I have often debated weather or not you should use conditioning as a punishment. It's a widely accepted practice in coaching basketball. If you do something incorrectly, you run. Obviously you want to keep this to effort or mental mistakes more so than physical ones. However, my physical education professors at Toledo were adamantly against this. Their view was that if you punish with conditioning, the punished will always have a negative perception of running and less inclined to lifelong activity.
The thing about basketball is that you are trying to create habits in your players. Coach Bob Huggins of West Virginia has a widely criticized and widely accepted view that you should train your players like you would train your dogs. He talks about it often in clinics to get a laugh but i do believe that many coaches use this philosophy. Coach says the first two things I taught my dog is to play fetch (run) and to sit. I do the same things with my players. If they do not give the proper response to a situation in practice they run, and if they do not give the proper response to a situation in a game they sit. He says that it works wonders in conforming players and breaking bad habits.
I wonder if their could be a positive reinforcement that would work just as well? It can't be as simple as a positive comment when someone does the right thing, could it? That does work to encourage behavior but i don't know that it would break a players bad habit. It's something to think about!
I'm with coach Huggins on this one. That's how I was taught to play ball and I went on to have a very successful college career. Call me old school but I think people are too worried about feelings getting hurt and stuff like that in sports nowadays. What ever happened to being tough and just putting in work?
ReplyDeleteIn your situation of coaching high school varsity basketball, I also agree with conditioning for mistakes. I don't necessarily see it as punishment, but I see it as an opportunity to refocus. Sometimes another form of refocusing could be used, such as sitting out, taking a breather, and slowing down to think. When players get anxious they make mistakes, running or sitting can refocus and get rid of the anxiety to help the player. I don't agree with conditioning in PE settings or with younger children. I don't like when I see 5-year-old rec coaches using conditioning. I think that is when it is harmful to the child.
ReplyDeleteI have been on both sides of this, as a player and now a coach. As a player, I was made to run as punishment for grades, attitude, effort, ect. Obviously as a high school teenager, I didnt like it at the time and didnt really understand why. However, now that I am older and coaching my own team, I see the value in using this method. In general most kids do not enjoy running. In order to keep them focused and make them understand the importance of effort and a good attitude, sometimes they need to know the consequence will not be "fun". In many ways, this is how we are discipline in school and life. It may not be running, but think about this: If we fail to many classes we must repeat that grade. Is this fun or something we want to do? Probably not. If we do not perform well at work, we may be fired. Is this fun? Is it something we want? Of course not. Knowing the consequences of our actions normally help us to maintian focus and do our best. I do believe in positive reinforcement with my players. If I see one of my players working extra hard, I try and make a point to let them know in a way that everyone else can hear and see. This, I have found will begin to motivate the other players to do the same. I believe with consequences, whether it be running or sitting or writing a paper, it is important to let the athlete or student know why this is the consequence. Maybe sitting with the team prior to the first practice and explaining to them why certain disciplines are used and what the advantages are for them will help to set an understanding up front of what is expected.
ReplyDeleteI hate running, even now. It isn't because a coach instilled that hate into me, I just do not enjoy doing it! I believe in conditioning as punishment. Sometimes, it is the only answer.
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