Skills Needed To Be a Great Basketball Coach 

If you absolutely love basketball and would like to coach one day, there are a certain set of skills which you are going to need. Growing up I was fortunate enough to have a great mentor in terms of both playing and coaching basketball, David M Giunta. Coach Giunta was one of the most successful coaches in the history of Ohio team Elyria Catholic and over a span of 22 incredibly successful years, he amassed a huge 329 victories, including winning championships.

Later in life I myself started coaching basketball and I wanted to touch little today on the skills that you will need if you too would like to coach the game one day.

Patience

Getting a group of mixed ability boys and girls together, and turning them into a unit is not something that is easy and it will require a great deal of patience from you if you want to be successful. Understand that not everyone learns at the same speed, or in the same way, reserve your patience and you will find that success in no time at all.

Drive

If you are not pushing yourself and showing drive and commitment then you simply cannot expect your team to do the same. Whether it is a game, a practice or even a team meeting, you must be visibly passionate and hungry for success. Your team will look to you as a role model and an example and you must do all that you can to set an example which will help the team to be better.

A Bit Of Everything

A basketball coach needs to be the coach, a parent, a punisher and a trainer, sometimes all of them at once. You must be able to lend a sympathetic ear at times, you must be able to be strong and forthright sometimes and you must also have the ability to give your team the confidence that they can come to you with any issues. This is the most difficult part of being a coach in my view.

Planner

Regardless of what level you are coaching at, basketball coaches do far more than simply train their team and watch their games. Away from the court, you need to be a great thinker and understand what kind of plays and tactics are required to get the best out of the talent which you have within the team.

Respect

Probably the single most important aspect of being a basketball coach is that you command respect from your team and from those who you are involved with. Without respect from your team you can’t expect them to give everything for you, and you must also be seen to be something of pillar in the community. In order to gain respect, you must first be able to give it, and understand what kind of person you should be, in order to receive it.