okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
See few limits
Here is a good bit of advice - see few limits.
I came across this idea in a book by Paul Shirley about the difference between how basketball players are taught in Europe compared to the U.S.:
European players are trained from an early age to see few limits to their skill sets. In the United States, coaches are anxious to pigeon-hole players, if only to make their own jobs easier. It is much less time-consuming to teach a particular player half of the skills needed to play the game. Then the player can work on his abilities alone, becoming the cog his coach needs, without the coach expending excess energy.
Shirley is a local guy (from a small town a bit north of Lawrence). As a professional player, he spent time in Europe and the NBA. His book, Can I Keep My Jersey?, just came out in paperback. It is worth a look if you're a b-ball fan. It might even be worth a look if you're not. Shirley has an interesting view of life as a pro basketball player.
