Questions to Ask Coaches and Players

Here’s an update from a 2016 note regarding asking questions of people in sport. It is now tailored to serve my Character Coach Teammates in Nations of Coaches as we serve college basketball coaches and players. A number of suggested questions are below the general notes about levels of questions to ask. One of the most effective tools I regularly employ in my service of sportspeople is to simply ask questions. I ask questions to draw them into conversation, and then to probe more deeply toward their hearts. Sneaky, huh?

I tend to ask three levels of questions:
1. Questions that solicit facts. I ask the player or coach’s name, home town, position, uniform number, etc… Mostly facts. Usually anyone will offer these details freely.
2. Questions that awaken passion. I ask about the player or coach’s basketball experiences and I’m looking for expressions of their love for basketball. I am leading them to tell me stories that excite their passion for basketball, their team, competition, their coaches, etc…
3. Questions that probe their hearts. I ask about the matters at the core of who they are: values, faith, relationships, events, and other matters that shape their lives from the center.

Please consider this brief list as a place to start with those whom you serve (they are in no particular order). I hope they serve you well. Always ask process questions, not results questions. Fans and media only ask questions about results.

1. How well is your team developing? Is the teamwork good?
2. How pleased are you with your....? (training, practice, rehab, etc...)
3. How pleased are you with preparations for your next game?
4. Who among your teammates is doing very well?
5. What are some challenges you have presently?
6. What sorts of situations in basketball bring out the best of your abilities?
7. How well is your team connecting with the coaching staff?
8. When your playing days are over, what do you think you will miss most about basketball?
9. What are some situations in basketball that are most difficult for you?
10. Who are your most trusted teammates?
11. When and where are you most fully the person you want to be?
12. What elements of your life in basketball are most rewarding to you?
13. What is there about your life in basketball that will still be important to you 10 years from now?
14. When you are on the floor, do you feel that God is near you or distant from you? Why?
15. When you are on the floor, does God seem engaged or disinterested? Why?
16. When you are on the floor, do you sense God is pleased or disgusted with you? Why?


Note – I wrote the first draft of these questions while riding in a car, in the early morning hours of 9 June, 2016 between Kutsaisi and Tblisi, in the Republic of Georgia.