5 Keys To Becoming A GREAT On-Court Leader (Podcast Episode 53)

Foreign training podcast. Shout out to everybody who tuned in right now. Apple podcast, Spotify, Pandora, wherever you guys listen to the podcast. And of course everybody who's in on YouTube right now, shout out to you guys. Like I said, guys, you are an Apple podcast. Make sure you go down. Leave a review for me, let me know what you think of the show. Have one review to read to see you guys this week. Says great podcast, excellent advice for anyone trying to improve their game, regardless of their level. Definitely have incorporated more random training into my routine, which is translated a lot better to game situations. So again, anytime I get a review, guys read it on the show. So let me know what you think. And as we continue to move forward, you know, reviews are so good for the show because it helps to expose it to more people, help us to rank higher so that you know, organically through Apple podcasts, more people find it, which helps us to grow more. And I've definitely got a lot of future visions for this podcast, so I appreciate all the support that you guys give. If you are on YouTube right now, make sure you drop a like subscribe new podcast coming every Sunday. And as probably has already flashed over the screen, my Instagram is at Vision Driven Basketball. So if you have any questions for me, make sure you send me a DM or just throw me a follow anyway and we'll hop into it. You know, I think one of the, one of the most important topics that I don't think is covered enough, you know, like you're going to find content on basically every aspect of basketball when it comes to your skills or even, you know, when it comes to athleticism. Now, like that's becoming so super popular for trainers to talk about, for, you know, coaches to talk about is that sort of like the physical aspect of basketball. You'll find a ton of stuff when it comes to like the mental side, when it comes to confidence or it comes to, you know, whatever it may be when it comes to just like, you know, the way that you approach the game, all those things that's becoming more and more popular as well. I think one area where there isn't enough, that enough information out there isn't talked about enough, that isn't stressed enough, is the leadership part of the game. Because basketball is not just about, we talk about the context of a team sport. That's the part of basketball that makes it so interesting, right? You can work out by yourself, you can train by yourself, you can watch videos to improve your individual skills, but when it comes down to it, basketball is A team sport. It's a five on five sport, right? And the ultimate goal is to win games. Okay. You know, if you want to play college basketball, a coach recruits you because he thinks you're going to help his team win. He doesn't care how good of a shooter you are. He doesn't care how good of a ball handler you are. He just wants to know, hey, is this going to going to help my team win? If so, then okay, I meant recruiting. If not, then I'm not going to recruit him. And that might go hand in hand with you being a great shooter or being great at something, but it's all about how do you help the team win. And I think one of the biggest aspects of winning is not just the physical part of it, right? It's not just about what team has better players, right. If that was the case, then there'd be no reason to ever play the game because the team with better players would always win. Okay? That would, that, that would just. There, you know, March Madness. There'd never be any upsets because a team that's ranked higher, that has better players, that has all these NBA lottery picks on their team would always beat the mid major. But it doesn't happen that way. There's so many other factors that go into it, right? When you think about, you know, the intangibles of the game, right? The intangibles of the game is really where that distinction is made and where games are won and lost. So you need to talk about who executes the game plan better. There's number one right there, who stays more level headed throughout the game, who makes less mistakes, who's able to still do all these things when adversity hits them. Okay. Those intangible factors are really what determines what teams win and what teams don't. And I think when it comes down to it, the teams that are better at handling these intangible factors are the teams that have great player leaders. Okay? Not always about the coach. It's not always about the talent on the team. It's about is the team coach led or is it player led? Do you have players who step up and are leaders for your team? Because if you do, you're going to be able to handle these intangibles. And I think a question that I get a good amount, it's like, hey coach, how do I become a better leader? Like, how do I do a better job at being that guy on the floor that helps my teammates out, helps us to win? That's a very important Question. Because from my perspective, I see, and this really goes across the board. There is a. There's a severe lack of leadership in general when it comes to players that I see. And some teams really like, some teams don't have this problem. And usually those teams are the ones that are really, really good. But across the board, for the most part, there's a lack of leadership out there. And I don't think that is because players don't want to be leaders in their team. I think a lot of times it just comes down to they don't understand either the importance of it or they don't understand how to do it. So. So today I want to talk about how you can be that leader on your team. And specifically, I want to give you guys five keys to being a great leader, to being an effective leader for your team. I think that if you guys can take these five keys, not only are you going to become