, that if you have two groups of people in the huddle (say, offense and defense lines), you can address them separately while you are all together. That way, both teams hear both concepts, think that only one is directed at them, and internalize both. Unless, of course, the O and D hate and blame each other, in which case you're only adding fuel to the fire.
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It seems to me, though, that if you have two groups of people in the huddle (say, offense and defense lines), you can address them separately while you are all together. That way, both teams hear both concepts, think that only one is directed at them, and internalize both. Unless, of course, the O and D hate and blame each other, in which case you're only adding fuel to the fire.
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