Welcome to the 91st edition of the Coach’s Corner Round Table on the Hoop Heads Podcast. Each episode of the Coach’s Corner Round Table will feature our All-Star lineup of guests answering a single basketball question. A new Coach’s Corner Round Table will drop around the 15th of each month.

July’s Round Table question is: What's something you've completely stopped doing as a coach that you used to think was essential?

Our Coaching Lineup this month:

• Erik Buehler – Arapahoe (CO) High School
• Mark Cascio – Savi Coaching
• Tyler Coston – Savi Coaching
• Matt Elkin – Stanford University
• Stephen Halstead – Grace College
• Ryan Hintz – Blue Valley West (KS) High School
• Mike Koehler - Elkhart Lake (WI) High School
• Bob Krizancic – Mentor (OH) High School
• Sherry Levin – Author of the Book “Pre-Game: A Winning Mindset”
• Dave McGreal – Penn State Altoona
• Caleb South – CPS Training
• Don Showalter - USA Basketball
• John Shulman – University of Central Arkansas

Please enjoy this Round Table episode of the Hoop Heads Podcast and once you’re finished listening please give the show a five star rating and review after you subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Be sure to follow us on twitter and Instagram @hoopheadspod for the latest updates on episodes, guests, and events from the Hoop Heads Pod.

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The Hoop Heads Podcast is brought to you by Head Start Basketball.

Hello and welcome to the 91st edition of the Coach's Corner Roundtable on the Hoop Heads Podcast.

Each episode of the Coach's Corner Roundtable will feature our all star lineup of guests answering a single basketball question.

A new Coach's Corner Roundtable will drop around the 15th of each month.

July's Roundtable question is what's something you've completely stopped doing as a coach that you used to think was essential?

Our coaching lineup this month includes Eric Bueller from Arapaho High School, Mark Casio from Savvy Coaching, Tyler Costin from Savvy Coaching, Matt Elkin from Stanford University, Stephen Halstead from Grace College, Ryan Hintz from Blue Valley West High School, Bob Krasancik from Menor High School, Sherry Levin, author of the book Pregame A winning mindset, Dave McGrail from Penn State Altoona, Caleb south from CPS Training, Don Showalter from USA Basketball and John Schulman from the University of Central Arkansas.

Please enjoy this Roundtable episode of the Hoop Heads Podcast and once you're finished listening, please give the show a five star rating and review.

After you subscribe on your favorite podcast app, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram @hoopheadspod for the latest updates on episodes, guests and events from the Hoop Heads Pod Give with Hoops is the first platform turning basketball analytics into fundraising impact Every stat tells a story and now every story drives sponsorship, engagement and team growth.

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Let's hear from our panel about something they've completely stopped doing as a coach that they used to think was essential.

Eric Bueller, Arapahoe High School, Centennial, Colorado.

Hey, what's going on, hoop heads?

This is Eric Bueller at Arapahoe High School and this month for the roundtable we were asked what's something that we've completely stopped doing or I've completely stopped doing as a coach?

Something that I haven't done in a really long time in any program I've been involved in is just conditioning for conditioning sake.

I'm a huge believer in now that you get in shape playing basketball and that's what keeps you in shape and there's really no better way to get you ready to just play basketball.

We used to do workouts where we would run lines or we would run sidelines or we would get out on the track and we'd run two hundreds and one hundreds and four hundreds for some odd reason and that got us in shape.

But it was time away from the court.

I would rather have our guys with a ball in their hand and working on a skill while going game speed and conditioning that way as well as just playing.

And we put restrictions around some of our pickup games or some of our half court things where you got to play with pace and we use that as a conditioner as well as we're big believers in our guys that are basketball players year round.

Like you guys stay in shape, you don't get in shape, you stay in shape.

We obviously have some rest periods and we want legs and bodies and ankles and knees to recover.

But for the most part we just want our guys conditioning with a ball in their hand, getting shots up, playing against each other, working on their game.

So that's something that we don't do anymore.

Thanks for having me again guys and I look forward to doing this again soon.

Talk to you later.

Mark casio from savvy coaching.

Three band weave and static stretching before practice.

Tyler costin from savvy coaching.

One thing I used to do a lot as a coach was defensive shell drill to teach positioning and rotations and really thought it was the staple or improving our defense.

Instead, I've gone away to situational games.

How do we guard a certain screen?

How do we guard a post up?

How do we guard penetration from a disadvantaged position here?

How do we guard out of a double team or how do we hunt a pass from here?

And by repping single patterns over and over again in a live scenario, maybe constraining the game to start with a slight advantage or disadvantage.

Seen a lot more transfer to game as opposed to trying to go block and shell large patterns, many different patterns without it being live.

Matt elkin, men's basketball assistant coach at stanford university.

I used to write a ton of handwritten thank you notes.

That was my thing when I was at Vermont Academy.

I wrote them to every single coach who came in the gym to recruit.

I thought it would help me make a connection with them and would always include my business card or contact info.

