Beware System Overload

   If those three things are in place, any system will be successful. Granted, there are marginal advantages in one particular style of play over another, especially if personnel changes radically from year to year. Yet there’s also a lot to be said for continuity. I’ve always felt that a high school coach who installs a different system every year to take advantage of his talent runs the risk of spending so much time teaching the new system that he loses ground in other areas. If the system is the same, then players can focus on such things as making open shots, which is usually the most important factor in any game.

   So don’t worry about the system, try to tell your dad not to worry, and just commit yourself to the coach, the program and your teammates. If everyone plays hard, and plays together, good things will happen. On the other hand, if everyone sits around moaning about how things would be so much better if we just ran the offense they do at the school down the road, it’s not going to turn out as well as everyone hopes. 

   Clay Kallam has been an assistant athletic director and coached multiple sports and a handful of high schools throughout the Bay Area. To submit a question for Behind the Clipboard, email him at [email protected]