If a coach uses these important words and phrases regularly, these words and phrases can become part of the team culture.
Teams need phrases not just for the lockeroom but that will also serve as a way to refocus during a tight game.
Championship teams reach a point where it is not just the coaches using these key words and phrases- players are using them. These concepts are becoming ingrained in the team culture.
Basic Basketball Vocabulary
I have noticed a huge difference when you watch a high school and a college basketball practice. College coaches use and communicate by using concise phrases or simple vocabulary, whereas high school coaches tend to talk in full sentences or paragraphs when trying to convey an idea.
For example in college you might hear things like…
“Horns, Iverson with Curl”- the team then runs that action.
“Tag Man, One Foot Out of Lane”- simple correction to a defender.
All coaches need to build and use a basic basketball vocabulary list. Things like:
Iverson Cut
Flex Action
Floppy Action
UCLA Cut
Side Ball Screen
Flare
Hammer
Ghost
Re-Screen
Tag
Help
Blitz
Hard Hedge
Switch
The list can go on and on. Coaches need to build a vocabulary list, use the vocabulary of basketball and use it to convey coaching points.
Cues for Basketball Actions
Coaches need short concise phrases that serve as cues for basketball actions the players need to make.
Talk Early
One More
High Hand
Stay Wide
Over the Top
Feet Not Hands
Off the Hip
Make Contact
Two Hands
Hold Follow Thru
Wall up
Move the ball, move yourself
Say what you are doing
Team Culture Phrases
Stephanie White of Indiana Fever talked about how at the start of their season, they established the center of the team culture would be, “We over me.”
An error coaches often make is that they hear a dozen catchy quotes and phrases, and want to use all of them. A few that will be remembered is going to be more effective. You want to get to the point where the players will repeat the phrase or phrases of significance when they are needed. For example maybe after the team breaks the huddle in the fourth quarter of a tight game, you want a team leader to re-huddle the team and hear them say, “Tough together.”
A few phrases are all that is needed. And as a coach, you should use the phrase as a teaching point in practices. For example, maybe one of your key phrases is “Next Play.” When players have struggled in a drill, you use the phrase and tell them what it will look like. Maybe you talk to them during a practice what “going to next play” will look like after a win or after a loss. So rather than have lots of catchy phrases, just have a few that you can use to really dive deep into the meaning of.
I would suggest that a team have “cultural phrases” such as “Humble and Hungry” that describe what they want their team to be like. But I also think it is important have a phrase or cue that players can fall back on during games when things are tough- a phrase that helps remind them or refocus them such as, “One possession at a time.”
Next Play (Next Ball)
Tougher Together
Next Man Up
We over me.
Hardest for the longest
One possession at a time
Got your back
Win the day
Humble and hungry
Stay Ready to be ready
Built on trust, fueled by passion
1 Team, 1 Dream, 1 Family
1% better
If you can’t guard, you can’t play
Best player on the team, or best player for the team
Everyone wants to win, only a few are willing to prepare to win
Team first
Pressure is a privilege
Words to Define the Team
Sometimes all we need are single words to help focus us on what we want to be. If we make a small list of words, they can be put prominently in the locker room as reminders. As coaches, we can use them as “team lessons” to give examples of how we can best use these concepts as a team.
So the words can be used to teach, they can be used in games to remind, and used in games by players to connect.
Discipline
Accountability
Ownership
Intensity
Energy
Persistence
Commitment
Excellence
Courage
Vision
Trust
Sisterhood, Brotherhood
Toughness
Humility
Coachability
Unity
Acronyms to Remind
Some coaches like to take 4-5 key concepts and tie them together in an acronym. The caution would be the longer the acronym, the more likely players won’t remember all the words.
TEAM- Together Everyone Achieves More
GRIT- Guts, Resolve, Intensity, Energy
CORE- Commitment, Ownership, Respect, Excellence
HUSTLE- Hard work, urgency, sacrifice, teamwork, loyalty, energy
HIT- Play hard, play intelligent, play together
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