Teach Better by Saying Less

Estimated read time: 2 minutes

Happy Friday, Coach.

Did you know we have lacrosse, football, volleyball, and pickleball coaches who read this newsletter?

If you coach another sport besides basketball, I'd love to know who you are and what you coach.

SAVI Coaching is more about the how and less about the what, so this one is for all coaches.

Players don't need more information. They need clarity.

Most coaches over-talk. They describe what went wrong, explain why it's wrong, and remind players not to do it again. Then they wonder why nothing changes.

Here's the problem: telling someone what not to do doesn't give them anything to do instead.

Three principles that fix this:

1. Teach the "do," not the "don't."

Have a player who over-dribbles? Don't say "stop dribbling so much." Don't talk about the dribbling at all.

Teach them when to dribble. How to read space. How to recognize pressure. How to identify the purpose of a dribble before they take one. Give them a decision to make instead of a mistake to avoid. Players can't execute a correction.

They can execute a decision.

We call this Red Bike / Green Bike.

Here's why: if you want someone to draw a green bike, don't have them picture a red bike.

The brain doesn't work that way. Whatever you put in front of them is what they see. If you want a player to dribble less, stop talking about how much they're dribbling. Paint the green bike. Show them what right looks like.

We have an Art of Coaching video that goes deep on this. Just reply "bike" and I'll send it your way.

2. Let the game teach.

Constraints do what your voice can't. Three dibbles max. Must read before attacking.

Those rules force the lesson without you having to say a word. Stop blowing the whistle every time something looks wrong. Let them fail. Let them adjust. Let them figure it out.

That's where learning lives.

3. Perform surgery, not commentary.

Ranting mid-practice burns time and trust. Observe. Diagnose. Then deliver one precise, specific piece of feedback when it actually lands, like during a break, one-on-one, with full attention.

Less volume. More precision.

The best teaching isn't louder. It's cleaner.

Simplify the drill. Name the purpose. Let players learn through reps, not lectures.

That's it.

-Tyler

P.S. If you want more practical tools like this, the SAVI coaching community is where we go deeper. Come check it out. 👉 Click here to try it FREE for 7 days.