Now that the basketball season is over, it is time for coaches to do some analysis. It’s time to take a look back, take a look at the present, and to look towards the future. Its time to ask ourselves questions like: what are our strengths, what are our weaknesses, what are threats, and there are opportunities for growth. Not just about our teams, but of ourselves.

Here are some ideas to help with off-season growth:

Take a break

The basketball season is a long, grinding roller coaster that can take a lot of physical, mental, and emotional energy out of us. The basketball season is both a sprint and a marathon that comes to a sudden stop.

It is healthy for players, coaches, and all involved to step back and take a breather. We must re-charge our batteries. It is important to refresh our bodies and our minds before we move forward in trying to get better. It is natural to want to get back to work immediately after the season as for most it does not end the way we want, but this can lead to burnout, injury, and other things that will impede growth.

So unplug, spend time with family, go somewhere to get away, etc…you’ll come back feeling refreshed and with a high level of enthusiasm to get after it.

Get organized

What is your schedule? What things need to get accomplished in the off-season? What does your roster look like? Are we prepared for things like camps, recruiting, summer travel, workouts, etc. Everyone needs to be on the same page.

SWOT Analysis

S= Strengths
W= Weaknesses
O= Opportunities
T= Threats

Take a look back at last season and ask yourself:

What did we do well?
What did we struggle with?
Where can we get better?
How do we go about getting better?
What can keep us from getting better?

Just as we are trying asking our players to get better, we too must work to get better. As coaches, the off-season is a great time for us to learn new things. Time to continue our education in basketball. Read books, go to clinics, work camps, watch film, reach out to other coaches, etc. The game is constantly evolving and changing and so must we.

Set Goals

Set goals for at all levels- for individual players, for the team, for your staff, for yourself. What do we want to accomplish? Set benchmarks for evaluating this growth and track progress. This is how we can be accountable. But there also must be a roadmap to for this success. There needs to be a plan, it can’t just be “lets get better.”

There are only 2 choices: either getting better or you are not.