Author: Vernon Gambetta
Matters of Coaching and Coaching Matters
Coaching as a profession has many dimensions. There are the tangibles, those things relating directly to coaching a training session, organizing a team and there are the intangibles, the “squishy” feeling type of things. The former I call the Matters of Coaching, the later is the Coaching Matters. Both are important, without Coaching Matters the Matters of Coaching have less meaning. Matters of Coaching (Not in any rank order) Organization Communication Technical/Tactical Expertise Innovation Respect Learning Planning Structure Budget Evaluation Management Teaching Availability Quality Control Discipline Feedback Leadership Coaching Matters Passion Responsibility Commitment Belief Integrity Love Initiative Consistency Emotion Winning/Losing Sportsmanship/Fair Play Leadership Change Responsibility Flexibility Wisdom Humility Patience Tolerance Understanding Managing Feeling Vision Audacity Self Discipline Innovation Wonder Amazement Respect The list under Coaching Matters is longer the Matters of Coaching. If I would have compiled this 40 years ago the Matters of Coaching would have been much longer and Coaching Matters much, much shorter. I think this speaks volumes about coaching, at least from my perspective. I have always prided myself on being more knowledgeable and being ahead of the game in terms of technical knowledge, but I would say it took me around thirty years to understand that it is not what you know, but it how you get across what you know that is most important. Hopefully this will stimulate some thought if you are beginning your coaching career or if well into your career. Play with this list, see what you value, even rank them as to their importance for you. Just some brain cramps from an “old coach” who loves coaching and wants to share.
Rumblings and Ramblings
The following are just some random thoughts stimulated by conversations, things I have done and reading over the past several weeks. Sometimes I look at training programs and I have to ask – What exactly are they trying to do? I saw a training program the other day that had so much “stuff” in it I could not tell what the purpose of the workout was. Have a focus and direction, you can’t get it all done in one workout. Training is a process that demands time. Where do you get your ideas? Have you studied the history of your sport? You can’t understand and take full advantage of the present if you don’t have a perspective gained from the past. Very little in training is new. From the book Superfreakonomics: “…rely on accumulated data rather than individual anecdotes, glaring anomalies, personal opinions, emotional outbursts, and moral learning.” P 16 “But to change the world, you first have to understand it.” P. 16 Part of a good training program is teaching the athlete how to compete. Evaluation should be the core of decision-making. That being said you must have criteria for evaluation. If you could start your program own scratch how would you do it? What would you do? Look at process not just outcomes. How did you get the result? From Jim Liston of CATZ Do It Know It Want It Be It Live It Coaching is a profession, so be professional in everything you do and say!
Think Critically
Don’t just blindly follow the current flavor of the month. Here comes the latest and greatest __________, you fill in the blanks. It could be a piece of equipment, a new monitoring device, a nutritional supplement or secret combination of sets and reps discovered in a Russian KGB vault. Take a step back and be rational, don’t buy into the marketing hype, apply rigorous critical thought to the supposed new information or equipment. Because of the Internet we are very susceptible to the power of marketing, this coupled with a lack of scientific literacy contributes to a lack of context for evaluation. There is an abundance of “training porn” designed to titillate, but if you take some time, step back from the hype and you will see there is no there, there. Take the time to look beyond the “Proofiness” and see if there is any valid proof and good scientific evidence to validate the claims that are being made. I have learned that there are no secrets. Innovation and new ideas are a combination of old ideas reordered or placed in a different context. Successful coaches and athletes do the basics very well, they are incredibly consistent, and they don’t blow in the wind and look for quick fixes and crash programs. Stay focused, stay basic, be organized, take time and the results will follow.
Accountability, Measurement and Metrics
How do you know that what you are doing in training is doing what you think it is doing? Is what you doing making the athletes better? How do you know that? What metrics do you use? Does what you are counting count? What do you measure, day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year? What do you do with the data? These are all questions you need to ask yourself. More importatly these are questions you need to answer. In training we all do stuff. I have been doing my stuff for 42 years. Does that mean that my stuff works? I hope so, but I always want to know why and what stuff works best. I always want to know if what I am doing has a positive transfer in terms of training adaption and subsequent performance results. If it doesn’t I will eliminate it from the program. I know that there is a finite amount of time to train. During that time I must focus on training modes and methods that give results. Some things are very basic, almost mundane, but they must be done consistently. Other tasks are more abstract and esoteric. In both cases I need to now if they are producing the desired training effect. So how does all this relate to the questions that I asked earlier? Everything I do with my athletes is recorded; some of it is quantitative and some qualitative. My mantra is that training equals testing and testing equals training. Therefore each training session provides the opportunity to gauge progress and adjust accordingly, to dial up or dial down. I have learned not overreact to a performance on one exercise, drill or training session. I always put that exercise, drill or even the training session in the context of the whole plan. I look for trends and patterns in the data I collect. There are no magic workouts; training adaptation is a cumulative process. Because I have developed built-in metrics and milestones that help me gauge progress I can always see where the athletes are in terms of progress toward their goals. This is invaluable in terms of adjusting the plan and in motivating the athlete. The take home message is that each of you needs to develop your metrics to gauge the effect of your training programs. There is no one-way to do this. It should be done in the context of your system, so that you know if what you are doing in training is producing the desired outcome in the competitive arena.
