Posted by Coach D on May 8th, 2014
Why Do I Coach and...The BARN? (Total Read Time: 3 Minutes)
I often get asked why I coach and how did I ever develop this program called IGNITED. Number one, I coach because I feel coaching found me as a result of my lifelong love of the game. I say that it found me because all I ever thought about was being a player and I never consciously thought about being a coach someday. Looking back, I had been groomed to be a coach in that I was always the quarterback or point guard leading a team and working hand in hand with my coaches as the "coach on the field". It wasn't until after I finished my career playing in college that I began being asked by players and parents if I would coach, only soon to realize that I had something that I felt could help others. It was almost like discovering a surprising hidden talent and coaching began to "ignite" within me a flame that has only gotten hotter and more sure that I'm doing the right thing.
As a child, I loved this great game of basketball as many can relate. I have tried to pinpoint what caused that unquenchable desire within me to never get enough and search for constant improvement. I remember running to school while dribbling just because I knew it would help me get in better shape for basketball, only to get a break from class to run to recess to play basketball, only to run home while dribbling to grab a quick bite and go shoot for hours at a time. My mom would always have to come get me and reluctantly the patented "one more shot" answer would come. I'm laughing inside with fond memories as I write this, but really this game has brought me so much joy and because of that I love sharing it with others, especially those players who can relate to what I am saying because I coach for you.
I should explain that I had a unique advantage many young basketball players do not have. My advantage is that I grew up in a beautiful, small, rural community in Hamilton Montana where we had "THE BARN". The barn was intended to be a protection for horses and a place to store feed. For me, I feel that God blessed me with this barn so that I would have the opportunity to shoot baskets and work on my game so that eventually I could use that talent to share with others. That may sound odd, but just know that yes, I did grow up on a ranch and did learn how to WORK, but know that to this day, I'm not into cows, horses, chickens, pigs, ect. It just wasn't for me, but what I am into is BASKETBALL and in my mind, this barn was a blessing from God. I have included a picture of the barn where my first 10,000 hours of practice occurred. It's the best gym a kid could ever have. It had a solid original hardwood floor that we painted a 3 point and free throw lines on and high ceilings and even when it got super cold in Montana, it still was fairly warm. I would set up hay bales as obstacles for dribbling and jumping over, I'd jump rope, I'd work on John Stockton's pull up jumpers, Michael Jordan's fade away's, floaters, Mark Price's free throws, Larry Bird's three pointers, ect until I had to go to bed. As a 5th grader, I shot 3 hours per day after school, no joke. The owner of the ranch that we lived on had race horses and therefore he had jockeys that would train the horses. Every jockey that ever walked in that door was immediately challenged to one on one by someone their own size, only much more skilled and 20 years younger. That barn is a sanctuary to me and where I learned how to practice, or so I thought at the time. Knowing what I know now, I realize my practice could have been much more specific and beneficial, but I did the best I knew at the time and regardless, it did pay dividends and taught me important life lessons.
In middle school and high school I went to every camp and worked with any coach who would take the time to work with me. When they told me to shoot one handed and work on form, I spent hours doing what they asked. When my favorite coach ever, Coach Thomas, my high school coach for one season taught me the "pro hop" for the first time, that became my favorite move in high school for finishing and getting fouled to the point that one game I shot 21 free throws-making 18. I attended the popular "hoopfest" in Spokane, Washington (http://www.spokanehoopfest.net/Pages/default.aspx) where the entire downtown shuts down with nothing but courts lining the streets. I attended camps in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Missouri, Washington, and California-the best of which was the Point Guard College (http://www.pgcbasketball.com/) with its founder Dick DeVenzio, who has since passed away. Some of the events I played AAU at the Adidas Big Time and Double Pump events. The best player I ever played in those events hands down: Jamal Crawford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE3CJwQONws who was clearly pro the second you saw him play. Each of these experienced I learned from and took bits and pieces that have helped me form my approach to the game of basketball. Conservatively, my family and I spent over $10,000 dollars in camps, tournaments, and AAU in high school. I know many of you know exactly what I am talking about in the strain it places on a family, but yet, we are willing to pay for these camps if we feel it will truly help us achieve our child's dream. Back to the question of why did I create "IGNITED" (www.netsonfire.com), one of the simplest answers is that I know how much money we had spent on camps and looking back, the large majority of them could have been eliminated if I had a program such as IGNITED as a kid. IGNITED is the result of the notes I took as a kid, the lessons I learned from the 9 head coaches, 12 assistant coaches I played for, (yes I had a new coach every year of high school, one in junior college, and the coach who brought me in to the University of Montana was fired after us going to the NCAA tournament, so I had 7 head coaches in high school and college). Once again, that was a blessing in that I learned from so many different coaching styles. I believe everyone is a teacher to us in life, some teachers of what we don't want to be like, and others teachers we seek to emulate. IGNITED is also a result of hundreds of interviews from the top high school, college, and professional coaches over the past 10 years. Not every coach knew I was interviewing them specifically, but literally every coach I have talked to I have asked what their best player development drills are and what they do for player development, and all this went into formulating IGNITED.
The main reason that I coach is for the feeling I get from the growth I see in the players I coach. In many of them, I see myself at that age. I am a big believer of goal setting and I strive to pass that on to my players. Getting texts and calls from current and former players thanking me for lessons they feel I have taught them is extremely gratifying and humbling. My response is always the same in telling them that they put in the work, I just helped give them the tools they needed, just as others taught me. The relationships formed in basketball mean everything to me. I still keep in close contact with my favorite high school coach to this day and it's gratifying to have his own son-a current player playing in college using IGNITED every day to improve and reach his goals. I get that I couldn't have ever achieved any success in life without the parents, coaches, and members of the community who taught me so much and provided me so much help along the way. I also understand that I may not be able to influence every player that ever plays this game, but I would sure like to help as many as I can and that is the driving force behind why I coach. I feel strongly that there are more efficient ways to practice, better ways to approach and play the game, and smarter methods in coaching this great game. My mission is to help players and coaches develop 100% TRUE GAME, more on that to come...
