Pat Summit's new book - thoughts on coaching

[Indiana]

Thanks Amy in AZ for mentioning Pat Summit's new book "Sum It Up". I haven't settled down to read the whole thing yet, just skimmed parts so far.

The most interesting thing was what she said about calling out her players in front of the team. She said that she doesn't like to speak to players privately because the player will make up her own truth about what she heard. A coach could say "you are amazing at these 9 things, but sorry you sucked at this one thing." The players leaves the office thinking "I suck". If she speaks in front of the team, there is accountability and everyone will hear the truth.

I never thought of it that way - I always thought that criticism should be done in private. Thought-provoking take on coaching.

Thoughts?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I suppose it depends on the complaint that I have with the person, but on a D1 team, there just aren't any secrets.

I wouldn't say "I can tell that this boyfriend thing is no good for you," in front of everyone. But, if you are eating too many nachos and are out of shape, everyone knows it, anyway.

Anytime that I coach a team, I hold my post game meeting right up against the fence, so all parents can hear me. I do not go out to the outfield to tell 10 year olds that we lost because we can't hit the ball, etc.

In the book, I had to laugh about one young lady that was getting rode particularly hard by Summitt. The young lady started to bolt out the door, and as she did she yelled "I am calling Geno! He wouldn't treat me this way." Ha.