AIR FORCE Sports Legends

During one of the stops along the way during the July recruiting period, Joni Taylor told me of Tim Elmore and his work in communicating and leading millennials also know as the Y Generation. She told me of his book series titled "Habitudes." She had so much passion in her voice I went back to the hotel that night and researched it. Joni is someone I greatly admire and respect so when she says "you gotta check it out," I did.

I went to Elmore's website and purchased a series a books titled the "Coaching Millennial Athletes Bundle" which included the book "Generation iY." Elmore refers the Y Generation as "iY Generation" because of their nature of their information gathering and communication through things such as their iPhones and iPads.

The book was amazing and is an absolute must read for those looking to maximize their ability to communicate and teach today's student athletes. I took 30 pages of notes from the book.

Elmore goes in great detail to explain how this generation has evolved and then explains the positive and negative ramifications. Better yet, he gives some concrete guidelines to assist us as coaches.

For example, how important are our words and messages that we deliver to our team? As Elmore explains:

"We need to remember that every time we stand in front of our own kids or a group of students, they are silently asking: Why should I listen to you? What do you have to offer me that’s different than the other options in my life?"
Understanding this requires thought and preparation when communication.

The most profound statement from Elmore and one that so many of us have a difficult time swallowing is:
"To connect and influence Generation iY, we’ll likely have to adjust to them."
Another concept that Elmore delves into is the one of the helicopter parent:
"Too many parents invest too much energy in protecting their children, and forget that their number-one job is to prepare their children for life without them. Parenting is ultimate leadership. A parent is the ultimate mentor in the life of their child."
And while this is true, we also see instances of the same philosophy and culture within athletic teams. Sometimes we as coaches are swift to judge parents without looking that we are guilty of the same sins.

What we must understand is regardless of the facts, that we have inherited a different and unique generation to coach, the responsibility still relies on us to help steer them in the right direction. I often speak at clinics and one of the things that I talk about is "don't be that coach that talks about how difficult it is to coach this generation." In all honesty, all coaches could make this statement -- including the ones that coached us. Be the answer. Or as Elmore states:
"If we’re serious about transforming the world, we have to be serious about investing in this next generation. What we do today as adults will no doubt determine who they will become as adults."

As I said, I took 30 pages of notes from this book. I fully believe I am going to be a better coach for having read it and that's a powerful thing to say about a book. In closing, here are a few more thoughts from Elmore on teaching:

•Teaching must supply not only information, but inspiration for students.
•Teaching must do more than measure a kid’s memory; it must motivate a kid’s imagination.
•Teaching must cover not just the facts of history but the feelings that history produced.
•Teaching should not just be about increasing intelligence, but also about increasing innovation.
•Teaching cannot only be about what to think, but how to think.

Inter unit Basketball- late 80's- katunayake

QUOTES ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICE

Because it's that time of the year, here are some great quotes on the value of practice:

"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching." -Mahatma Gandhi

“When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win” - Ed Macauley

"It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts: it's what you put into the practice." -Eric Lindros

“Practice is the best of all instructors.” -Publilius Syrus

“We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same.” -Martha Graham

“Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.”-Vince Lombardi

“Don't practice until you get it right. Practice until you can't get it wrong.” -Unknown

“Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” -Mary Tyler Moore

“We have all the light we need, we just need to put it in practice.” -Albert Pike

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” -Michael Jordan

“Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.” -Beethoven

“I've always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” -Will Smith

“My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more.” -Pete Rose

“Practice is everything. This is often misquoted as practice makes perfect.” -Periander

“Everything is practice.” -Pele

“I'm a strong believer that you practice like you play, little things make big things happen.” -Tony Dorsett

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” -Anton Chekhov

“I am playing the violin, that's all I know, nothing else, no education, no nothing. You just practice every day.” -Itzhak Perlman

“Before we can talk about a championship, we have to practice like a championship team.” -Mike Singletary

“Practice puts brains in your muscles.” -Sam Snead

Detroit Pistons
Practice #1
Tuesday September 29, 2015
10:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

“Be active off the ball. You can’t relax.” –SVG

- SVG with lots of emphasizes on the importance of having hands up on defense.

- Lots of work on technique.

“You got to want to get a stop!” –SVG

- Ersan Ilyasova draws two charges in scrimmage. Knocks down jump shots and plays hard.

- Assistant coach Brendan Malone stopped the action and shouted, “When you catch the ball, look at the rim.”

- SVG then said, “Catch the ball, look at the rim and look in the post.”

- Pistons coaching Andre Drummond up to run the floor hard and get to the rim.

Detroit Pistons Offensive Musts:

1-Take care of the ball

2-Push the pace

3-Attack from inside-out

4-Play unselfishly

5-Make quick decisions

6-Take good shots

- The “3” man takes it out on made free throws.

- Tons of teaching during scrimmage.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Mistakes being made are because you go too fast.” -SVG

“Run hard, but don’t be in such a hurry.”

-SVG

“Game tempo.” –SVG

- A joy to watch seven year vet Cartier Martin teaching and helping rookie Eric Griffin a few things on the defensive end of the floor.

- D-League coaches of the Grand Rapids Drive, Otis Smith and Dion Glover involved in practice learning Pistons philosophy.

Pistons Support Staff

Doug Ash, Tom Barasi, Robert Werdan, Al Walker, Jeff Nix, Art Luptowski.

- Pistons shooting coach Dave Hopla on sidelines throughout practice taking notes in a composition notebook. He stands by Andre Drummond during free throws.

- Interesting observation at end of practice. Three teams during scrimmage. Blue team wins, two other teams had to run sprints for losing. Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson and Stanley Johnson, all on the winning team decide to run with the losers. (Extra work).

- SVG admitted to the team that they were putting a lot of stuff in:

“I know that was a lot…”