I set out to write a short post this week due to the time limits created between Unbound and family time now that school is over. However, I think this is a crucial topic that is rarely talked about and one toward which I have very strong feelings. When starting this newsletter, I set out to look at two major things, development of athletes and the profession of coaching. We’ve spent the last few weeks looking at what development could be and how it would help all the vested parties. Now let’s look at the job and the profession of coaching. What is it? What’s the job description and what’s the goal? This may again seem obvious, but I do not think that it is in practice.
There is a massive difference between a trainer of athletes and a coach of athletes. I have always seen my role as a coach striving to enhance the life of each person I coach through the medium of sport. To deepen their understanding of themselves and their passion for all their pursuits, in and out of sport. Notice two things about this, well, mission statement; there is no talk of performance and there are multiple mentions of life outside sport and the whole human that is being coached. To me this is the main difference between a coach and a trainer and why we should all be working toward being coaches. Very few, if any, of the athletes we work with will become professional, a world champion or a star, but all of them will live a life outside of sport. In most cases they will live more than 3/4 of their life without sport! So what are we teaching and why are we teaching it? This is the quedtion that we need to repeatedly ask ourselves.
I feel that a great number of coaches see themselves as something akin to horse trainers. They want to deliver a perfect program that will be met with little resistance, lack of adherence and with no problems along the way, like that ever happens. Sure, it gets close sometimes and so many of us think this is the “perfect athlete” as they don’t push back, miss things or complain. The trainer wants to play the puppeteer, pulling the strings and delivering a plan as if the athlete is the subject in a lab or a horse that will do what’s prescribed no matter what. I would say that humans (and I’m guessing if we talked to actual horse trainers, horses for that matter) have differing personalities, pressures, time and ability. All of these need to be taken into consideration in order to train them properly. I have even heard coaches say that if the athlete doesn’t adhere, they drop them. To me this is ludicrous, malicious and borderline malpractice. Our job is to support the human and there’s no way we’re doing that if we are there only when the athlete perfectly adheres or the relationship is easy. Furthermore, the athlete likely feels this and will push themselves too far and subjugate themselves to the coach in order to stay in the relationship. This almost guarantees that the relationship wields a large power gap and that the coach is the boss, rather than a partner. In fact, my belief is that the trust that is required in the relationship is strengthened not in the good times, but in the rocky times. Though many dream of the perfect athlete, to me that is why I’m a coach and not a sport scientist. The allure and draw of the profession is that it is always changing, always fluid and always challenging.
Let’s go back to the “straight A athlete.” They’re the ones that will succeed no matter what we do. They’re not the challenge. They’re self-driven, will strive no matter what and will likely flourish whether the training is volume based or intensity based. Yet, these athletes are the ones we hold up as examples of a coach’s program being effective. We ignore the eggs that broke when they were thrown against the wall. Many hold this up as the dream athlete, but even then the coach has a great deal of responsibility. Often, the job in this situation becomes holding the athlete back, saving them from their own drive and relentlessness. The trainer keeps pushing and the coach teaches and guides while providing some fun and joy along the way. The coaches offer longevity and the trainer looks for results. The trainer celebrates the drive and the results which can in turn lead the athlete to believe that these are the traits that define them and when the results or the drive diminish, they are left wondering where their worth is.
As I have noted before, I believe that the true measure of a coach is not their best athletes but rather the masses with whom they work. The coach instills a love of sport, a well-balanced schedule that shows interest, and holistic concern for their athletes. The great coach lifts the “C student” to higher achievement and creates joy in sport for those all along the ability column from the newbie to the superstar. While trainers throw egg as at the wall, coaches incubate ALL of the eggs and celebrate each one of their milestones.
Coaching is about supporting humans in the athletic quests. We coach people playing games and our job is to help them find and retain the joy that these games provide. Our job is to help them find their path in the sport, their way forward that builds their confidence, belief in themselves and enhances their life instead of defining it. In this role, the training plan will always be a little messy as the impediments to training and racing that life inevitably throws up must be navigated. As the athlete, who often wants nothing more than to complete every session perfectly, struggles in these times, the coach supports, provides love and often even humor in order to lessen the pressure and stress that the athlete is no doubt feeling. By contrast, the trainer often piles on, pushing harder as the athlete has “fallen behind.”
The coach’s job is far too diverse, complicated, and intricate to describe fully here, but their job description is simple. They walk next to the athlete on their path, providing guidance, support and instruction while maintaining humility and an adaptability that keeps the focus on the individual with whom they working. Our job is that PERSON, not their results, successes or failures. Their relationship with the sport and their holistic happiness is our responsibility. The actions of a true coach must always reflect this.
I'm a student of Dan John's coaching philosophy and his summary of the whole activity aligns nicely with your last paragraph: "A coach, by definition, carries the athlete from HERE to THERE."
And, as that could be interpreted a lot of ways, he talks constantly about how those called to coach have to walk WITH the athlete along the path. I agree with that and so I agree with every bit of this!
"We coach people playing games and our job is to help them find and retain the joy that these games provide." This is the whole, entire, and complete point. Thank you!