In our last blog post, we shared our PROGRAM BUILDING MODEL. When trying to build a program, there are countless areas that need your attention. We encourage coaches to filter through this information and make it a priority to get to the W.I.N.

W.I.N. = What’s Important Now

It is our belief that there are three main areas that a coach must focus on improvement.

TALENT

Our next blog post will take a deep dive into the TALENT GAP. Coaches must evaluate and have a clear understanding of how the talent in their program compares to the other program’s that they are competing against. The quickest way to win more games is to improve the talent on the roster. A talented roster will have some success, based on the advantage created by a positive talent gap. Depending on the level of the program, talent can be improved through player development or recruiting.

COACHING STAFF

We recently ran a poll on our twitter page, asking “What is the biggest separating factor between the best team in your league and everyone else?”

What is the biggest separating factor between the best team in your league and everyone else?#ProgramBuilding#GrowTheGame🏀

— Dynamic Coaching Tools (@DynamicCoaches) June 23, 2020

As you can see, coaching only got about 4% of the vote. Coaching will take a talent gap and shrink or expand the advantage created by that talent. Due to that, we believe that improving the coaching in your program will help you win close games, and can help your program find consistent success. Improving your coaching staff can be about finding experienced coaches, aligning the skills of your coaches with the program needs, or even focusing on improving as a head coach. The best coaching staffs are full of “learn it alls,” who are constantly finding ways to improve.

CULTURE

We define culture as, “how we do things here.” The most important thing to understand about the culture of your program is that every single person around the program is going to make an impact. A strong culture can also impact the talent gap. Your culture can help you win big games and gives your program a chance to have sustainable success. How can you start the process of establishing and improving your culture? We will address that in an upcoming blog post. You can start with these two exercises and take a look at the example below.

CORE VALUES

What are the 3-4 things that will define your program. If you can’t limit it to 3-4, then you are spreading your attention too thin. One suggestion is to pick things that go beyond basketball and have a broad spectrum. 

“THIS IS US” (25 Words or Less)

Describe your program in 25 words or less.

As you jump into the process of improving your program, these three areas will make the biggest impact on your program. This type of narrow, focused vision will help a coach block out distractions and focus on the W.I.N. that we described earlier in the post. Want more PROGRAM BUILDING information? Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook ( @DynamicCoaches ).