EFFECTIVE USE OF TIMEOUTS

Great stuff from Steve Brennan on timeout execution:

You have 4 time-outs a game

Don’t waste your time-out by yelling. If you Call the time-out, the kids know something is wrong

Start each one with a positive statement. Research shows that the first think and the last thing that people say are the things that people remember most

Discuss no more than 3 items during any one time-out, and that may be too many. You must give the first 15 or 20 seconds to the kids anyway. Tell them this at the first of the year. They can get their water, towels, etc.

Develop a cue word to refocus attention. Mine was “Listen.” As soon as I said that the focus of the attention was on me.

Confer with assistant coaches before talking with the team. This is big with me because when I was an assistant coach, I was not part of time-outs. Even if you know exactly what you want to do, just from a psychological standpoint, you should do something with your assistant coaches. Give them some recognition. Utilize them.

Change defenses. Use a “Sequence-stay.”

Run a set play after a time-out. Get your best player into the flow. Set up a play.

Don’t use the entire time-out if you don’t need it.

If the opponent calls the time-out, wait until the referee gets you from the huddle.

Delegate an assistant coach to keep track of time-outs.

Carry strategy on 3x5 index cards. Put your out-of-bounds on cards.