The Challenge of Body Language

I've been reading a lot of stuff online recently about body language. This is always an interesting conversation to me, as most coaches are really into eliminating bad body language. I just don't think it's a very big deal.

The following is a chapter from my book "Entitled To Nothing," where I was glad I didn't overreact to negative body language. Yes, you can buy the book here!

Body Language – What Really Matters?

NCAA Tournament, Round 1

When Friday finally arrived, I knew we were ready. We had a great three days of practice and we were confident we were better than Coast Guard (remember, we had beaten them at their place in December). The only thing I was worried about was our nerves. It wasn’t easy to predict how we’d respond to playing in the NCAA Tournament.

We had a great atmosphere in the gym, made better when six busloads of Coast Guard Academy cadets showed up to cheer on their classmates. Our guys enjoyed the environment and so did Coast Guard, with both teams playing well. It was a really competitive, well played NCAA Tournament game. We held the lead most of the way.

While I was doing everything to make sure our guys were mentally prepared, my inexperience as a head coach in this spot probably hurt us. As the second half moved on and we couldn’t pull away to a comfortable lead, I got tight. Normally we played ten or 11 guys, but I got out of character and shortened our bench. Usually midway through the second half I’d rest a couple of starters to make sure they were fresh down the stretch.

But we couldn’t take control, and I left my starters on the floor, hoping we could pull away. I didn’t get my key guys the right amount of rest and in an intense, emotional environment that had an impact. With about seven minutes to play, Kinsey Durgin took a wide open pull-up three and banged it off the backboard. I realized he was dead tired, and I had to get him out. Tirrell Hill missed an open 15-footer badly, and I realized he was tired as well. I had been thinking I’d ride the game out with them on the floor, but I had left them on the floor too long. I had changed my approach under pres‐ sure, a leadership mistake from a young coach.

I had to get them a breather. I took Kinsey out first and gave him a quick break, and then put him back in for Tirrell. When Tirrell came out, he really wasn’t happy. He had just thrown up a brick, we were only up by three points, and he didn’t want to come off the floor. Tirrell was a great competitor, and he always wanted to be on the court. His body language showed he was clearly unhappy.

I went right over to Tirrell and told him it was my fault, that I had left him on the floor too long without getting him a break. Then I told him he was going to go back in quickly, and he was going to help us win the game. He needed a quick blow. He listened, but he was still frustrated. He wanted to be on the court. I wanted to get his mind right.

The best thing I did was ignore his body language. I didn’t react to it, partially because his fatigue was my fault, but also because we had more important things to worry about. We had a game to win. I stayed focused on what really mattered to my team at that point. Under pressure, it’s easy to get agitated by stuff that’s not important. For basketball coaches, body language is often one of those things. We look at negative body language and come to conclusions, and often times those conclusions are either incorrect or irrelevant.

Tirrell was frustrated because he hadn’t been playing great, we couldn’t take control of the game, and he didn’t want to come out. I understood that. His body language wasn’t a message to me, or him “showing me up” as a coach. It wasn’t personal. He was tired and frustrated and I needed to help him deal with that.

I’ve learned to coach the behavior, not the personality. It’s not like I’m a fan of negative body language, but I don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m sure my body language wasn’t great at that point in the game either. On top of that, body language can be hard to read. I’m just not very good at it. It’s easy to come to the wrong conclusion. If bad body language leads to bad behavior, then I’m going to address it.

There are plenty of little things that might aggravate you but don’t really have a big impact on your team. Remember, it’s about what they need, not what you feel. Body language is simply one data point that may give you insight into what is happening with a player. And it’s hardly the most important one. Their behavior is much more valuable to you than how they look doing it. Body language can be more about control – I want you to act a certain way, don’t show me up! – than about the impact on your team. If it is a sign of bad behavior that is affecting your team, then address the behavior.

Had I been worried about Tirrell’s body language I probably would have left him on the bench. But he was a huge part of our team and we needed him. His frustration didn’t bother me; it was my job to get him right. I settled him down, and after a quick two minute rest, I put him back in. He made several key plays down the stretch, as he usually did, and we won the game.

After our first NCAA Tournament win in almost 30 years, we were now 25-3.

I have three general thoughts on body language - 1) It is very subjective and hard to read. One person's "great competitor" is another guy's "negative attitude." It's easy to add your own emotion to it as a coach and read it wrong. 2) It is often hypocritical. How is your body language as a coach? This gets you into the "do as I say, don't watch what I do" area, which I always want to avoid as a coach. 3) It can actually help me as a coach. When I see a player react with their body language, it gives me a clue as to how to coach them - even if it's negative. It can give me a good read on what to do next.

I'm on record as saying I think most of us as coaches make way to big of a deal about negative body language. Coach the behavior, not the body language.