I used to work with one of the most talented athletes in the world, but he is no more. He decided to retire from the sport of basketball after suffering a spinal injury at the age of 18. This was a devastating decision to make, not least because it changed his life. In his retirement, he traveled the world and became known as the “King of Basketball.” It’s safe to say that he is a lot happier.
I know that many athletes come to regret their retirements, but I’m not sure I understand the reasoning behind that. I guess I am a little cynical when it comes to sports, but I cannot believe that some professional athletes are simply opting out in order to protect their own egos. Maybe I’m being an optimist, but I’m willing to bet that not many athletes would have the heart to retire from the sport.
Its true that no one actually knows what happens in a career, but they sure as hell know what happens to the life of the average athlete. The average athlete is subjected to the same scrutiny that a person with a master’s degree faces. We all know that we are only as good as the people around us, and the average athlete knows that he is only as good as his coach. That’s why he’s taking a sabbatical from basketball.
You can’t help but wonder how much better a person is than their coach. He may not make a lot of money, but he is usually paid far more than the average coach. Its not like they want to burn out their athlete, but the average coach may be more motivated to get the best out of their athlete, than the average athlete. If you are a coach, you should be able to take a look at the athlete’s stats, and use that information to help your athlete develop.
This video shows us three teams of players who are pretty good at basketball. They’re just like everyone else. They don’t like their players very much, or do a little bit of everything. They don’t like their team very much.
Thats what I got out of the first half of this video. The players on these teams arent all that great, but theyre still pretty good. Theyre just not as good as other teams. Theres two specific things that I think are important when deciding to use stats to help your athletes and improve their performance.
The first is that stats are not a substitute for talent. I believe that when coaches use stats to teach, they are using that talent to help them learn more about themselves and their players. For an athlete, stats are important to help them understand why theyre good, but theyre not as important to them as their talent or personality.
I would agree with you. For instance, when you look at the stats for a person who has won an Olympic gold medal, you will see a number of things that make sense to you about the athlete, but if you use that same person to help improve your athletes, you will probably see things that you weren’t expecting. Thats because good coaches use stats to help them improve their athletes, not to teach them to be good.
And you know what? I dont know the stats. I just know that if I am looking at someone and its not a good coach, theyre going to fall. And just like with athletes, the coach doesnt necessarily need to be the best as long as the athlete improves.
The reason I bring this up is because a lot of athletes and coaches don’t want to read the stats, but are always looking to make themselves better. Sometimes that means telling their athletes what they did wrong, sometimes it means coaching their athletes to do better. It comes down to the coach/athlete relationship, and it helps teams be a lot more successful if they have a coach who is always looking to improve their own performance.
