The Off-Season Plan: Three Social & Measurable Goals

The end of the high school basketball season has set in and it’s time to start considering how to get better during the off-season and for next year. I have challenged the players and coaches on the team to set three goals and share them with the rest of the team to put social pressure on everyone to carry out what their positive intentions. Here are my three goals:

 

  1. Read 37 books. That’s one book per week. Post a takeaway or a couple quotes that resonate with me in terms of coaching, teaching, or just living in general on Basketball Growth Mindset. Last year I read 10.
  2. Meet with 37 different coaches in the off-season to discuss basketball. Post one takeaway or a summary of that meeting on Basketball Growth Mindset. Last year I met with seven coaches and really benefitted from it including the Merrimack staff.
  3. Complete five road races (including a half-marathon), be able to do 24 reverse grip chin ups (I can do 8 right now), and complete the P-90x plyometrics routine by November 26th (our first day of tryouts). To accomplish these things I am allowing myself three days off per month of exercise.

I have told all the players about this plan and already feel a heightened sense of commitment to achieve these things. I will be getting all the players goals tomorrow at our team banquet and have asked all of them to stay away from results-based goals and focus instead on what actions they can take to get better. My two assistant coaches on the varsity team have also committed to three goals. Not every goal has to connect directly to basketball either. My graduating seniors who will not be playing basketball next year might have academic goals or relationship-based goals instead. I’m looking forward to seeing how the players respond to this challenge and believe that it will create a higher sense of urgency than we have had in seasons past when the goals were vague and/or private.

 

 

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