“Any Questions?” Isn’t a Strategy—It’s a Setup.

I saw this classroom graphic and immediately thought: this isn’t just about teachers—it’s about coaches. I think this is relevant to the work we do in #TeamsOfMen because as coaches we tend to use the phrase "make sense" or "any questions" (I know I always say "questions problems concerns") but then NEVER give real permission for any of those to take place with our guys.

The truth is, we often say these types of lines in timeouts or team practice right after we’ve steamrolled through 90 seconds of tactics. We don’t really want questions. We want compliance.
And if we’re doing that during something as simple as play design, imagine the message that sends when something deeper is on the line.

If our players don’t feel like they can ask about a rotation or speak up about a drill, how can we expect them to speak up about real-life stuff?

This list of re-phrased prompts isn’t just a teacher thing—it’s a list of invitations. Invitations to think, to explore, to question. Maybe they won't take that invitation at first. But if you never extend it? That’s on you.

Coach Prompt: “What’s your default phrase when you “open it up” to your players—and what would it sound like if you actually meant it?”

Optional Player Prompt: “What’s a time when you wanted to ask something in practice or film... but didn’t feel like it was really okay?”

#ThinkingEnvironment #CoachPrompt #Communication #TeamsOfMen #PracticeCulture