When an Athlete Says "I'm Slow"

I know I said this week we were going to learn about how to support our athletes with self-awareness, but something happened that’s been on my mind, and I feel compelled to share it.

I was putting two high school athletes through a workout. We were working on reading the defense and attacking space.

Now, I’ve been working with these two athletes long enough to notice differences in how one of them processes information.

What I’ve Observed

Whenever I explain the drill verbally, she never quite understands what she’s supposed to do, even if I’m pointing and I feel like I’m being very clear.

Because of that, I decided to have her walk through it as I was explaining each step, which seemed to help a lot.

I also noticed that if I changed the drill's objective without specifically checking for her understanding, she had a hard time keeping up. For example, the first three reps she has to finish with a layup at the rim, and the next three reps she has to finish with a jump shot. Without a reminder right before the jump shots, she kept shooting layups.

Also, if I stacked two points of emphasis before she felt comfortable with the first, it seemed to overload her, and the first point of emphasis would go out the window.

Using the same example above. If we were focused on shooting layups and I asked her to also focus on attacking space (wherever the defender was not), she would sometimes get so focused on where the defender was that she would shoot a jump shot.

Everything I noticed confirmed what I had already observed, and I took it as a challenge to get better at making adjustments throughout the session.

"I'm slow"

At one point during the workout, she ran into the defense twice in a row, and I pointed out we wanted to attack space. She told me that her brain doesn’t work that fast and said, “I’m slow.”

Boom, that phrase hit me, and cue the alarm bells in my head.​

She said that and then kind of giggled. Almost like it was said about her before; either from an outside source or she’s said that to herself when she didn’t understand something everyone else seemed to get.

In that moment, I realized two things.

1. It’s so easy to think that “our way” is the gold standard.
2. There is a hidden cost when an athlete does not feel like they can advocate for themself.

"Our way"

We live from our perspective, which means we teach and coach in the way we find it most helpful. For me, I find it very stimulating to picture a drill, or play, in my head as someone is explaining it. I like to challenge myself to understand as quickly as possible. That’s how I stay engaged.

Because of that, it’s easy for me to assume that’s what everyone else does. It most certainly is not. Especially with this athlete, she was trying her best just to keep up with what I was saying.

At one point during the session, she even said she was nervous for this basketball season because, for certain reasons, she is worried that her coach will not be able to demonstrate drills, which she said would be difficult for her because she’s a visual learner and needs to see it.

Self-advocacy

If an athlete doesn’t feel comfortable or never speaks up, it’s easy for coaches to make assumptions about what’s going on.

• She keeps shooting layups when she’s supposed to shoot jump shots = she’s not listening.
• She always runs into the defense = she has a low sports IQ.

When I notice that I’m making assumptions about an athlete, that’s when I ask myself: is it a performance issue, or a processing issue?

Distinguishing between the two takes an open, curious mind and observational skills.

I’m so grateful this athlete spoke up. When she said she “was slow,” all I heard was that she processes information differently and needed me to break it down.

What we changed

So, what we did was slow the drill down for her. I told her once she caught the ball, she could pause for a second, and I asked her teammate to do the same. During the pause, her goal was to assess where the defense is and attack in the opposite direction. Then, once she started moving again, the defense could move, and it would be live.

​I reassured her that she wasn’t “slow”; she just needed something different, and that once she gets the hang of it, we will be able to speed it up.

As coaches, we don’t want to normalize these negative thoughts athletes believe about themselves because they learn differently than their peers. There’s nothing wrong with them; it’s just the way their brain works.

Our job is to present the information in a way that makes sense for their brain. That’s how we get the best out of them.

​I honestly thought it would take her multiple reps and we would have to move super slow (a two to three-second pause before she attacked where the defense wasn’t). Instead, it took her about a rep and a half to get back to the same speed as before.

​I can’t say for sure why, but my guess is it was because she felt safe enough to take that pause. In that safety, she could focus less on “I’m slow” and more on what she was looking for to make her decision in the drill.

Luckily, she already knew she benefits from seeing things visually. Hopefully, in this session, breaking the drill down increased her self-awareness as well by showing her another way to support herself when she’s feeling lost or like there’s information overload.

Your turn

​Do you see any of your athletes in this story? If so, what have you done to make adjustments for them?

​How do you communicate information in drills and check for understanding?

​I love hearing from you; let me know what you’ve taken away.