The Basketball Podcast: E07 with Amanda Butler on Learning

In this week’s basketball coaching conversation, we are joined by Amanda Butler. Butler is the head coach of the Clemson Tigers women’s basketball team. Prior to that, she was the head coach for the Florida Gators women’s basketball team and the Charlotte 49ers women’s basketball team. This past year she took a year off and invested in her learning as she visited the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Oklahoma City Thunder, and many other basketball programs. In the podcast Coach Butler discusses some of her best learning during her time as a head coach, and on her year off.

“There was such tremendous value in trying to identify what is an area that . . I can immerse myself in that is going to lend me a completely different lens than I’ve ever had before.”

“Drills are important teaching tools but . .drills maybe play too much of a role and there’s not enough actual competition in practice because that is what translates best into games.”

“If we have our terminology . . that also keeps us from over-teaching and wasting practice time.”

“I like the shorter duration, higher intensity approach . . there are so many wonderful things we can do now with film and how we can teach and maximize mental training.”

“There’s no substitute for getting on the floor and practicing your skills, honing your craft with defense and with competition.”

“If we want them to have a greater capacity, mentally, to make adjustments . . [we need to] train their minds to see something, hear something then adjust . . in a short period of time.”

“We’ve got to find a unique way to teach competition but then to also make it fun. There’s one hundred percent going to be winners and losers because that’s the reality of what we do.”

Learn more from Amanda Butler Masterclass with Amanda Butler

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Amanda Butler Breakdown:

0:00 – Introduction
2:00 – Practical Ideas from a Season of Learning
4:00 – Transferring her Ideas to Clemson Basketball
6:20: Emphasis and a Need for Fundamentals
8:00 – Communication and Relationships
10:30 – Be Consistent
11:00 – Intentional Messaging
12:00 – Offensive and Defensive Philosophy
14:30 – Sharing Stories and Experiences to Connect with Players
17:00 – Giving Freedom
18:00 – Helping Players to be Active Participants
22:00 – Adjustments that Stood Out
23:30 – Adjustments to Elite Players
25:00 – Unique Language
26:50 – Maximizing Time on Task
27:40 – Similarities in Coaching
30:00 – Fatigue and Energy Levels
35:30 – Group Video
37:00 – Blank Slate
38:00 – Individual Work
39:00 – Creating Competition
40:30 – Competition
44:00 – Communicating and Awareness
45:00 – Conclusion

Amanda Butler Links:

Bio: http://clemsontigers.com/coaches/amanda-butler/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/coachab34

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachab34/?hl=en

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