a more valuable addition to your team, but you're going to see your overall success rate go up. And obviously, guys, you have to understand the cycle of things. The more your team wins, the better it is for you. Always, right? If you get the opportunity to be on a good team, it's always going to come back to help you. Because the more you guys win, the more people watch you, the more people talk about you, the more people are interested in what you're doing, right? Those you guys who are in high school who want to play at the next level. And the more you win, the bigger venue you guys play, the bigger games you guys play. And all of a sudden you've got more coaches, they're watching you've got more eyes on you. And it comes back to how well does your team play? That's a big key that you guys need to understand about all of this. So, number one, the maybe the most important key to being a great leader is understanding your teammates and how to get the most out of them. So the first key you have to have in order to be a great leader is an understanding of your teammates. And this is not just an understanding of them as basketball players. Right? You obviously should know, okay, this guy likes to shoot, this guy likes to drive. You know, this guy is a really good defender. This guy is not as great of a defender. You should know your, your physical tendencies of your. Of your own teammates. That's obviously a part of it. But even bigger than that is knowing the, your teammates as just human beings. Like, what's their personality like? Right? How do they respond to different things? What can they handle. What can they not handle? And the thing you have to understand is that not everybody responds the same way to the same exact thing. Like, you might have three teammates who might go to the same as a situation, and all three are going to respond very, very differently to that. And you, as a leader, part of your job is knowing, okay, how is this guy going to respond if I say this or if I do this? Because if I know it's going to be a negative response, then I might need to change the way that I approach things, change the way that I do things. So let's say, for example, you have a teammate, maybe they respond well to getting yelled at or to just an intense approach. And so they may be able to handle, know you going at them a little with a little bit more intensity, or your coach is going at them a little more intensity. You also might have another teammate who responds very poorly to that, who, if somebody goes at them like that, they might either go right back at them and not be willing to hear any of it, or they may just completely retreat, go into their shell and just play a lot worse. Now, if you go at them with that sort of intensity, so you have to be able to change the way that you respond to people depending on who they are. Not everybody in your team is going to be the same. So step one to being a leader is knowing each of your teammates and what the best way to communicate, which is with, with each of them is. And some teammates might need to be calmed down before games, right? Some teams might be really in their own heads and, you know, super tight, super tense. You might have to just go and like, joke around with a little before the game. That might be the way to get them to play their best. Other teammates might be, you know, they might not have that issue. They might be fine. They might be where they need to be, right? Some teammates might be a little bit low on energy before games. So you've got to go and like, get them, get them up a little, you know, get them going a little bit, add some energy into the room. You having that understanding of what your teammates, what they respond best to, what their personalities are. That's how, first of all, as a leader, you're able to communicate with them effectively and have them, you know, play their best and ultimately get, get the best out of them so that your team has the best chance of winning. Basketball is so much more than just a physical game, right? It's also a game of learning how to deal with people. And the better you are at Dealing with people and understanding how to manage personalities. The better you're going to be as a leader, the better you're going to be as a player, and the better your team is going to be, which, again, is going to go back to benefit you as well. So in order to be a leader, you have to know your teammates, and you have to know how to get the best out of each of them individually. So point number two I want to touch on that is you have to know how to get the most out of your teammates. Right? So you know, you understand personalities, you understand how to. How to. How to approach people. Now it becomes, how do I get the most out of each of my teammates? Right. The goal of you, like, your goal as a player, the goal of every player should be to win. Ultimately, your goal is to engage, because like I said, the more that you win, the better it is for everybody. So you need your teammates to be the best versions of themselves if you want to win. If you want to win, they've got to be at their best. It can't just be, like I said, it's a team sport. It can't just be about you being at your best. They've also got to be there as well. And how you respond to your teammates in crucial moments is ultimately going to determine and make or break their confidence and the overall team chemistry that you guys have. And those crucial moments are moments when they mess up or when they make different mistakes. So the issue is that oftentimes players completely mess this part up and they ruin the confidence of their teammates or the overall chemistry of their team. And a lot of times they become players who can't be leaders because their teammates don't want to listen to them anymore because they don't respond well in these certain