Vic Paulson’s Principles

Equality

Treat everyone the same. No pets, no favourites, no bias.

Vic Paulson didn’t believe in giving players easy rides or opening doors or laying out carpets. If you favour an individual, you might be helping him or her in the short term, but in the long term you’re limiting their ability to reach their true potential. In addition to this, their team mates gain a sense of animosity towards them as their level of enjoyment is reduced.

If Vic refereed his own teams he would be hard on them, so that he wouldn’t look biased and contribute towards his team winning in such a manner. He knew it would soften his teams up. If you fall into a comfort zone by winning with the referees help, then how will you handle a tight contest with a totally neutral referee or even a bias one? It makes you dependent on outside help rather than to win with your own ability. Equality creates team harmony and a team spirit. Inequality creates resentment.

Simplicity

Focus on the simple things and do them well. Other coaches tend to complicate things to make themselves look more empowered and knowledgeable, thereby confusing and frustrating the very people they are supposed to be helping. When things go wrong they look to blame others. When things go well they look to take credit. Simple things done well are better than complex things done with mediocrity!

Overcome Fear and Help Others

Fear is the most destructive element on earth. You fear what you can’t have or what you can’t do. You may fear your players will resent you for pushing them day in and day out.

As a coach or athlete, you need to eliminate the fear of losing. This enables you to more positively reflective in your performance and identify what aspects of your game need improvement. In order to be more successful, you must learn from your mistakes.

In order to help their athletes, coaches must first abolish their fear of failure. They must focus on the bigger picture, which is the development of the athletes for the long term rather than their immediate win-loss record. It must be acknowledged that different athletes develop at various rates. The coach must identify this variation and scaffold the teaching of skills and set expectations for each athlete accordingly. As a coach:

• If you help others improve, you yourself will improve.
• If you deny others, you deny yourself and your team.
• By helping your team members and opponents, you are challenging yourself not only as a coach but as a person. This makes the coach an effective role model in producing positive ethics for their athletes as they interact with their opponents.

Problem Solving

Basketball is a relatively complex sport and involves a certain amount of problem solving. The coach should promote an environment where the athletes are able to express freedom of thinking. Vic would encourage us to try and figure things out for ourselves instead of us always relying on him.

In today’s world coaches want you to rely on them as it makes them feel important and wanted but it creates a false impression of what basketball is really about. Vic would ask us questions (often cryptically) about what we thought about offences and other various aspects of the game. He would even sound like he was asking our advice. This made us go away and start thinking about things internally, asking ourselves questions and looking for our own answers.

Committment and Loyalty

It is vital that you commit yourself to your team. If you choose to play two sports, you cannot possibly give 100 per cent to two teams. Playing two different codes puts unwanted pressure and distractions in both camps. There are risks of injury and fatigue.

‘Team’ means, when there’s a practice, game or a meeting etc, everyone has to be there. Unless there’s unforeseen or ‘legitimate’ reasons to the contrary, teams must stick together. When team mates are missing because they’re playing other sports, this creates problems that lower the chances of success.

Coaches should be loyal to the athletes you have available. If you have faith in your ability as a coach and the systems you want to implement, you don’t have to entice other schools’ players through scholarships, and other incentives. This destroys the concept of the team and makes you believe that individuals can bring success to the team. It doesn’t send a good message to the younger kids in the school who aspire to play for their senior teams.

It is better to lose on principle with a natural team, than to win on with recruitment.

Confidence Vs Negativity

When most basketball players make a mistake on the court, their first reaction is to drop their heads. The younger the players the more their heads will drop and for longer. At that moment they lose sense of what they’re doing and go into their shell. Some break out of it and continue playing while others go deeper into that shell.

At that precise moment the coach’s reaction is critical. How the coach reacts can make or break that player. If the coach reacts negatively, chances are the athlete will lose confidence. If the coach shows no negative emotion but gives encouragement, then that player will improve, become confidence and gain the ability to process their mistakes in a way that is conducive to learning. Right there a coach has a great deal of power by controlling that basketball player’s life.

I have seen many coaches use these emotional reactions as a way of controlling who will improve and who won’t. Some coaches do it willingly, others are so driven by their egos that they don’t realise the potential damage they are doing short and long term. Why would any coach want to deliberately destroy the confidence of their players? It may be in order to protect their own personal interests.

Negativity breeds negativity. It has no place in sport. Positivity breeds positivity! When parents discipline children with fear, aggression and frustration, they are punishing the children, not disciplining them.

“Discipline comes from a calm assertive state.”

Ceaser Milan, the Dog Whisperer.

Challenges

Vic understood the importance of giving players challenges, including those who develop quicker than others. This was to prevent a player from getting complacent or bored. He would make statements such as:

“So, you’re ready to take over this team?”
“Would grabbing 15 rebounds be any problem for you?”

Vic would make a number of philosophical statements about the game of basketball which enabled the athletes to challenge themselves. Some examples are:

“If you’re not sweating by the time practice starts, you’re not ready for practice.”

To the Point Guard:

“During the very first offensive possession of a game, make sure everyone gets to touch (or handle) the ball. This way everyone feels they’re involved and in the game. If players have to wait several possessions before they touch the ball, it can affect their confidence.”

“Five players playing as one will always be stronger than five players playing as individuals. A team is both offence and defence; practice both.”

“Whatever skills you develop offensively, you must also practice how to stop someone using those same skills and moves against you.”

The Art of Chess

As chess players must analyse the outcomes of a number of future moves during their game, the basketball coach must take a similar, (if not as extreme) approach in thinking ahead. Vic brought this to my attention as he mentored me while I was coaching.

During the late 80s I was coaching an Under 16s team as they were playing a match. At half-time I was talking with Vic about the game. I thought I had the game fairly worked out but he saw everything I saw in a more structured order. He was able to explain the game 3-4 steps ahead and 3-4 steps behind. This made me realise how little I really knew about analysing future outcomes and seeing where certain patterns of events will lead to. This inspired me to take up the challenge of improving that aspect of my development as a coach.