I also used it as a way to promote our program and make connections in hopes these coaches would return to recruit our guys.

Now as a college coach, I still write notes specifically to high school coaches who invite me to attend their open gyms as well as to college coaches or others who invite me to join their program for any inside scoop such as a meeting, a practice, a workout, etc.

But I no longer feel that a handwritten note is as important for me in my stage, in my career as it was for me as a GA prep school coach, etc.

As I was making my way up.

I love receiving them now because it seems old school and I value people doing what I used to do to help network.

But now there are so many ways to connect with people online.

I don't think it's as critical for me to do, especially as my network grows exponentially now that I'm at Stanford.

I still love when younger guys do it and if I was a 20 something trying to make it like I was, I would do it over again a hundred times.

Stephen Halstead from Grace College.

Hey, this.

Is Stephen Halstead tuning in for the Hoop Heads Roundtable, Number 91 and the question this week is what's something you've completely stopped doing as a coach that you used to think was essential?

And the one thing that's been on my mind as of late late is not stopping practice as frequently to talk to the entire team.

I think one way for the players to continue to grow through just mistakes and being able to learn is not stopping and teaching as frequently.

Maybe let them try to figure it out and then also just constantly maybe circling back to just that individual player afterwards.

Now, if you're trying to get a point across as a team or you're teaching, obviously that's something you have to do.

But I think one thing that I've tried to stop doing now is stopping live play as much as I can and let them try to solve and figure it out and then pointing it out whenever there is a stoppage rather than stop play.

Ryan Hintz from Blue Valley West High.

School Ryan Hintz at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, Kansas.

Today's question is, what's something you've completely stopped doing as a coach that you used to think was essential?

The first one is installing things five on zero.

I used to install new concepts or new sets or new actions without the defense.

And since then, we always do it with the defense so you can see the angles, see the timing, see the screening and how we're going to take advantage of the defense.

So that's something that involved.

The second thing would be starting practice with skill work.

We used to start practice with 30 minutes of skill work, and then we'd get into the practice segment, and now we start practice with competitive drills right away that get us playing live immediately, and then we'll sprinkle in the skill work throughout the practice.

And the last thing would be requiring all players to study a huge written scattering report before games.

I still do all the work in preparing that information, but now I kind of leave it up to the guys of whether they want that information or not, kind of meet them where they're at.

Some guys love basketball, some guys want that knowledge.

Other guys, basketball is their second sport and they just want to go out and play.

So I would rather not have them thinking and have their feet moving fast.

So I thought that was a.

A critical piece that everybody knew everything.

But I've since learned that some of the guys want to know that information, others just want to go out and play basketball.

So those are the three things that I've kind of evolved in my practice.

Hopefully that helps.

Thank you.

Bob Krasancik Mentor High School Mentor, Ohio.

Coach Caveman in high school, something that we used to do a lot of was shoot in free throws without being tired or game speed.

We've abandoned shooting, standing still, not moving and not being tired.

We're so into game speed.

Sweating, losing your breath a little bit.

But the point is where Steph Curry is constantly sprinting, moving, and then shooting free throws after he's done that is exactly what we want to do I talk about our players wasting so much time.

I like the gun, but when the gun we've got to just shoot sprint, shoot sprint instead of just standing there waiting for the perfect pass.

Hope this help.

Have a great day.

Foreign.

Levin, former head coach at Wooster Academy and author of the book Pregame A Winning Mindset.

Hey, this is Sheri Levin, former head Coach at Wooster Academy, author of Pregame A Winning Mindset, a book to help establish a positive mindset and a loyal listener of Hoop Heads Podcast One thing I had completely stopped doing is overloading my players with detailed scouting reports.

I think earlier in my career I thought the more information I gave them, the more prepared they would be.

In reality it was still in my head, but I realized I needed to give them less more the bigger points.

Now granted, my prep school team at Wooster Academy were smart, so I thought they could retain it.

But over time I realized that too much information actually created hesitation instead of confidence.

They didn't need to remember every action or tendency of the opponents, they needed the big points that would help them play fast discipline and with clarity.

Some tendencies I would pick up while I watch the warm ups like shooting angle where they drop the ball below their waist when they were shooting your three and or you know, how they took off the bounce off a jump shot or which hand seemed to be dominant.

Did some player in warmups practice their spin?

Chances are if they were practicing a spin in warmups then they would do it in a game.

So little tendencies like that that I didn't pick up from a written or video scout.

But I felt that as I continued coach, the big points that I gave them in the scout a couple of days before were the most important.

I would still do all the detailed work behind the scenes and give it to my scout, but I focused on the key tendencies.

So that's what I would recommend.

Focus on the key tendencies where the opportunities are.

My hope was that after a few series in the game that my players would then get used to being able to pick up their version of the scout of their opponents.

And just as important, I shifted more my focus to the mindset and the mental preparation and really helping my players handle pressure, stay composed and trust themselves in the big moments.