situations. So let's say, for example, your teammate cuts to the basket and you make a great pass to them, and then they miss the layup. What? Wide open layup. They miss it. Now the question becomes, how do you respond to them? Right there. Because I've seen players go and just start ripping into their teammate during the game because they miss a layup. Or they go and they just. The body language is horrible. They're throwing their arms like, I can't believe he missed that layup. Or they're shaking their head. Or you can tell that they resent their teammate because they. They messed that play up, right? They don't go over and say anything to them. They just like, oh, man, that's. That's horrible. And then they, you know, know, walk back on defense, say nothing, and you can just see the overall team, the energy just deflate out of that team because of one guy who doesn't respond well to. To his teammate, because you know your teammate already is going to feel pretty horrible about missing that, missing that layup. So you compounding it with your own negative reaction is just going to make it worse for everybody. And this is what a lot of players don't get. A lot of players are not able to control themselves when, when somebody makes a mistake, they always respond negatively to that. Okay, so how do you think in that situation, if you go up to your teammate and just start ripping into them, right? How do you think that they're supposed to respond to that? The majority of time, especially when there's a crowd involved, they might either just go right back at you for something that maybe you did earlier, so now you guys are just going back and forth with each other, or they might just completely retreat into their own shell and their confidence is going to be shot and they're not even going to try to do anything the rest of the game. So you've lost one of your teammates already. At that point, you guys are going to be fighting. And that one moment might lead to the whole season being ruined between the two of you guys because you don't handle it correctly. Okay? So you have to understand how your reaction to a mistake or a mess up has such a big impact on whether or not your team is going to be able to win games. And so either way, whichever response you take is going to be negative in that. In that regard. So if you truly want to win, you can't respond negatively to mistakes that your teammates make. It has to be positive, it has to be encouraging. They have to be reminded, they have to be told, and they have to believe that the next time they get an opportunity, they're going to make a play. Okay? After your teammate misses that layup, you've got to be, hey, man, it's all good, right? Keep your head up. Next play. Next play. That's what it's got to be. Hey, man, it's all good. Don't worry about it. We got to get a stop right here. Okay, I got you. Next time. Those have to be the words that you speak to your teammates, right? Because you want them to be at their best. So what just happened? There's nothing you can do about it, but you can make sure that moving forward, your teammate stays in the best position to be locked in, to be able to convert that next play. And by responding positively with encouragement. That's the best way for you to be able to do that. Okay? The correct way to do that. Helping pick your teammates up, helping elevate your teammates, uplift them in those situations, get them out of their own head. That's a big part. Your team is going to be in. In their own head. If they miss a shot, they miss a few shots, they miss a couple of layups. You've constantly got to be that voice in their ear reminding them, hey, man, we're good. Next shot. All right. You got to keep on taking that, man. Like, we're good. Okay, let's get a stop right here. Those sort of positive words are going to be what allows your teammates to be at their best. And you have to approach positive. You have to push leadership with positivity, because if you don't, your teammates eventually just aren't going to listen to anything that you say. If the only time that if you feel like being a leader means that you have to just be on your guys and be negative and always be, you know, yelling at guys for stuff, then at the end of the day, your teammates are just going to tune you out. They're going to resent you, first of all. And that's going to lead to. That's going to show itself in games. You guys are going to lose more games because you guys don't get along. But also, your teammates aren't going to be at their best. They're not going to care what you have to say, because all that you say to them is negative. So even when you have something that might be a legitimate thing, they're not going to care because they don't feel like you actually have their best interest in mind. You're just all about trying to show that it's their fault, not your fault. That's what it comes across as when you respond negatively to something that your teammates do. Okay? And this transcends to so many different areas of basketball as well, right? What do you do when your teammate misses an assignment on defense? Okay. Is it you turn around, you scream at them that they mess that up, or is it, hey, man, we're good? All right, just next time, just make sure you drop right there, okay? And then I'll drop and get your help right there. That's gotta be your response. Say, hey, man, always starting off, hey, man, we're good. Like, hey, it's all good, man. Don't worry about it. Next time, make sure you do this. And then I'll be there after to Help you with that? Okay, you wanna, you don't wanna just kind of come at them negatively, right? You wanna come at them with a compliment or come at them with some sort of positivity so that they're receptive to what you have to say. That's something you have to understand. You know, what about if you are. If you're on