Coach–Just be the best you you can be!

Historically, it’s pretty accurate to note that ‘There’s no fanatic like a convert.’  Once a person is convinced of an idea’s rightness, it becomes awfully hard to get them to re-open their mind let alone reverse course.  Some of the Soviet Union’s greatest supporters during the Purges came from the Western democracies–and even now some of those historians/modern Communists deny the genocide/atrocity of things like the Holodomor.  You hear of religious conversions–but rarely do you have individuals return to their original faith.  Some of this is because we don’t like mistakes–and a return to a previous belief could be perceived that way.

Anyways, this is about volleyball (but if you have a different sport as a specialty, it can be applied there as well).  If you lurk in coaching forums for VB, you’ll probably guess the two groups that generate fanaticism/fundamentalism: Art of Coaching(the original AOC) andGold Medal Squared(GMS).   Inevitably, discussion always boils down to “AOC says you do ___________________” or “GMS tells you ______________ is the way you hit/block/pass/go to the bathroom.”  To be clear, AOC+GMS don’t go around saying this–it’s the converts.  Do you know why they don’t make those claims?  It’s because AOC/GMS know something….

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Coaches are always looking for ‘magic bullets’.  They don’t want to read ablog discussing philosophythat may or may not be related to coaching.  They want the perfect drill, the perfect technique, the perfect words that induce Dalai Lama-like enlightment so that players begin hitting like they are Neo in The Matrix.  They expect AOC/GMS to provide those.  (I’m thankful that I was never permitted to fall in to that mindset; Jim Stone always encouraged experimentation, creative thinking/approaches…good mentors do much more than answer questions!)

So what’s your point, Jim?  Actually, it’s meant as affirmation.  You aren’t going to be perfect.  Heck, reading this means you’re here trying to get better as a coach.  I’d bet if you didn’t already know AOC/GMS, you’ve clicked on those links to see what they are–and if you haven’t, go ahead and do so.  They are both treasure troves of goodness.  Getting better is what we all want.

So you don’t have great knowledge?  It. Is. Not. A. Problem.  Be *you*.  That’s what the kids need.  They need sincerity, they need a solid adult role-model (many of them actually).  They need to be free to make their own mistakes–and you making them and recovering/learning/dealing with them is part of that.

You can make up for a lack of something in different areas.  I’ve never played volleyball, so I had to find ways to make up for that.  I started by learning stats and how to apply them (because I love baseball stats and metrics…always have).  When I became a head coach, I made up for it by asking experienced coaches to come in and help run practices–never hesitating to admit to my players that those coaches knew more and that I was more interested in the team’s success than my own ego.  In time, I learned (still am) how to coach, how NOT to coach.  I made up for my deficits with the desire to learn and get better.  You can do that.

Let your athletes SEE you working at it.  They’ll run through a brick wall often as not if they see you working on their behalf.  They’ll do it for you…and then it will transfer and they’ll do it for the tradition and the program–and it becomes self-sustaining.

Several years ago south of here, a school forced a new teacher to coach the school’s VB team.  They didn’t have anyone else and she was new.  No choice.  She had nearly zero experience (hadn’t played since 8th grade), but she could learn and teach.  She told the girls on Day One the situation, but that if they worked, she’d work.  She bought a couple of books with various drills and during summer and pre-season, they went through the book, doing the drills.  She observed what worked, what didn’t.  She took feedback from the girls.  She paid attention to effort levels.  

Their success didn’t come immediately–but it came.  Three years later, the group of freshman who started with her won the first Regional title in 20+ years, going from something like 5-25 to 28-6….with a coach who started with no knowledge of the game.  None.  She made up for it with her personal commitment to the kids.

*YOU* can do that.  Your effort level is independent of knowledge.  If you make the commitment, athletes will follow your lead, I promise!