October 1, 2021
How I use ‘non-negotiables’ to secure performance on court
At the start of the season, I like to sit down with players and discuss their non-negotiables. The rules that they promise to keep to in a game to make sure that they can stay calm, collected, and united on the court no matter what they are up against.
This will usually take up the first half of a session, and although some may think that this is a waste of time, I really believe that it helps to unite players, bring together playing units, build better bonds on court and allows players to hold themselves responsible for their own actions too.
I may start a session like this with some gameplay, asking each of the players to reflect honestly about their own performance and their teams performance in the breaks. I will give them a big notepad to jot down all the ideas they have so that they have something to return to later on in the session.
I will then bring the squad together and have an open conversation as to what they think goes right and wrong on the court and why they think that happens. Sometimes conversations like this go really well and ideas are free flowing, but sometimes the players need a little bit more of a nudge. If this is the case I find working in smaller groups and then feeding back can be more effective than having a larger group discussion.
From this, I will sit players down in small on-court unit groups and ask them to list the main problems they have in a game. For example, a GK’s main problem might be not being able to get the ball out on a back line, and a GS’s might be finding themselves in the wrong position for a rebound. I then ask them to think of solutions for their problems, these become our non-negotiables on court.
Once each unit has about 3-5 non-negotiable, I will bring the whole squad back together again to share ideas and think about which we could adopt as a whole team to unite our play through the court. We will decide on a top 5 and these become our rules to live by in the season! VOILA!
Here’s an example of some of the non-negoitable’s I think are really important in a game:
- Short pass after every intercept
- Non-shooting players blocks off defender to allow better rebound position
- Defence always backing up on the line
- No negative talk
- Get the ball on court quickly at a back line/side line
Remember that non-negoitables are NOT tactics. They are rather golden rules for play. It’s important to decide these with your players to allow them to keep ownership of their game – it will make your life so much easier…trust me!
