Making Adjustments in-season

With the major winter seasons across Australia now nearing the half-way point, we look at some ways that coaches can make adjustments mid-season to make that one last push for the play-offs.

Coaches are constantly tweaking and making minor adjustments week to week, game to game, but how can you make worthwhile changes that have impact in the second half of the season?

Quick review before any change – 

• What was the plan coming into the season?
• How is the plan going?
• What is working well?
• What could work better?

By taking some time to step through the above “mini-review” process, any changes or adjustments will become clearer or quote simply, you may decide to stay the course.

The other in-season review that you can make is adopting the “stop, start, keep” process. Have a look at what you need to stop or remove, what you need to add or change and as always, what is working well.

When thinking about adjustments, consider the following –

• Is it the plan?
• Is it the execution
• Is it the buy-in?
• What do the players think?

Buy-in or engagement is key to any collective endeavour. Sometimes the most impactful in-season change or adjustment can having more conversations with the playing group to provide further clarity and ask questions to provide you as the coach with more clarity.

Why change mid-season? – 

• Results/performances
• Talent/personnel
• Opposition
• Injury or change of personnel
• Change momentum or direction

What adjustments will be impactful? – 

• Start on the practice floor – easiest adjustment (controlled setting)
• Pace of play
• Area of focus – interior hame, tactical shift
• Personnel – rotations
• Defensive scheme

Implementing change – 

• Use of “whole-part-whole” methodology – the players need to see the what the adjustment is 5 v 5
• Ensure staff are aligned – “argue, agree, along”, change is hard to drive without an aligned staff
• More conversations – with players, leaders, staff
• Think buy-in at all times – you are “selling” change, people before process
• If in doubt, teach the whole

Aspects to consider – 

• What impacts winning?
• Cost-benefit of the adjustment – do you have the practice time to implement change?
• Change as a solution not as a quick fix
• Do you and the staff believe in the adjustment
• Can you resource the adjustment? – time, staff, people