Big Daddy Weave: Redeemed

 

 

 

I spoke at our church this Sunday at the Borden Church of Christ.

 

 



Guest Author, Kyle Ohman

Coach Ohman reached out and offered his insight and I am happy to post it here:

Motivating the Right Way
by Kyle Ohman
www.BasketballHQ.com

One of the biggest responsibilities a basketball coach has is to get the most out of their

players. Coaches are supposed to figure out how to motivate each player and maximize that
players abilities on the floor for the betterment of the team. This concept is not something that
is new and has been used by coaches of all different sports for a long time. However there are
different ways that coaches can do this, some better than others. Here are some tips that you
can use as a coach to getting the most out of each of your players.

During my collegiate and professional basketball playing career I was able to play under
several different coaches, and during this time I was able to experience multiple different
basketball coaching styles. I have seen coaches use different tactics for trying to get the most
out of their players. I have seen the exact same tactic work well on one player and then
completely fail on another. So the first thing that you need to do is get to know each player on
an individual level and figure out why they are playing the game and what motivates them.

Once you have done this you can adjust how you coach them. If you tell someone ten different things about themselves, nine of those things positive and one negative, they are only going to hear and remember the one negative thing. It is just the way that we are wired. So as a coach if you want to keep your players motivated and working hard you have to make a conscious effort to stay away from being too negative in your coaching style.

There are going to be times when you are doing basketball workouts or having practice and
you need to get on your players and light a fire under the butts for doing something wrong, but
if this is an everyday thing then you will find your players losing interest in what you want them
to do. Also when you get the chance to praise your players for doing something right take
advantage of it. This will not only reinforce what you want from them, but it will also balance it
out when you have to get on them.

People are more likely to do something for someone that they know and that they have a
personal relationship with. If a family member asks you to help them out with something you
are more likely to say yes then if a complete stranger asked you to help with the same thing.
The reason why is because you know them, you have a relationship with them, and you know
that they have your best interest in mind. Your players need to have this same feeling toward
you as a coach, and the only way to get to this point is spending time getting to know your
players. It is important that you spend time getting to know your players outside of basketball,
not only because it will help you get more out of them on the floor, but also because coaching
is about developing lasting relationships with people.

Conclusion
There are many different ways that you can use to motivate your players, but from my
experience this is the best way. You will not only be able to maximize your players
performance but you will be able to do it the right way by developing lasting relationships with
your players.

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Author Bio
This article was written by Kyle Ohman. Kyle Ohman was a thousand point scorer at Liberty
University (div. 1), was ranked the 19th best shooter in the country by Fox Sports his senior
year. Kyle has also played professionally in Spain. Most recently he coached a high school
team that played on a national level and beat the 12th ranked team in the nation. Coach
Ohman is the Co-Owner and founder of BasketballHQ.com

A Zeller Family Program

This past weekend, I got to be a part of something that I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into.  I had a good idea, but you never know when you go to work a new basketball camp.  DistinXion, A Zeller Family Program is a character based basketball camp that is held throughout the state of Indiana, and Chapel Hill, N.C. but this past weekend, they stopped at Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg for three days.

I had heard of the camp before and wanted to work it, but when I found out they were going to be in my backyard at S.C., I went through the volunteer process online and was accepted (whew!).  Why the name DistinXion?  They claim they want to be different in a positive way, and they are.  Why the "X" in the middle of the name?  Hope Zeller, wife of son Luke, came up with the idea.  The "X" is actually a Greek symbol/letter for savior or...Christ.

Steve and Lorri Zeller are the parents of the Zeller boys, most recent NBA pick Cody from IU...you may have heard of him and they are the main contributors to the camp especially the character aspect of the camp.  The basketball part is run by volunteers, interns, and Bryce Bow.  Bow, a Goshen graduate, is in charge of the basketball aspects and his energy, desire and love for Christ is apparent to anyone who enters the gym.

The basketball camp is like many with stations that participants rotate around working on defense, passing, dribbling, shooting, really most any basketball skills, but there is also a station in which Mr. and Mrs. Zeller talk about character.  They base the character aspects of the camp off of their oldest son Luke's business plan his senior year at Notre Dame which would be to run a character based basketball camp.  After Luke asked his parents to think about how they raised the three boys (very well done, I might add), they came up with the acronym C.H.A.M.P.I.O.N.S.  It stands for character, honesty, attitude, motivation, perseverance, I am responsibile, network of friends and serving others.  Each day the Zeller parents spoke to the goups of children hitting home these important parts of the camp. (There just might be a book on this in the works, I, for one, will be buying one)

The Zeller parents personize their lessons with stories of their three sons (Luke, Tyler, and Cody) while they were growing up.  They are funny, insightful, and get the the daily point across to the campers.  The Zellers' shared their faith and had a chapel on Sunday morning, but their "religion" was not forced down anyone's throat.  They said multiple times that they were not perfect parents or people, but when speaking with Mr. Zeller I claimed that it was very nice of them to take their time to do this because they didn't have to do it.  He responded with "we want to do it".  In essence, by hosting this camp they are using the platform that their children have provided them to do the last part of the Champions creed...serve others.

I was able to spend much quality time just speaking with the Zeller parents.  They are humble and easy to speak with.  They made me feel like being a better person and parent.  They told small stories about their boys especially when I asked questions  such as "how tall did they say each of your boys would be when they were measured as babies?"  Mr. Zeller, "Luke was going to be 6'4, by the time Cody was born, they stopped guessing."  And they listened to me and others at the camp as if we were important even if we aren't NBA bound.  There was a genuineness about them that cannot be faked over that amount of time in the weekend.

What they are doing is planting seeds in young children to hopefully improve their lives and home by living by the DistinXion acronym.  They are encouraging the volunteers and workers of the camp by them seeing the campers being transformed.  And they allowed, for two days, a 43 year old man to see that there is still good out there and it can be used for even better things...changing young lives.