How are you going to be a better coach this year?

As basketball coaches we’re always thinking ahead to the next game, the next practice, the next season. When I’ve asked coaches about their biggest concerns, I usually get answers like these:

• How can I make the players better?
• How can I win more games?
• How can I find more time?

In my experience, I’ve found that there’s one concern that’s more important than any of these – and when you focus on it, you’ll find that it helps with all the others:

How can I be a better coach?

No matter where you are as a coach – head or assistant, just starting out or in the prime of your career – you know you need to keep getting better or you’ll be left behind.

Here’s how it works: When you get better, the players get better, you’ll win more and time opens up.

In short when you, the coach, get better lots of things – important things – get better.

You’re smart enough to know that getting better is about a lot more than just the X’s and O’s. It’s more than new workouts, new motivational nuggets and even new technology. Yes, that’s all important. But it’s not enough.

After you’ve bought all the DVD’s, looked all over You Tube, rehashed with your buddies, studied every possible set of clinic notes, viewed game film the umpteenth time, dusted off and reviewed all your coaching manuals, picked every brain you can find . . .

. . . and you still have questions and the same old problems continue to rear their heads, I can help.

One-on-One Coaching for Coaches

Too often, talented coaches lose their love of the game or get stuck in their career because they don’t have the professional support they need. When coaches don’t reach their potential, not only do they suffer, but so do their players, their teams and their programs. Ultimately, the Game suffers.

I want to stop this cycle.

I believe that coaches who want to become better should have the same access to one-on-one expert help that great players and CEO’s in business have.

Business executives have worked with private coaches for years to help them lead and run their businesses more effectively. Athletes at all levels today engage private coaches to help them become better.

So should elite coaches and those who aspire to be elite coaches!

Wouldn’t it be great to know there’s someone you trust and can confide in with all your questions and concerns? Someone you can turn to regularly? Someone who will help you set and meet your goals and objectives? Someone who’s as committed as you are to reaching your potential as a coach? Someone who knows the score, has seen it all, and understands coaching – and the Game – at all levels?

That’s where I come in. When you work with me, you’ll get perspective on your situation, accountability for the steps you need to take, a sounding board for those conversations you just can’t have with anyone else, and a knowledgeable guide to help you achieve your goals.

“Jim Burson is a remarkable teacher and coach.”  – Jay Bilas, ESPN basketball analyst

You might want to know more about me.

I created Solution-Based Basketball® because I am passionate about helping coaches be the best that they can be. And I know that there are times you need one person, listening to and understanding your specific situation and circumstance, to help you wrangle and untangle the thorny issues.

Few consulting coaches have my specific knowledge base. I not only created one of the earliest player clinics that ran for over 40 years, I also created popular coaches clinics. Nike asked me to create the Nike Coaches Learning Academy for its elite youth coaches, which I led for several years. Now that I evaluate their elite summer basketball leagues and academies, I still see many of those coaches from my NCLA and I see how their success has grown, both in the quality of their professional development and the kinds of coaching positions they’ve attained.

I have over 40 years of head coaching and teaching experience. I have a PhD and master’s degree from Ohio State University and am emeritus professor and retired head coach for men’s basketball for Muskingum University. I’m past president and a life member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, “The Guardians of the Game.” I’m a proud member of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame and serve on its board. I am the past basketball chair for NCAA Division III.

Sports Illustrated called me the “Disseminator” and “Code Cracker” of the Princeton Offense. In addition to Solution-Based Basketball® and my consulting work with Nike, I consult with 94Fifty, whose sensor-based basketball is sold in Apple stores. I’m the author of two books, the best-selling The Golden Whistle ~ Going Beyond: A Coach’s Journey to Success and The Daily Nugget: Motivations for Basketball Coaches and Everyone Who Loves the Game .

When we work together, our success is a synergy between the essence of all that is my experience and your willingness to learn. Not only will you get better, but so will I and, in turn, so will the Game!

This is what you can expect when you work with me.

Coaching is exciting, fulfilling and, at times, glamorous. It’s also pressured, complex and often lonely. As I wrote in my book, The Golden Whistle, we often see only the mermaid’s head and overlook the dragon’s tail that is always under the surface. The long practices, the recruiting trips, the hours watching video, neglect of family, neglect of health — all need to be addressed and placed into perspective.

More coaches quit, get fired or simply lose interest because of overwhelm. The Game has lost too many good people who have just plain burned out from that dragon’s tail. It doesn’t have to be this way. I can help you learn how to handle and even prevent the tough times.

You’re not in this alone!

You’ll be working one-on-one with an expert coach who has seen all sides of basketball and is equally comfortable talking X’s and O’s and those tough topics like parents, player motivation, frustrations, disappointments and even the problems that accompany success.

We’ll follow my S.S.CV.T coaching success framework:

Shots  » Stops » Core Values » True Toughness

Anyone who ever played for me can recite these principles. My players understood that when they nailed this framework they could nail any situation — on the floor or off. These principles aren’t just for players. They apply first to you, the coach! You’ll learn to take the shots that matter, understand what stops you, live your core values and coach yourself and your players with true toughness. I call this ‘Developing the Whole Coach.’

If you truly want your team to be better, you must first invest in yourself and get yourself better. Even when you’re an assistant, you need to learn how to go from being the person who makes suggestions to being the head coach who has to make tough decisions.

One-on-one coaching has proven itself time and time again to make top performers even more successful. I can’t promise you more wins, but I can promise that you will become a better coach.

“Jim Burson is truly a coach’s coach. Working with him has given me more confidence, increased my appetite to learn and opened new avenues for me in my own coaching.” – Page Moir, President, National Association of Basketball Coaches; Head Coach, Roanoke College Men’s Basketball

Coaching Specialties

Here’s how we’ll get started:

We’ll schedule a discovery session in which you can ask all your questions about one-on-one coaching and I’ll learn more about how you want to be a better coach. We’ll talk about 20 minutes and determine whether to arrange one-on-one coaching. Just fill out the form below, letting me know the goals or challenges you face, the questions or topics that you’re interested in, and we’ll be in touch with you to schedule your session.

“… A coaches’ coach, a respected sage in the fraternity …” Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl

One-on-One Coaching Inquiry