With the preseason fast approaching, coaches routinely spend time during the summer not only planning but reflecting on what other coaches do to be successful. This often includes a summer reading list of legendary coaches and their methods.

A staple on many coaches’ bookshelves is the writings of and about legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, most notably “The Pyramid of Success.” Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is an influence to a countless number of coaches but also leaders in business and politics. The theory speaks to team spirit, loyalty, friendship and, above all, greatness. The challenge lies in taking something that is so vast and applying it to everyday practice.

• Though different people interpret the pyramid in different ways, there are some constants:
• Competitive greatness is at the top but is only achieved with the strong foundation below
• Skill development is at the center and must be supported by everything around it

None of the building blocks are based on natural talent alone; They all require some form of effort or support to achieve.

Source: http://woodencourse.com/

The 3 Ps of successful drill work

The most common interaction between football coaches and players on all levels is drill work. In order to maximize results, drill work needs to reflect game conditions that players will face in order to build a level of comfort and to perform with confidence.

The three Ps of successful drill work are:

Purpose

Coaches sometimes put players through certain drills because that is the way that it has always been done or that is the way that they were taught. From a performance perspective, coaches must consider whether the specific drill is simulating a game action or not. Both the coach and the player need to be be able to answer the question: “Why are we doing it?”

Coaches can easily fall victim to drills – both traditional ones and the great new thing – that perfect a skill set not found in the scheme that they run. For instance, running a variety of open-field, widely spaced out drills for players who play in tight spaces is not the most effective way to train, and it even could potentially lead to failure and discouragement by the players.

Purpose and buy-in are thought by building a strong foundation for success. The Pyramid of Success uses examples such as industriousness, loyalty and enthusiasm. These building blocks are methods that players use to understand the value of hard work while learning the value of being dependable. A strong foundation, sense of purpose and belonging translate into players who enjoy what they are doing. That sense of enthusiasm is contagious throughout an organization.

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Progression

If purpose builds the foundation, then progression is the fuel behind the building blocks. The ability to break down and pinpoint teaching helps athletes to not only create muscle memory, but it allows coaches to correct segments of a skill set.

Football requires all players to start the play on the movement of the football. Our responsibility as coaches to our players is to teach them how to determine the variables that they will see as the play develops.

Defensive players tackle. Offensive players block and run. Now if it was only that easy.

As the game gets more sophisticated, so does the need to develop skills. The consistency in teaching progression allows for progression and correction.

However, we sometimes need to teach in reverse from the end of the play to ensure that we get the safest and most successful finish, thus building and correcting skills throughout. The ability to extract specific skill sets in the progression and correct them leads to even more enhanced success.

A consistent teaching progression requires thought and understanding within all aspects of expertise. The Pyramid of Success uses examples such as condition, skill and team spirt. Central in the pyramid, players need to know the methods to prepare both on and off the field in order to achieve success.

The role of the coach is not isolated to the field of play. Preparation leads to execution, but self-correction leads to good execution. Skill acquisition allows players to become detail oriented. Understanding the impact that skill plays in the role of the team requires personal sacrifice but also attaches to the sense of belonging.

Progression, as in the pyramid, needs to be supported by honesty and adaptability. Coaches need to be able to understand, adapt and teach when things just don’t work and figure out the best method for players to be successful.

Performance

Performance is the ultimate metric of how we are judged. At the end of a successful season, the process a team took to get there may be the most enjoyable aspect to reflect back upon.

However, assessing “wins” every day in practice is how coaches can evaluate players in competition. The word “compete” has become a staple in many locker rooms, but how is it judged being done correctly at different times is up to the coach. Whether in practice, games, the classroom or the community, the culture of competition is built successfully by the coaching staff.

In the sense of drill work, this is measured by performance – the ability to put purpose and progression into practice in a live situation. As a coach, performance is a method to determine if your purpose and progression are appropriate.

The top of The Pyramid of Success speaks to:

• Competitive greatness. Be at your best when you are needed.
• Enjoying a difficult challenge. Coaches instill this in players through constant support.

This is supported by: fight and integrity. In other words, giving our players the ability to perform on their own.

These three Ps are in constant rotation. As coaches, we evolve and adapt to get our players to be successful on the field and long after once they have left the sport.

Vince DiGaetano is the football program analyst at Wagner College. A USA Football Master Trainer, he was a finalist for the 2014 American Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award. Before Wagner, he was the linebacker coach at Nassau Community College, the defensive coordinator at SUNY-Maritime and the defensive coordinator at DeWitt Clinton (N.Y.) High School. DiGaetano also is a recruiting coordinator for the Long Island and New York Public School Athletic League.