Some Takeaways from the National Coaches Conference

The 2023 Basketball Australia National Coaches Conference was held at the Australian Institute of Sport this week, with more than 180 coaches from each state and territory attending the two-day event.

Headlined by Australian coaching icon Brian Goorjian, the conference featured keynote presentations from Liz Masen and Timmy Duggan with Nate Jawai, as well as informative sessions with Jamie O’Loughlin and Toby Conroy.

On floor, Coach Goorjian was joined by Janna Mizens, Jacob Jackomas, Adam Forde and Matt Blue in covering a wide sphere of skill, concepts and tactical areas.

Some brief take-aways from a hectic two days of learning and sharing –

Patrick Hunt (official opening) – 

• “Learning is a change in behaviour due to an experience”
• “What worked well? What would be even better, if?” – on review and continual reflection
• Unlock the desire and curiosity in players to continually want to get better and to win!

Timmy Duggan and Nate Jawai – 

• A culturally safe organisation, club or association –
  • What does it feel like?
  • What does it sound like?
  • What does it look like?
• Concept of “Dadirri” or Deep Listening
• Understanding the three R’s of the brain – reason, regulate and relate
• Loudly celebrate the good, quietly coach the deficit

Brian Goorjian – 

• “Clarity is the new clever”
• Don’t waste players time, be efficient with your words
• Engage players in what they see and how they want the team to play
• Create a flow to your offence – simple concepts that link and can be adaptable
• Teaching – coach show it, have players show and explore it, then short reps at game pace

Matt Blue – 

• Engage the player in the work-out – what do they feel they need to work on, what do you feel they need to work on, come together to be efficient and effective
• Start everything with the weak-hand – ball handling and finishing
• In the drills, change height, speed and angles – keep it moving and with different context
• Individual skill sessions don’t have to be long, think efficient and what impacts the player

Toby Conroy – 

• Injury prevention and performance –
  • Go hand in hand
  • “Games lost” to injury a key stat in professional sport
  • Strategies to reduce injury similar to those to increase performance
• Load management –
  • Being available for 85% of training sessions reduces injury risk
  • Specialising in a single sport accounts for 50% of overuse injuries in young athletes
  • Specialisation in one sport results in 70-90% more injuries than those who play multiple sports
  • 88% of college athletes were multi sport athletes in school
  • Ages 16+ should have 20% of training time in non specialised sports activities

Janna Mizens –

• Importance for athletes to learn through discovery
• Learning opportunity for coaches to be aware of the wheelchair game
• Valuable in teaching and developing new skills as a coach and teacher on the floor
• Create an enjoyable learning environment

Jacob Jackomas –

• Zone can be challenging – you need to develop belief and trust in playing zone
• If an opponent hits a 3, you can’t maintain belief if you jump straight out of the zone
• Valuable in changing the rhythm and flow of the game
• Have to teach with a “man to man mindset” – teach the movements/shifts, understand ball pressure and positioning
• Define how you want to guard –
  • the high post
  • the short corner
  • the skip
  • ball screens

Sport is played by people, coached by people and managed by people, so it is imperative to get the people side of things right – Liz Masen @AthleteAssess pic.twitter.com/AfVS3OLdRy

— Basketball Australia Coaches (@BBALLAU_Coaches) May 1, 2023

Liz Masen – 

• “Connect before you direct” – relationships as a leader
• “Are you waiting for your cat to bark?” – managing adaptations and expectations of change
• “Sport is played by people, coached by people, and managed by people, so it is imperative you get the people side right”
• Leadership has evolved across all sectors – people focused
• Clarity in recruitment of players and staff – what do you want from the role?

Jamie O’Loughlin – 

• “We wanted to get the soil right before we planted the seed” – Craig McRae
• “The best way to learn to climb mountains is by climbing mountains” – Frank Dick
• Athlete need to feel your message
• “We think it’s important to talk about the WHY a lot” – Brendan Bolton
• Importance on have diversity in your network

TA’s from @JamieJamie_O
I wanted to get the soil right before we plant the seed – Craig McRae
Importance of diversity in your network
Athletes need to feel your message – Frank Dick
We think it’s important to talk about the why a lot – Brendan Bolton pic.twitter.com/ccUrLrg5y3

— Basketball Australia Coaches (@BBALLAU_Coaches) May 2, 2023

Adam Forde –

• Importance of playing and practicing at pace – “pace equals space” in the modern game
• Incorporating the shot clock in drills – add context, is a metric for your pace
• Each player has to be a scoring threat in their own way for pace to work
• Concept of “tactical periodisation” – José Mourinho

Leadership panel with Jan Stirling, Liz Masen, Summah Hanson, David Herbert, Brian Goorjian and Alex Toohey – 

• Leadership is far more player driven now than in the past
• Important for the coach to work with the players to set the values, educate the group and allow the leadership group to rive and hold people to account
• Players value coaches who are selfless, care, are approachable and demonstrate an understanding
• “Are you walking the factory floor?” – importance of spending time with people
• More conversations crucial in the age of digital and electronic communication

More detailed notes will be made available in the coming weeks. Thanks to the 180-plus coaches who attended the Conference and to our generous presenters.