Basketball coaches have a number of responsibilities no matter what level they coach or how long they’ve been a part of the game. And with these responsibilities come a variety of challenges.
Dr. Dish recently surveyed over 500 high school and college coaches to learn more about these challenges, and we wanted to share the results so coaches know that they aren’t alone. Here are the top 10 challenges every basketball coach faces, and how to overcome them.
1. InsufficienT Funds or Tools
The number one challenge basketball coaches face is not having sufficient training tools for their teams, or the necessary funding to purchase that equipment. If you’re a coach looking for equipment like a basketball shooting and rebounding machine, there are a few options that make getting a machine easy, no matter what your budget looks like.
Dr. Dish offers schools financing options to help get a basketball shooting machine as easy and affordable as possible. Our payment plans spread the cost out with 12-month interest free financing, no monthly payments, and no hidden fees. This allows you to split the cost over 2 budget cycles. All we ask is that 50% of the cost and shipping is taken care of upfront.
Team fundraising is another great way to get the equipment your team needs while getting both players and parents involved. Here are 15 unique fundraisers you can do right now. And if you’re still seeking funds, reaching out to your local Sports Booster could benefit your team. Ask to collaborate on an event, about sponsorship, or simply for donations.
2. Limited Time to Prepare and Practice
Another big challenge faced by basketball coaches is feeling like there’s limited time to prepare for practices as well as practice itself. One way to overcome this is setting aside a certain amount of time each day, or week, to do your practice plans that way when you show up to practice, you can get right into it. You can also ask your supporting staff, and even players, what they feel like needs to be focused on to get more ideas.
Another way to easily prepare for practice and get the necessary reps in during practice is utilizing solutions like Dr. Dish shooting machines. Our professional lineup of shooting and rebounding machines allow teams to get up 1,500 shots an hour, run a variety of drills and workouts that get all players involved, and eliminate the need for rebounding so your team can stay moving. The best part? You can spend your time where it matters most, coaching.
A variety of resources can also help you prepare and maximize all of your practice time. If you’re looking to freshen up your practice plans and playbook, check out our Featured Coaching Resources page for over 150 pages of FREE drill books, guides, and more.
3. Balancing Individual Skill Development with Team Needs
If you’ve found yourself struggling with balancing individual skill development with the teams’ overall needs, you are not alone. The first way to help balance these out is effective practice planning. If you have supporting staff, another way can be having a dedicated time during your practice where the team splits up and rotates through skill-specific drills and stations.
If you coach at a higher level, helping develop a plan for your players to work on things outside of practice is a great option too. Worried about accountability? With Dr. Dish, you as a coach have the ability to assign your players drills and workouts with our Training Management Systems ®. And you’ll even get notified when they are completed.
4. communicating with parents
30% of basketball coaches say that their least favorite aspect of coaching is dealing with problematic parents. Because communicating and setting boundaries with those parents is easier said than done.
Options like holding pre-season and mid-season meetings with parents can help parents feel heard and help you communicate in a more personal setting. It also gives you the opportunity to set expectations and address any concerns.
Assigning a “Team Parent” could also be an option for gathering questions, comments, and concerns from other parents and communicating back necessary information. If you’re still experiencing some issues, you could create a contract for the season’s guidelines and expectations for parents and players to sign.
5. organization
Organization isn’t for everyone. Luckily, there are a lot of free tools out there that can help. Utilizing Google Calendar can be one place to start, especially if you have player meetings, or need to set time aside to plan practice. If you have a lot of physical copies of plays, drills, etc. create a colored “filing” system so you can easily organize what you have and still be able to find it later.
6. player to player conflict
Handling conflict within your team can be challenging considering most of the time you’re the last one to hear about it. It’s important to stay calm and address the situation as soon as possible. Ways to help avoid conflict can include: engaging team building, building a positive team culture, stressing open communication, and taking the time to set behavioral expectations and consequences with your team.
Our All-In Coaching Guide has 15 free pages of team building activities, player worksheets, and more designed to help you create a positive, strong team culture.
7. Motivating Players During Tough Practices
Some days aren’t always going to be easy and it can be difficult to keep players motivated. Remember that your players look at you and replicate your body language and actions. If you continue to be positive and present with your team, your players will also respond positively. But for the really hard days, have something your players can look forward to! Have a fun game or competition planned for the end of practice. Or even surprise them with snacks, sports drinks, etc. As long as you're showing them you care and you’ll always show up for them, they will do the same for you.
8. Getting Players to Take Games and Practices Seriously
Another challenge faced by basketball coaches is getting their players to take practices, and even games, seriously. While it is good to have fun and create a space where players can be comfortable, it’s equally as important to have expectations for their performance during practice and games. How can you help your players stay engaged?
- Be clear and concise about your expectations
- Set goals to make it more meaningful
- Come to practice and games prepared
9. Managing Injuries and Overall Health
Having players get hurt, sick, and everything in between can be difficult. There are a few things that you can do to help manage it all, especially during a long stretch of the season. First, focus on proper stretches and warm ups at the beginning or practices. Second, encourage rest! Burnout is real for both players and coaches alike so it’s important to get enough sleep and take rest days during training. Third, have conversations with your player about proper nutrition. This is often the most overlooked, but arguably the most important when it comes to staying healthy.
Our free Off-Season Player Guide has nutrition programs to help your players ensure they're getting the right amount of protein, carbs, and vitamins to keep them going.
10. Tracking Player Stats and Performance
The 10th biggest challenge basketball coaches face is not having the ability to track a player’s stats and overall performance throughout the season. There are training tools out there that allow you to track stats and Dr. Dish is one of them.
Coaches and players can see detailed workout overviews, heat maps, shooting percentages, and drill-by-drill breakdowns directly on an 8” or 21.5” touchscreen as well as through our Dr. Dish Player App. It even goes a step further with Enhanced Stats. You can view player progression with bar graphs comparing current trends to historic player stats.
We also offer Multiplayer Mode that can track up to 5 players’ stats all at once that allow you to increase engagement and competition while enhancing player accountability.
Being a coach isn’t always straightforward. But, there are tools out there to support your efforts and make your job just a little bit easier. To learn more about how Dr. Dish can help you and your team, click here.