Coach D
As a child, I loved this great game of basketball as many can relate. I have tried to pinpoint what caused that unquenchable desire within me to never get enough and search for constant improvement. I remember running to school while dribbling just because I knew it would help me get in better shape for basketball, only to get a break from class to run to recess to play basketball, only to run home while dribbling to grab a quick bite and go shoot for hours at a time. My mom would always have to come get me and reluctantly the patented "one more shot" answer would come. I'm laughing inside with fond memories as I write this, but really this game has brought me so much joy and because of that I love sharing it with others, especially those players who can relate to what I am saying because I coach for you.
I should explain that I had a unique advantage many young basketball players do not have. My advantage is that I grew up in a beautiful, small, rural community in Hamilton Montana where we had "THE BARN". The barn was intended to be a protection for horses and a place to store feed. For me, I feel that God blessed me with this barn so that I would have the opportunity to shoot baskets and work on my game so that eventually I could use that talent to share with others. That may sound odd, but just know that yes, I did grow up on a ranch and did learn how to WORK, but know that to this day, I'm not into cows, horses, chickens, pigs, ect. It just wasn't for me, but what I am into is BASKETBALL and in my mind, this barn was a blessing from God. I have included a picture of the barn where my first 10,000 hours of practice occurred. It's the best gym a kid could ever have. It had a solid original hardwood floor that we painted a 3 point and free throw lines on and high ceilings and even when it got super cold in Montana, it still was fairly warm. I would set up hay bales as obstacles for dribbling and jumping over, I'd jump rope, I'd work on John Stockton's pull up jumpers, Michael Jordan's fade away's, floaters, Mark Price's free throws, Larry Bird's three pointers, ect until I had to go to bed. As a 5th grader, I shot 3 hours per day after school, no joke. The owner of the ranch that we lived on had race horses and therefore he had jockeys that would train the horses. Every jockey that ever walked in that door was immediately challenged to one on one by someone their own size, only much more skilled and 20 years younger. That barn is a sanctuary to me and where I learned how to practice, or so I thought at the time. Knowing what I know now, I realize my practice could have been much more specific and beneficial, but I did the best I knew at the time and regardless, it did pay dividends and taught me important life lessons.
In middle school and high school I went to every camp and worked with any coach who would take the time to work with me. When they told me to shoot one handed and work on form, I spent hours doing what they asked. When my favorite coach ever, Coach Thomas, my high school coach for one season taught me the "pro hop" for the first time, that became my favorite move in high school for finishing and getting fouled to the point that one game I shot 21 free throws-making 18. I attended the popular "hoopfest" in Spokane, Washington (http://www.spokanehoopfest.net/Pages/default.aspx) where the entire downtown shuts down with nothing but courts lining the streets. I attended camps in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Missouri, Washington, and California-the best of which was the Point Guard College (http://www.pgcbasketball.com/) with its founder Dick DeVenzio, who has since passed away. Some of the events I played AAU at the Adidas Big Time and Double Pump events. The best player I ever played in those events hands down: Jamal Crawford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE3CJwQONws who was clearly pro the second you saw him play. Each of these experienced I learned from and took bits and pieces that have helped me form my approach to the game of basketball. Conservatively, my family and I spent over $10,000 dollars in camps, tournaments, and AAU in high school. I know many of you know exactly what I am talking about in the strain it places on a family, but yet, we are willing to pay for these camps if we feel it will truly help us achieve our child's dream. Back to the question of why did I create "IGNITED" (www.netsonfire.com), one of the simplest answers is that I know how much money we had spent on camps and looking back, the large majority of them could have been eliminated if I had a program such as IGNITED as a kid. IGNITED is the result of the notes I took as a kid, the lessons I learned from the 9 head coaches, 12 assistant coaches I played for, (yes I had a new coach every year of high school, one in junior college, and the coach who brought me in to the University of Montana was fired after us going to the NCAA tournament, so I had 7 head coaches in high school and college). Once again, that was a blessing in that I learned from so many different coaching styles. I believe everyone is a teacher to us in life, some teachers of what we don't want to be like, and others teachers we seek to emulate. IGNITED is also a result of hundreds of interviews from the top high school, college, and professional coaches over the past 10 years. Not every coach knew I was interviewing them specifically, but literally every coach I have talked to I have asked what their best player development drills are and what they do for player development, and all this went into formulating IGNITED.
The main reason that I coach is for the feeling I get from the growth I see in the players I coach. In many of them, I see myself at that age. I am a big believer of goal setting and I strive to pass that on to my players. Getting texts and calls from current and former players thanking me for lessons they feel I have taught them is extremely gratifying and humbling. My response is always the same in telling them that they put in the work, I just helped give them the tools they needed, just as others taught me. The relationships formed in basketball mean everything to me. I still keep in close contact with my favorite high school coach to this day and it's gratifying to have his own son-a current player playing in college using IGNITED every day to improve and reach his goals. I get that I couldn't have ever achieved any success in life without the parents, coaches, and members of the community who taught me so much and provided me so much help along the way. I also understand that I may not be able to influence every player that ever plays this game, but I would sure like to help as many as I can and that is the driving force behind why I coach. I feel strongly that there are more efficient ways to practice, better ways to approach and play the game, and smarter methods in coaching this great game. My mission is to help players and coaches develop 100% TRUE GAME, more on that to come...
Coach D
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