What if we stopped asking, “Did the player make the mistake?” and started asking, “Why did the player make the mistake?”

“Did they make a mistake?” is a yes or no question. It gives you an answer, but not much else.

“Why did they make the mistake?” is open-ended. It makes the player think about what happened, process the situation, and explain their decision.

Was it a bad read? Did they not recognize the situation? Did they not understand what was expected? Was it simply a poor decision?

There may be several answers.

As coaches, I think we sometimes get too focused on correcting the mistake and not enough on understanding it.

Open-ended questions can help players think for themselves rather than always looking to the coach for the answer. Over time, that helps them become better decision-makers and more accountable for their own game.

The mistake is the result. Understanding why it happened is where the development begins.