Frank Martin has done a tremendous job building tough, defensive-minded basketball programs at both Kansas State and now South Carolina.
Martin has led teams to ten tournament appearances and led the Gamecocks to an improbable Final Four appearance last season, where they fell to Gonzaga.
Among his coaching peers, Martin is considered to have a more old-school approach than most, and his teams always hang their hat on their play on defense. Today, GamecockCentral rolled out an article detailing an interesting approach on how he gets players to buy into his style of play.
Off to the side of Martin's practices, sits a treadmill. Players that don't seem to be getting the hang of what Martin wants on the defensive side of the ball, and those continuing to bust assignments are sent to the treadmill to run. When he wants them back in the mix, he simply calls their name, and they transition smoothly from the treadmill to the court.
This accomplishes two things for Martin. One, it allows the player to condition while staying mentally engaged with the practice still going on, and two, the treadmill is a much easier running surface than the hardcourt, so it's saving player's joints a bit as well as they continue to learn.
“I’ve learned that if you got 12 guys that are trying to do everything the right way, and you got two that are just not wanting to learn or be on the same page, you got to fix that."
"Basically to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘Be on my side or be on that side.’ Then that allows me to help the guys on the right side.”
Now, it's probably impossible to drag a treadmill out to your practice field, but hopefully this helps to formulate some ideas on some different ways to help get guys to buy into how you do things, or your scheme and expectations.