Everything I’m going to talk about is based on failure.
“Unless you have failed and then succeeded again, I’m not sure you believe in anything. I think that’s what you like to do.”
“Ask the questions you didn’t you know needed, so you find the solutions you didn’t know you had.”
“Exceed the demands, create shock, allow the body to adapt.”
“Everybody is equal, some are just more replaceable.”
2019 brought us something that has been a long time coming, the welcoming of Dr. Charlie Weingroff to The Seminar to discuss the systems and processes behind what they are building with Canada Basketball. Charlie starts out this talk by sharing with us the value of having systems, and how that can be transferable to many situations. He starts out with some examples of the success they’re having building basketball in Canada, which has had a significant upward slope in the past 10 years.
After he shares with us where the program they are building in Canada started Charlie starts to dive into their three systems where are: clinical systems, data analysis systems, and social systems and processes. The first system he covers is the clinical one. This starts out with the explanation of how they set this up with metaphorical buckets and “windows of success”, how they connect, and what we can do to impact those connections. These ideas, like the whole high-performance idea, comes from the business world, and Charlie shares where these connect. This leads him to the 4 “tests” that allow them to reach into, and be impacted by, all 6 buckets. These tests are: movement, output, readiness, and sensory systems. Charlie breaks down each one of those four tests, how they fit into the six buckets, and why each is important in driving their system.
He then touches upon their setups for data analysis, which starts with (obviously) your best players. The second list is based on who is the most durable. He looks at that based on how many games they played. The third and final list is “who are the winners”. This looks at what is the individuals winning percentage over their career. You then take these three lists and you score it like golf, the person with the lowest number is at the top of the list. At that point, you look at what makes those players and you do what makes them special. Seems to make sense, right? Find those that are the best, most durable, and the winners, and do what makes them best.
The third and final, system that Charlie talks on is the social system and processes. The Seminar was the first time Charlie has spoken on this, and this is one missing piece is so many people athletic programs. This all starts with the idea of safety, and Charlie proposes the idea of calling/talking to people when you don’t need anything. He then discusses the idea of 100-51-1, and it’s really a sensational way to look at things. If you can, not just as a coach but as a person, and put things down as things you need, things you want, and things that would be nice to have. These things get moved around so that at some point you actually end out having the things you really need. He finishes off with the idea of culture, and how behaviour, values, and atmosphere are the drivers, and how they all work together to build this thing we call “culture”.