Film Breakdown Part 3: Individual Player Meetings

In my 3rd and final segment of Film Breakdown, I am going to discuss my thoughts on the important aspect of watching film with your players individually. If you happened to miss Part 1 or Part 2, click over and check them out.

Meeting with your players on an individual basis is just as, if not more important than bringing in your entire team for critique. As a coach, you are mentor first, X & O’s come second; meeting with your players 1-on-1 allows for that special time of bonding and showing your players that you care. As a high school coach, it can be difficult at times to schedule frequent 1-on-1 meetings because practice is typically right after school and there is little time in between to meet. Furthermore, most players jet out of practice as soon as the huddle breaks. It is important to MAKE time to meet with your players; even if it is just for 5-10 minutes. If you can’t find 5-10 minutes, then utilize your down time in practice to strike up conversations (i.e.- Pre/Post Stretching, Water Breaks, Free-Throws, etc.)

Film Breakdown Part 2: Conducting Team Video Sessions

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, Post-Game Analysis, head over and check it out after you finish reading.

One of the famous quotes in coaching is, “Film doesn’t lie”. Meeting with your time and showing them their mistakes on film, rather than trying to explain them, is and will always be one of the most impactful ways you can help your team improve. However, it is only effective if it is done the right way. There are numerous ways to watch film with your team, and those methods can vary greatly depending on the level your program competes at. I am going to share what I have found to be the most effective approach to watching film with our team.

Be Prepared

The most significant piece of keeping your players engaged is to be prepared. This means making sure your computer set-up, projector, tv, however you watch film, is powered on and ready to go when the film session begins. The last thing you want is your team sitting in silence while you try to queue up the film. If you are in a program that has a video coordinator or a coach designated as the video specialist, they should already be in the room preparing the video before the team (especially the other coaches) walk in.

The second aspect is having a game plan for your film session. Have you ever played for or coached with someone whom after a loss especially, would sit and make their players watch the entire game. Meanwhile berating the team for every nonsensical mistake made. While this may be effective for some teams, is it really the best use of your time together as a team? In my opinion, no. I prefer to pick out the clips from the previous game(s) that are teachable moments that our players can learn from; and make sure those clips are marked or in a separate play edit to reference in an efficient manner.

Additionally, place the clips in an order of importance; viewing the essential clips first. We all know that film sessions tend to go longer than expected, especially if there is a lot of teaching taking place and the players are asking questions. If you designate 30 minutes to your film session and only get through half of your plan, by placing the important clips first you ensure that the point(s) you want to emphasize are addressed.

Film Breakdown Part 1: Post-Game Analysis

Upon several requests, I have put together a three-part series of posts discussing how to watch film as after the game, with your team, and with individual players. Today I am going to discuss the process of watching and breaking down the game film individually as a coach to provide feedback for yourself and your coaching staff.

This post is going to about the process of how I break down film after a game every each night. The analysis below takes place after every game we play and it takes approximately 2 hours once I get home. 

Post-Game Meeting

After each game our coaching staff meets in the head coaches office and we discuss the game for 15-20 minutes; What went well, what didn’t go well, and other thoughts about the game. As a staff, we try to reserve judgement with performance until watching the game film. During this time, I will reference some notes that I wrote down during the game about some aspects that I think would be good to look for when breaking down the film (i.e.- Transition defense, defensive rebounding, rotational breakdowns, etc.) and also gather thoughts from my head coach on things he would like for me to focus on while watching the film.

Post-Game Report

After gathering our post-game perspective, I head home and start uploading the film for breakdown onto our editing tool. During the upload time (usually takes about 25 minutes), I analyze and input the data I have on my Offensive and Defensive Efficiency Chart and look for any positive and negative trends from the game. This chart will also factor into indicators while watching film. Once all the numbers totaled, I will start typing up my Post[Game Report for my head coach. I got this tremendous idea from the LA Clippers’ Kevin Eastman. Eastman took it upon himself each night after their games to write-up a post-game report and slide it under head coach Doc Rivers’ door for reading the next morning. I am not sure what Kevin’s looked like, but in my report I include the following:

1. Quarter by Quarter Scoring with +/-
2. Rebound Comparisons each half and game total (Out rebounding the opponent is a huge component of our program)
3. Offensive and Defensive notes referencing the Efficiency Chart I mentioned above
   1. As well as any notes I gather from the film in regards to our performance (Good and Bad)
4. Any ideas or recommendations for upcoming practices that I think will help our team

If you are interested in a sample of what mine looks like just drop me a note and I would be glad to email you.