End of Season Review: Player Input by Adam Spinella

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Coaching

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March 8, 2015

End of Season Review: Player Input by Adam Spinella

As the season finally concludes and you being the reflection process, a coach must know what questions to ask and how to properly incorporate feedback from their players. While much of coaching is defined by wins and losses, the experience that a player has in your program is one of the most crucial aspects to success – especially if you are responsible for recruiting your players. While you want to review your personnel and make determinations about who you can count on and build around for the future, hear your players out and see if they felt like they were maximized or given a chance to contribute fully to the program.

Here are some questions that you can ask of your players to get a sense of how effective your methodologies as a coach were.

1. General Practice Questions

All aspects of the team and how it is built are based off practice. Did players feel like there was sufficient time spent on skill development? Were drills competitive? Did every player feel like they got ample opportunity to compete or understood why they were not in on a particular drill? Did they like the structure of practices? Was there a flow in terms of order that they could count on? Did practices drag on? What drills do they enjoy most or least? Which drills did they find the most or least useful?

Some of the most useful questions revolve around fatigue throughout the season. Asking questions to gauge how intense practices were is extremely useful. Coaches must walk the delicate line between pushing kids hard to stay in game shape and wearing them out as the season goes on. Get a feel for how much gas your players had in the tank.

2. Communication Questions

Much like a CEO or any leader of an organization, the head coach and all his or her assistants must be great at communicating the vision. What is the outcome that is desired? What are the pillars that we as a group are striving to uphold or accomplish? Has the standard been set and clearly defined for what the expectations are for each individual?

The end of a season is a great time to measure the buy-in from the players and the effectiveness of your communication as a coach. Ask questions about each coach’s individual speaking skills. Could they effectively and efficiently deliver the message? Were they consistent throughout the season in upholding the mission of the program? This is a great area for exploring individual thought from players if they do not think these tasks were handled diligently by the coaching staff. In what areas did they fall short to communicate? How can they be better?

3. Individual Coach Evaluation

Following that point, get an individual evaluation on each coach on the staff. You will know the strengths and weaknesses of each coach on the staff, but see if the players picked up on those same ideas. Look to see what coaches built meaningful relationships with the players. When you are on a coaching staff, the coaches all know who works hard and who can be counted on for what. Look to your players to see how effective a coach is. You may have a guy who is great in the office and works hard, gets everything done and can articulate clearly to the head coach, but if he cannot connect with the players at all, maybe he isn’t the best fit for the program.

Reflection after the season is vital for improvement in the future. Every program, whether coming off a winning or losing season, strives to improve. Take the input of the players into consideration when you evaluate yourself and the appropriate steps the program must take to reach that next level.

Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Academies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.

end of season review