Terminology is so important if you want to succeed in any business or sport. What are your terms/names for certain procedures or, in sports, different plays and coverages?
Are each one of your terms and play calls defined to the point where you can explain in text? Like a dictionary of your terminology. Writing it down and passing out to your team helps. Many players learn that way; if it is detailed in diagrams and text.
Another benefit of writing it down: you tend not to change it. You keep it consistent for your program and players year to year.
You drill it in your teams’ brains. It becomes second nature. They know what to call when a situation arises within a game. There is no hesitation. There is no confusion. Players are on the same page. Literally and figuratively.
Take the Chicago Bulls as an example. The Chicago Bulls have 319 terms in within their defense. Yes, 319 terms! Not to mention their offensive terminology and play calls. When I was an intern for the Bulls, I remember the offensive playbook filling a 3 1/2 inch ring binder, definitely 500+ pages.
The 319 terms range in categories such as transition defense, post defense (before and when the ball goes in), high pick and roll defense, side pick and roll defense, step-up defense, dribble handoff defense, catch and shoot defense, wing iso, exceptions for great players, help defensive terms, pressure, out of bounds, and much much much more.
You get the point. Not only do they have terms for each scenario of a game. They are clearly defined.
Let me clarify, should your team have 319 terms? No. I do not recommend a high school or college team having that many. That is a lot to handle. And we should leave that to the professionals. But the point is: you must have them and you must have them organized.
In addition, maybe you do not implement every single term within a year. But writing them down and having them in your playbook will help for when you do introduce them to your team. Also, it provides a reference and library for the coach to look at his program’s terms and potentially switch up schemes.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Am I consistent in using the same terminology when referring to the same play or scheme or defense every time I speak on it?
- Are my assistant coaches using the same verbiage and terms that I am?
- Can I articulate each term in 2-3 sentences?
- Are they written down?
- How many does your program have?
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