Live to Love, Love to Live

"Confidence comes from not always being right-but not fearing to be wrong."
-Anonymous

I love this quote so much. I always tell kids that,"practice does not make perfect, practice makes you better". We have this false sense of identity placed in our kids that they can achieve perfection. No one can ever achieve that in anything. We will never be perfect in anything we do. But, we can always get better at things. When the kids don't achieve perfection, their self-esteem is hit because they feel either less of a man or less of a woman. Which they are not, they are just human.

I grew up with a very strict coach that encouraged us to be perfect. Many coaches you come into contact with get on every little mistake that is made by their player's. It took a long time before a coach helped me realize that I was only human and that I would make mistakes. He picked me up when I was down and spurned my drive and passion. The more I remember that I will make mistakes and I am only human, helps me to be more focused and alert. Because since I know I can make a mistake at any time, I need to pay close attention to detail and repetition. (Confusing, understand? It truly works and is logical though)

Again, as the Butler men's head basketball coach and I would say; player's must not be afraid to make mistakes. If they are not afraid they will be confident. If they are confident they will keep on trying and trying and trying. Player's will learn and yes you should get on them here and there if the mistake is done over and over. But, cultivating an arena for player's to love playing and going to practice is priceless. I have been with many coaches that make player's feel uneasy when playing, because they are afraid to mess up. You want them to be comfortable and relaxed, but focused at all times.

A good coach understands the balance of when to speak up and when not to. When the coach speaks up it should also help gain confidence in some one. If you spurn their creativity and work ethic they should come out on the right side.

I recently watched the movie, "Glory Road". In this movie the coach is adamant at playing his style with the african american player's. Through the season the player's help him realize that what is holding them back is his fundamental game plan. The one player says to the coach, "Cut us loose coach, cut us loose". The coach says. "Alright you play your game, but play mine also". The player's go out there and play comfortable basketball. They dominate team's all through the year and go on to win their first NCAA Division 1 National title. Why? Those player's went from being scared to play the coaches game, to playing a game plan they were not afraid of making a mistake with.

Remember, everyone comes from different backgrounds. Different game plans meld well with different player's. A good coach finds the talent who can compliment each other. A great coach teaches his game plan to those player's, but creates an environment of not fearing to be wrong...just disliking it...haha.