I have heard the, “What can I do to get more playing time?” question many times at the close of a sport season. Usually this question comes from two distinct types of athletes: A. The athlete that really wants to work towards improvement. B. The athlete that is giving “lip service” about working to improve, without any legitimate desire or plan to actually do the extra work.
In all cases, my standard recommendations tended to be as follows:
1. If there were still other school sports to be played by the athlete in question, I always told them to focus on their next sport. (To stay with the theme from the previous blog, I was always a major proponent of multi-sport athletes & appreciated skills that transitioned from one sport to the next.)
2. Recommended additional time in the weight room and with other speed/agility training. These activities should take place, both in season and out of season throughout the year. (Often times I would also offer to help them set up individualized schedules.)
3. I would stress the importance of their participation in the sport’s summer program. Great strides of improvement, by both individuals and teams, often take place due to summer preparation. (Although summer participation cannot be mandatory in Illinois, it is very important.)
4. Offer to recommend various skills camps, if they are interested in attending. Many of these are just a waste of time and money, but some can be productive. I have never professed to know everything, and if attendance at a shooting camp, linebacker camp, etc., can potentially lead to improved individual or team performance, I am definitely in favor of his/her attendance. (Sometimes “hearing another coaching voice” from time to time can be very productive.)
5. In all cases, I always stressed the fact that, if they really wanted to improve, they had to make a legitimate commitment to doing so. Everyone “wants more playing time next season,” but the ones that receive it, are the ones who actually put in the time and effort to actually EARN it.
For most of my career, I gave players an end of the season written evaluation, and give them areas for improvement. We would meet and I would go over the evaluation with them. With advent of cell phones to take pictures of the document and social media, it quickly became evident that I could not give written feedback.
So I flipped, and gave them an evaluation to fill out on themselves. They were asked to describe what their role was in the previous season, what role they hoped for the next year, and what they needed to work on to achieve that role. Then they brought it into me and we sat down and talked about what they had written. Obviously if their assessment was not realistic, we tried to talk about it.
The player who specifically asked about what to do play more, I would try to hit the following thing:
1- Who was ahead of you at the end of the season?
2- Realize you are not the only one who will work to improve.
3- First try to improve as an athlete. Follow our weight program, and use other sports to become more athletic- for example track.
4- Shoot, shoot, shoot.
5- Realize in our summer program, everything we do will be designed for improvement so attend activities and commit to compete in every drill.
6- Seldom is getting more playing time about scoring more. When you get a chance to play- focus on defending, rebounding, and effectively handling the ball.
7- The Doug Collins quote- “Know your role, believe in your role, star in your role.” You will seldom get a bigger role if you don’t show an ability to perform in your present role.
Mark Massey- ClintonPostseason meetings:
I always tried to have postseason meetings, obviously at the conclusion of a season and then preseason, or post training camp meeting.
I felt it was important to frame things as what an athlete can do to get better as opposed to “getting playing time.” We tried to get players to reflect on themselves and what they did well and what they might want to get better in. I think that helped them take ownership. If I thought there was an obvious omission, I could steer them toward that particular area.
Again, we never like to talk about any degree of certainty of playing time as much as get better as an athlete, get better in terms of skill and techniques. Playing time did come up when we discussed where they saw themselves on the team, and I would describe where I saw them in terms of best case scenario/not such a good scenario.
For a returning starter, it might be keep working hard. You’re gonna be on the court a lot you might be in position for off-season honors. The conversation with someone in terms of how do I get more playing time, might be, “right now you’re one of two or three challenging for playing time at a couple of these positions. You need to make yourself stronger, and we need you to be a better ball handler. Your role may not require to take that many swings, but we need you to be a great blocker.”
Jeff Parson- Wethersfield, FultonI always encouraged our players to come to me or our coaches and ask what they needed do to play more. I would always use the sandwich method (later on in my career). Tell them something positive first, follow it up with what I felt like they need to work on to play more and finish with a positive comment.
Never did I want to get the parents involved. I always told our players that when they came into our program as freshmen they were boys and when they left as seniors they were men.
Our players knew that the off season was the time to get better. I would always finish our last game with what are you going to do between now and the start of practice next year to get better. If you are better, then our team is better.
I would also have individual meetings with our Juniors, Sophs and Freshman to make sure they knew everything that I wanted them to work on. I always told our athletes that I could teach them to guard in 1 day, but YOU have to become a better shooter, a better passer and a better dribbler.
I also told our athletes to take athletic PE, so we can make them better athletes. We also did a ton of individual skill development with our athletes in the off season, especially the summer. We as a program were not an equal opportunity shooting program. Our best players shot the ball and our players knew that. They know if they want shots in our program, then they must be one of the best shooters.
