We are getting into that time of year again as the competition winds down, and there is some downtime coming up – but only for some! This is also the time of year where players and coaches get to work on various areas of their game, and try to make their good, great and work on some of their weaknesses. We cover off what a workout should look like, content, time, and some things that can make a big impact in the off season.

One of the age old debates in coaching, is do you teach the system first, or the skill set? And even then, do you start with the offence or the defence? How do you become time efficient, over the course of a season with limited practice time? We bounce around a few of these topics throughout the pod this week, in the hope that we make it easier for the coaches, but still remaining fun and enticing for the players.

There was a warning before we started the pod this week that this may not have been a good idea, and what was supposed to be a podcast coaching behaviours, wasn’t. What we are left with though, is an hour of varying thoughts on coaching, winning, development, how the game is played and coached, and nearly any other topic or tangent we ventured down. In theory we will get to the behaviour topic in a few weeks time, just maybe not with this group of coaches involved on the pod…

It’s the time of year where we focus on the other orange circular object and talk about the things that can scare us as players, coaches and spectators. We enlist the help of some of our loyal Talking Split listeners who sent in their ideas for the pod combined with some of our own thoughts on the subject. Reminder that we have our Mailbag podcast coming up soon, so any questions for the team, just send them in!

On the back of sometimes feeling we are an imposter last week, a little bit more self-reflection this week as we look at how coaches can progress with their own coaching. We discuss how it can change over time, some of the more underrated ways to improve, and some things we wish we knew when we first started out coaching. Far less Oasis references, but plenty of “Story time” and “Aurelius” drops in there to keep you occupied all the same!

A topic this week that raises the question for a lot of coaches, am I good enough to do this? Imposter syndrome is something that a lot of coaches go through, trying to work out if they fit, if they’re the right person, or even if they’re doing a good job with the team they’re coaching. We look back through some of the examples we’ve had in our own coaching, but also some tools and strategies that we have used to work through this. Bonus points for every Oasis song reference you can find – this will make more sense as you listen, D’You Know What I Mean?

Busy time of year for everyone in the coaching world (is there ever a time where it isn’t?), with selection trials happening around the state, and new teams being formed. As coaches, we have the difficult task, of knowing what the first things are that we can do with our teams and parents to tip off on the right note. We discuss parent meetings, training content, and getting everyone on the same page. It’s also the podcast debut for Nick Mihai, who’s recently joined Basketball Victoria in a Basketball Development Officer role – doubling the coaching department, to 2 people!

Bit of a different take on things this week, as we go over what players can do at their trials to give themselves the best possible chance of success. We look at some key things they can do before getting there, things players can do on court to contribute to their experience, and how to deal with the outcomes afterwards.

It’s a crazy stressful time of year about to come up, with multiple clubs about to go through selection trials for the coming season and lots of kids wandering around the state with permanent marker on their bodies! With Coops AWOL, Rob & Zoe cover off what coaches need to be aware of, such as what content needs to be in a selection trials, how you would evaluate players in a short period of time, and why it’s important to look after your admin people on the day!

Bit of an extended Book Club this week, as we delve into the 2009 article from Jay Bilas, on Toughness. What it is, who exhibits it the most, how do we coach it, what are some of the things that are considered to be “tough”, and how it may have changed since the article and book first came out. If you’re keen to read the full article, you can find it here: https://www.ncacoach.org/uploads/Glines2.pdf