For me, preparation isn't just about knowing the scout, it's about making sure my players were mentally ready to perform.

So that's all for now.

Thank you.

David McGrail from Penn State Altoona.

Hello Hoop Heads Nation coach David McGrail.

Back at you Hoop Heads Round table.

Hope everybody's having a great summer.

I've been, been running around so missed a few of the round tables, but glad to be back in a great question right here because I think I got a good one.

What, what do I do differently that, that I've, that I do now that, you know, I've changed from the past, it's easy, you know, I've actually shortened my practice times, you know, especially even early in the season.

You know, it's, it's one of those situations where you, whether it's the youth, today's attention span or you know, things along, along those lines.

I feel like once you get past an hour and a half hour, 45 minutes, the guys are unengaged, they're uninspired, you know, they're tired, you know, they start thinking about other things.

And the end of practices we're getting really sloppy.

So you know, we cut it back.

No more three hour practices.

No.

My guys who play for me the first few years probably are upset to hear that because they were getting long ones.

If I didn't think something was right, we stayed on it until we were done.

I didn't care how long it took.

Today's players, I think you need to be as specific as possible and let them learn a little bit more on their own.

But again, you cannot keep players attention span, you know, past two hours, two and a half hours, you know, to get a good engaged practice from, from everybody.

So hope that helps everybody continue to have a great summer.

One month away from moving over here at Penn State Altoona.

So summer's flying by, Hope all is well.

Take care.

Don Showalter, USA Basketball.

Hi, Don Showalter here from USA Basketball.

And what the question is, what is one thing that I would certainly essential I certainly gave up that I think was unnecessary.

I think the one thing I gave up was, was three hour practices.

When I was a younger coach, I thought more is better and the longer I coached I realized that more was not better, especially in the practice time.

If you can't get done in a two hour, hour and a half, two hour time slot by players going hard in practice and probably another hour, another half hour is not going to be very beneficial.

Thank you.

John Shulman from the University of Central Arkansas.

This is John Shulman, head coach at the University of Central Arkansas.

And this month's question is what have you gotten rid of that you used to think was essential?

A bunch of different things.

There are certain things that I have kept and I will always hold on to three on three, jump the ball and weak side box out drills every day.

But this one.

I used to think that pre game meal four hours before was absolutely essential.

I used to think that it had to be done in a quiet room.

Nobody was allowed to talk.

You had to be thinking about the game and you had to be serious about the game.

And that's how we had pregame meal back in the day.

Seniors would go first and juniors, sophomores and freshmen.

Everybody would eat in silence.

If a table was laughing and giggling, coach would get mad at those kids.

And I went to Alabama Huntsville and they did it a different way and guys stayed loose and guys enjoyed going to pregame meal.

And it wasn't grilled chicken and broccoli, it was chicken fingers and fries.

And then I was like, well, maybe it's not as important right before.

So we just started enjoying pregame meal.

Guys were talking and cutting up and enjoying and stayed loose.

And we won a lot of games there.

We do the same thing here at Central Arkansas.

So I don't think pregame has to be this crazy, serious deal.

I think it gets guys tight.

We used to do a lot of scouting of everybody's inbounds plays and that's what we spent shoot around to do.

We spent an hour working on everybody shoot around everybody's inbounds plays.

And when the game starts, the guys absolutely were atrocious forgetting about all that stuff.

And we stopped doing that.

We played different defenses under ob so we don't have to play against anybody else, they have to play against us.

And I think that's been really helpful.

But the biggest thing is that pregame meal.

I used to get guys tight.

I used to think that's how you had to do it.

You don't have to do it like that, but to each his own and whatever fits you, right?

And maybe that fit me back in the day.

It doesn't fit me anymore and we don't do it anymore.

We do enough stuff togetherness that, I mean, I guess Covid changed it a little bit.

Eating a pre game meal at a restaurant, we just bring food in and if guys want to take it to their rooms, if we're on the road or take it back to their apartment, that's fine.

If they want to eat together, that's fine.

Done a lot of changing and figured out kind of what's important.

But it's like I said, to each his own.

What's important to you now may not be important to you later on.

And there's certain things I've held on to my whole career.

Hope this helps a little bit.

Everybody have a great rest of the summer.

Take care of yourself because it's getting ready to start again.

Thanks.

Caleb south from cps training, Running and Conditioning Outside of our on court drills, thanks for checking out this month's Coach's Corner Roundtable on the Hoop Heads Podcast.

We'll be back next month with another question for our all star lineup of guests.

Your first impression is everything when applying for a new coaching job.

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The Coaching Portfolio Guide is an instructional membership based website that helps you develop a personalized portfolio.

Each section of the Portfolio Guide provides detailed instructions on how to organize your portfolio in a professional manner.

The guide also provides sample documents for each section of your portfolio that you can copy, modify and add to your personal portfolio.

As a Hoop Heads POD listener, you can get your Coaching Portfolio Guide for just $25.

Visit coachingportfolioguide.com hoop heads to learn.

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