Epiphany #1 - Focus on the Outcome

In 1974 Coach Ron Ekker was working with then-college player Maurice Cheeks on improving shooting, when he fully got the idea of Focusing on the Outcome.

Where most coaches and trainers would tell Maurice some "helpful tip" (in their mind), about "hold your follow through", "square up", "bend your knees", "keep your elbow in" they were making no progress with Maurice shooting performance in games.

What Coach Ekker did was issue a challenge for Maurice to shoot on the move, running, turning and shooting in sets of 15 shots with the goal of improving his number of makes each week.

Initially Maurice was only able to make 9/ 15 on average, but Coach Ekker didn't talk about it - he just had him take a break to shoot 10 Free Throws, and then try again. They did this for 3-5 sets of 15 every day.

No correcting technique, no criticism for misses, no "helpful tips" - just allowing Maurice to self-assess and self-optimize toward making more shots.

Over time, Maurice increased up to 11, then 12 and finally 13/15 makes (87%) in practice and went on to have a career 57% FG percentage over his 4-year college career!

By creating an implicit challenge as he did for Maurice Cheeks, Coach Ekker reduced the amount of coaching advice he needed to say, and instead allowed the player to develop self-awareness and self-reference (comparing himself to yesterday) and focusing his attention on the single outcome that mattered - making more shots!

Epiphany #1 was:

When I am coaching by Focusing on the Outcome while using reduced instructions, the player is freed up to actually focus on the process - doing whatever works through trial and error to make more shots.

It turns out the human body is actually very good at this! In order to make more shots - the player will change their own shot gradually toward what we see as ideal shooting form. The secret is maintaining focus on the outcome, diligently measuring progress, and healthy dose of patience - for both coach and player!

Tomorrow I will explain how Epiphany #2 helped an average athlete become an NBA player

See you on the court,
Coach BJ

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