Pedagogy – The Foundation of Coaching
Pedagogy consists of the principles, practice or profession of teaching. There is a rich body of knowledge in this field that is research based. As part of my preparation to be a teacher I was taught teaching methods – how to write a lesson plan, how to organize a classroom, where to stand, how to project my voice and much more. Then we practiced, first teaching lessons to other student teachers and then actually student teaching with real live students. It was the same with coaching because coaching is teaching, pure and simple. We were taught the basics of various sports, we were taught progressions then we taught each other and then we student coached. My generation of coaches and those that came before me and a generation two after me were trained as teachers to teach. We had methods classes’ where we had to learn skill progressions and were graded on our ability to teach. For some reason I do not see the elements and foundations of sound pedagogical principles inthe current generation of young coaches. Today’s young coaches are smart as a whip in terms of science and theory. They can recite the Krebs cycle forward and back, but they seem to lack the ability to teach. They have never been taught how to teach and coach; it is no longer the core of teacher and coach training curriculum. Pedagogical principles are the basics that go before the sport basics. How you organize your training session. What formation the athletes are in. Where you stand. Who leads an exercise? How you demonstrate. These are all essential elements that do more to determine the effectiveness of the training than the actual technical content of the session or the X’s and O’s. There is an art and science to it, a feel and a touch. How you coach is as important as what you coach, ultimately it will determine your effectiveness as a teacher. The better you teach, the better coach you will be. Everyday that I coach I thank Dr Haradedian for what I learned in PE 30 A & B at Fresno State in 1965. At the time I had no idea how important it was, but thank God I payed attention and learned. If you are a young coach find a coach who who was classically trained as a teacher and have them help guide and mentor you. Certainly there are many books and other resources available, but finding someone with the voice of experience would serve you well.
Coaching Advice from the Stanford University d.school
It might seem out of the norm to look a design school for ideas and guidance to improve coaching, but over the past five years I have found great ideas and inspiration in the design field. I am particularly fond of the philosophy of the Stanford d.school (http://dschool.stanford.edu). It is remarkably congruent and on point with what we must do as coaches to produce successful athletes and teams. Their philosophy is elegant in it's simplicity, easy to understand and actionable. Here it is, use it and interpret it as you see fit and adapt it to your situation, it sure has helped me as a teacher and a coach. Show don't tell Focus on human values Craft clarity Embrace experimentation Be mindful of process Bias toward action Radical collaboration If you pay attention to all of the above you will have a good chance to produce excellence and you will have fun doing it. Coaching is all about being creative.
Athletic Development
I prefer the term athletic development rather than strength and conditioning because it clearly denotes an integrated system to develop the athlete. It sends a clear message that what is being developed is the complete athlete, not one component. All components of physical performance: strength, power, speed, agility, endurance and flexibility must be developed in a systematic, sequential and progressive manner to prepare the athlete. Athletic development coaches enhance athletic performance by developing athletes that are completely adaptable and prepared to handle the psychological, physical, technical and tactical demands required to compete.
Get Off the Fence
Get off the fence and get off your ass, take a stand, have a point of view. In the field of athletic development today there are many issues that need to be addressed. Many of you can offer solutions, please get active? Speak up, your point of view and opinion is valued. Don’t be a sheep blindly following the gurus and pretenders who are offering short cuts and quick fixes. Think, analyze and then stand up and be counted. Stand for something. You may be right or wrong, so what? I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in. Have I been wrong at times, you bet I have! I abhor the “mushy middle ground” if you want things to change then be the change you want to be. Speak up with words and actions. The field of Athletic Development needs to be defined – will you help define it and move past the madness that is called strength and conditioning? I hope you will join my colleagues and me in this effort to build a profession for professionals. You can’t do it sitting on the fence.