One of the keys to growing and enhancing coaching ability is learning to measure the immeasurable. Honestly I have not lost my mind; hear me out on this one. The measurables are given, distance, time, tonnage, intensities, heart rate, lactate measurement etc. From the first day of coaching you can get those, but there is more. It took me a few years to understand this. Observing some great experienced coaches enabled me to see and understand it is the Immeasurables that often make the most difference. They were feeling, seeing and hearing things I was not even aware of because I was stuck on the measurables. You learn to measure the immeasurables by developing your coaching senses. It is finely tuning your intuition, hearing rhythms of foot strikes and patterns of breathing, or to see that a throw or a jump that just does not look “right.” You learn to see movement with new eyes, you look for patterns, you hone in on rhythm and tempo. You get better at recognizing the immeasurables the more you practice, just like the athlete gets better with practice so will you. Today when you go to workout put away the stopwatch or the iPad and just look and listen, you will be amazed at what you see, feel and hear.
2 Comments
Paul Ford
This works both ways, Vern.
Have a run-based sport athlete, particularly track and distance runners, run in a straight-line between two lane-lines of a straight on an athletics track with their eyes closed.
It is a very good way to gather extra ‘information’ about their running mechanics and technique, particularly compensatory movements that cannot be corrected with visual feedback.
I use the same strategy (in a pool, between lane ropes, of course) for swimmers.
They provide a method to teach the athlete to ‘feel’ their movements and, over time, refine their ‘in-movement’ checks.
I often close my eyes and listen to the foot-strike of athletes run past (or beside) me, particularly in the latter stage of rehabilitation programs. It can, relative to their pre-injury gait, provide feedback.
Not necessarily measurable, yet invaluable immeasurables.
Paul Ford
Oh, and body language.
In individual ways, general body language and (change) in routine/s of athletes can be indicative of ‘preparedness’ (physical and mental) fro upcoming raining or competition.
It can also be indicative of what may be happening with their body (pending injury, illness), at home, at work/school, or in their relationships.
Another measurable immeasurable.