the wing wide open for three, your teammate drives and then they miss you and then they end up missing the layup. Okay, Again, a lot of times players will. First of all, a lot of times players just won't be able. They won't say anything about that, right? But even if they do, a lot of times, like, hey, man, like, you gotta throw me the ball, right? And again, depending on who your teammate is, some teammates might not respond well to that. They might not. They might get defensive over that. So by you doing that, it's just going to make the whole situation worse. So you gotta be able to say, hey, man, good take. Don't worry about it. Okay? Next time, just make sure. Hey, when you drive like the next time, if they collapse on you like that, kick it out to me there, okay? You can completely change the way that you say something. And now your team is going to be receptive to the way that you approach them with it. So again, that goes back to knowing your teammates, knowing their personalities, and ultimately that's what's going to be. That's going to. That's what's going to help you to get the most out of each of your teammates. The other aspect to this is body language. And it's super imperative that you have great body language when you interact with your teammates, especially after they make mistakes. So, for example, if you throw that pass to your teammate and they miss the layup and the ball goes out of bounds, then you have to respond to that not only positively with your words, but with your body language. If you turn around, you throw your arms up in the air, you roll your eyes, now your team is going to see you do that. And then immediately it's going to be a me versus him sort of thing, like, oh, he's trying to show everybody in the crowd that it's my fault. And again, that's going to cause your teammates who now play worse. So if your goal is to win games, then it can't be about whose fault is it. You've got to be willing to take responsibility, which we're going to get to later on, okay? But the way that you, that you have body, like your body language, that you use is super, super important, right? If you walk up to your teammates and. Or your teammate and you guys are talking about something that just happened, you throw your arms up in the air and, you know, you roll your eyes, that's a display to the crowd that, hey, that's his fault. It's not my fault. It's his fault. And now he is going to, again, either go back at you with that and hold that against you, or he's just going to retreat into his shell and you're not going to have that guy anymore like, he's done. He's not going to be playing at his best, okay? So your body language has to remain positive at all times. Point number three that I want to make is that communication is one of the biggest keys, okay? So you have to understand that, you know, communication is needed when you want to take that next step to being a great leader. And this. This can be in a bunch of different situations, right? So we can talk about before the game. Before the game, you know, you. Again, this goes back to knowing what kind of personalities your teammates have. So if I know that, you know, one of my teammates really is nervous in his own head before the game, maybe I got to go over, just crack some jokes, you know, be kind of loose with him and then, you know, maybe give him some. Some encouragement. Hey, man, like, you know, you're going to go out there, just be aggressive, and I'm going to hit you if you're open, and we're going to hit some shots tonight, okay? Maybe you say, hey, man, like, you know, let's go and have fun tonight, right? So what, we play basketball. We're supposed to have fun. All right, let's get out there and have some fun. And now your team is more relaxed. They're going to be in a better position to perform. And. And it all goes down to how you communicate with them before the game starts. So understand that that first point, the first point where that communication becomes big is before the game, right? You as a leader, have got to be the guy to be able to pinpoint, okay? Who needs what for me right now? Who needs. Who needs some encouragement right now? Who needs, you know, a reminder of the game plan right now? Like, that's what you have to know as a leader, okay? And again, that can go. That can literally be the morning of the game. That can be, you know, know, the middle of the day, that can be on the bus ride to the game, that can be in the locker room beforehand, and it could even be, you know, Right before tip off, right? Maybe right before tip off, you're walking out to the, you know, to the half court and you say, hey man, remember number 34, he's going to go left, right? Okay. Hey man, remember, you know, if he plays off you, we're going to look to, to, to hit that three, okay? Or hey man, come set this ball screen and remember, they hard hedge it. I'm going to hit you for that pop right away. Okay? So that's what you have to. That. That's the kind of, the kind of thing you have to do before games, understand? Okay, who do I need to talk to? What can I say right now to my teammates? How are we gonna all be on the same page right here? That's a big key. The next crucial moment during games for you to communicate is during timeouts and then coming out of timeouts. So a lot of times during timeouts, right, your coach is probably saying stuff to you, but there's always a chance that your coach may miss something because obviously your coach isn't on the floor with you. So that might be the time for you to be able to say, hey, this is nothing we need to look at. Here's another adjustment we need to look at right here. So you being a leader, have got to be able to do that interject when you need to in those timeouts, but also coming out of timeouts because your teammates aren't always going to be listening the entire