We would begin by asking them the same question and then you could find out how realistic they were about their situation and role on the team. By making them answer the question you could usually tell if they were asking or their parents were pushing them to ask.
If we felt their parents were pushing them to ask this question we would be very courteous. They may have been very uncomfortable and uneasy about the situation they were put in. We didn't want to lose a player because they were forced into doing something they didn't want to do.
If we felt it was a 100% player inquiry we would point out some of their limitations and give them examples. No matter the situation we would make a specific list of things they needed to work on. Trying to be very positive about their ability to make those adjustments.
Most years we would send a season ending letter to point out their positive contributions. In that letter we would also state some things we felt they needed to work on to help improve themselves and the program. We felt this helped because we didn't get the playing time question often. We were fortunate to have great kids who mostly enjoyed their role and being part of the team.
This is a tough question because every situation is different year to year and player by player. So I am not sure what my specific answer would be to a player who asks this question (which has happened before). I suppose I can lay it out by potential scenarios.
First and foremost, a coach has to answer the player honestly. And sometimes that honesty might end up being that you don’t have a direct answer because the season is so far off. I think it can be dangerous to start spouting out one or two things you think will get them more playing time. In their minds that sounds a little like a guarantee. We don’t know if other players will improve as well, leaving them in the same spot they were in last season. Then that causes hard feelings because they may believe you lied to them.
Sometimes the honest answer may be that there are at least a couple of returning players that are ahead of them and moving ahead of them will be difficult. So their role realistically may not change. Again, we as coaches don’t have a crystal ball so don’t know exactly what will happen. But we have to not fall into the trap of promising things that may not come true.
Another, more specific, aspect is the direct answers we can give them as far as improvement. I would focus on some of the basic things that never hurt a player's chances of improving - get stronger/quicker (one way to help defensively), and work on skills like shooting, ballhandling, passing, or scoring inside. Those are all things they can work on that relate to making them more valuable on the court. And while they should work on improving weaknesses in the off-season, they should also be told that one way to get on the court is to have a specialty - something they do better than others on the team. Sometimes they work on trying to beat out a certain player, but it causes them to play away from areas that could be their strength. They should look at what role they can fill to the best of their ability.
We have also had some conversations about how much they need to play AAU vs. working on their game. Some of that involves who they will be playing with and what coaches allow them to get away with. This relates to another area that is difficult to work on in the off-season. That would be basketball IQ and how it relates to decision making. It can be tough to tell a player who consistently makes poor decisions or doesn't understand making "winning plays" that they have to work on that in order to see more minutes.
Bob Anderson- Williamsfield HS
Bob is retired as boys basketball coach at Williamsfield. At a school of only 89 students, in 45 years, his teams won 732 games along with numerous tourney and conference championships. His 1997 team made it to the Elite 8.
Mike Cooper- Ottawa HS
Mike is the retired Athletic Director at Ottawa HS. He was varsity girls basketball coach for 22 years, as well as sophomore football coach for many years. He was inducted in the the IBCA HOF.
Tim Engebretson- United HS
He was varsity head football coach for many years at United HS. He also has coached basketball at different levels. His 2005 team won the Illinois State Title, and Tim is in the Illinois Football Coaches' HOF as well as the United HOF.
Greg King- Sterling HS
In his head coaching career at Sterling, his football teams went 78-28, and had 10 straight play-off appearances and 5 conference titles. In addition to his success as a football coach, he was inducted in the Illinois Athletic Director's Association HOF.
Mark Massey- Clinton HS
Mark was the head volleyball coach at Clinton for 38 years. His teams won 818 games, and twice took second in State. He is in the Iowa Volleyball HOF and Clinton HS HOF.
Thom Sigel- Rock Falls/Rock Island HS
Thom coached basketball for 32 years. His teams won 502 games, and he has the distinction of winning the State Title at both Rock Falls and Rock Island. Thom is in the IBCA HOF.
Mike Tracey- Alleman, UTHS, Moline HS
Mike coached football at Alleman, UT, and Moline for over 20 years. He is considered the premier football coach in WB6 history. His teams won 140 games, and twice finished second in State. Mike is in the Alleman HS HOF and the Illinois Football HOF. He was also selected Illinois AD of the Year.
Greg Bennett- Lewistown
Greg coached many sports at Lewistown. He had teams go to State in girls basketball and football. He is in the Illinois Football HOF as well as being in the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame. He is know for his commitment as a coach and his high energy level.
Jeff Parsons- Wethersfeild, Fulton
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