time, right? You're going to have a couple of teammates maybe who just. They need to be reminded of things another time. Okay? So if you come out of a timeout expecting your teammates to always know what's going on, you're going to be disappointed when they don't always know what's going on. So coming out of timeouts is a great time for you to be able to go with the team, especially teammates who you might know are the usual suspects when it comes to not remembering things at a timeout, saying, hey man, we're going into a 2, 3 right here, or hey man, we're going into going to horns right here. Just so that they know and they remember what was just conveyed those important key points during the timeout. So there's another instance for you as a leader to be able to communicate with your teammates during free throws. Another moment right, where you know your team is shooting free throws, your teammate shooting or the other team is shooting, you have an opportunity to go and quickly give a reminder or make a, you know, get a call from your coach or be Able to just be able to relay information from your coach, the rest of your team. So there's another one right there kind of going with that is dead ball situations. So times where you're able to just bring your group together, bring your teammates together, a little quick huddle, just to again give those quick reminders, you know, adjustments, a just reminder, the game plan, whatever it may be. During those dead ball situations where you have a few seconds, hey guys, bring your guys together and then be able to go through that sort of stuff right there. And then of course, getting towards the end of the game, right, where things become super crucial and you have to be able to execute. And the difference between winning and losing is one mistake. Those are times where you're able to calm your teammates down, make sure everybody's on the same page, make sure there's no missing assignments on defense. All those things are important. It just becomes, you know, even more elevated in the importance of it in those end of game situations. And then the last situation where it becomes super important for you as a communicator is after the game, okay? Especially when you know your teammate, maybe your team lost or your teammate may have just not had a very good game. That's another time where you want to get your teammates out of their own head. Okay? So you see one of your teammates who maybe had a bad game or maybe they, you know, missed a couple shots at the end, you guys lost. Now's the time for you to go over and be able to kind of give them some positive, some positive words, right? Some encouragement right there, being like, hey man, we just got to get right back at it. It's like, hey man, you know, you, those are great shots. You got to keep on shooting them and, and just again, getting your team out of their own head, understanding, hey man, like my teammates are here for me when I miss shots too. That's going to help them to buy in more to that team. And now they're more receptive to what you have to say. So one point you guys have to understand is that if you want your teammates to be able to take criticism as well, that you can't just be the guy who's always criticizing. You have to also be able to be the guy who's, you know, encouraging and positive in those moments as well. So that, that becomes super important, your communication, especially in those key moments. Point number four I want to make about being a great leader is that you have to be the example. And this can go back to a whole multitude of things, but ultimately you have to be the guy who again at practice is running things correctly, right? Knows what's going on. You're the guy who knows the game plan, okay? If you're going to remind your teammates of what the game plan is, then you better know the game plan is. If you got to remind your teammates of the play calls or the defenses, you better know those play calls, you better know all the plays, you better know what defenses you guys are running. Those situations where you have to be the example, fool your teammates because if they see that you're not that example, then it's going to be harder for you to be that leader, right? And kind of going back to how I intro this, but being up, being a great player doesn't necessarily mean that you're a leader on your team. Now it probably should. If you're one of the better players on your team, you probably should be one of the leaders on your team. But that's not always how it is because being a leader is about more than just your ability to play basketball. That being said, if you are a great player and you lead by example, then that's where the buy in comes in from your teammates. Hey man, the guy who's good on our team, like that dude, he's also studying the, the, you know, he's studying the, the scouting report, he's studying game film beforehand, right? He knows all the play calls, he's communicating, he's talking. And that is contagious for the rest of your teammates as well. So that's a big key when it comes to being a leader is being the example, right? You're at practice and should be just go without saying, but you're always the guy who's working hard. You, you don't, you don't take practices off, right? You don't take drills off. You're always there giving 100%. Because if you expect that from your teammates, you better also expect that from yourself as well. The fifth area, the final area I want to talk about when it comes to being a great leader is being able to take responsibility and being able to say my bad more, more often. So one of the biggest things, one of the biggest questions I want you to ask yourself is how often can I take responsibility for things that go wrong? Now, this does not mean that everything that goes wrong is always your fault. And in fact, if you are, you know, if you're, you might be a player who doesn't do a lot of things wrong. You might be a player who always knows what's going on you always know what you're running. You always know where you're supposed to be. You do the right things. But that. That. That's not even what I'm talking about here. I'm not saying that everything is actually going to be your fault. Let's go back to that play we talked about earlier, right? Where you made that pass to your teammate and he missed the layup. So how you respond right there, the. The place that you put the blame is going to be huge. So the positive response is say, hey. You go to your teammate, say, you know, hey, man, that's my bad. I got to hit you a little earlier right there. Okay? Make sure you keep working. I'm gonna hit you next time. It might not actually have been anything to do with the pass you made. Your pass might have been great anyway. But just by shouldering some of that blame, your teammates now, not even thinking about that mistake that they made, they're just ready to go and do it again and play next time, right? They're moving themselves forward, so the next time they're in that position, they're ready to go. They're out of their own head now because, hey, my teammate just came over and took responsibility for something, right? He just said, hey, man, that's on me. I gotta hit you. I gotta do a better job right there. Okay, I got you. Next time, I'm going to go right back to you. And so now they're confident, they're ready to keep on playing. And it all came down to the fact that you're able to just, hey, my bad. I could do better right there. And now they're bought into what you're doing. They're going to play harder for you because you, as a leader, are willing to be that guy who's going to shoulder blame sometimes for them, okay? All about making your teammates feel better about themselves in that. In those moments, in those situations, if you want to get the best out of them. And again, might not actually be your fault, but let's get them out of their own head. And now thinking about playing hard and being prepared for the next time that that happens, leaders are going to take responsibility as much as possible. They're not going to point fingers and say, hey, man, that's his fault, or, hey, throw their arms up the air. Oh, it was that guy's fault, right? I want the whole crowd to know it was his fault. It was my fault. I want my coaches to know it was his fault, not my fault. That's not what leaders are going to do. Because they understand that I got to get the most out of my teammates. And I do that by being positive, by being encouraging, by uplifting them in those moments where they make mistakes. And ultimately, if I want to win, then I've got to be able to communicate effectively with those teammates. So developing that ability to be an effective communicator is such a big deal, right? And again, like I said before, guys, everybody talks about the importance of developing skills. You know, developing your athleticism, your strength, your conditioning, developing your basketball iq. All those things are super important. What a lot of players and what a lot of coaches and trainers don't stress enough is the importance of being a leader on your team if you want to win. Because like I said, it's not always about what team has the better players because you still have to go and play the game. There's so much that goes into it when it comes to knowing the Scott and report and being able to play together as a team, being able to handle adversity. And the teams that do those things typically are the ones that have great leaders in their team. So if you want all this stuff to come together, then be that great leader for your team and watch how much differently your team is able to perform because they have a guy on their team who's like that. And when you have multiple guys like that, which, again, it's contagious, starts with you being that guy, and that's going to spread over to your other teammates and. And all of a sudden everybody is just playing to win the game. And everybody's able to shoulder responsibility for both their own mistakes and their teammates mistakes. And because of that, everybody's able to play much more free, much more loose, and basketball just becomes more fun and you just win more. So that's why leadership is so important and why I wanted to go through it kind of in detail on this episode. So again, five points, five key points to be a great leader. Number one, understanding your teammates and how to get the most out of them. Number two, ultimately knowing how to get the most out of your teammates by the way that you communicate with them. Number three, understand that communication is huge. Communication is a big key. Number four, being the example, right? Leading by example. And number five is taking responsibility and being able to say my bad more often. So hopefully this gives you guys a good insight on how to be a better leader and why that's so important. I think this is one of those areas where, you know, again, me as. As a coach, me watching a ton of basketball, you see the difference between teams that have great leaders and teams that don't, and teams that go far. Teams that are consistent are the teams that have those guys who follow these keys that I'm talking about today. Okay? So be that guy through your team. Don't just be valuable as a player, be valuable as a leader. And again, the overall success of your team is just going to go up by an extraordinary amount when that starts to happen. So appreciate you guys who are listening, Apple Podcast and Spotify, and of course, Everybody who's on YouTube right now. Like I said, guys, my Instagram is at Vision Driven Basketball. So you have any questions for me, you send me a dm, give me a follow. Regardless, I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace.