The Art of Coaching

Coaching; is it Art or Science? This has been discussed for many years now. The term The Science of Coaching is often banded about but for some reason The Art of Coaching is less used, why is that?

Over the years science has grown and more and more opportunities are there to utilise it to get lots of information. It is increasingly easy to get statistics on power output in gyms, speed of lifts, time between one point to another on the track, acceleration speeds etc. All of this of course can be useful and in the right hands may actually assist, however the key to the information is this; what do you actually do with it?

Is it worth having an increase in the speed of a lift in the gym if the technique is poor? Is it worth having a faster time between points A and B than the previous time it was tested if the running technique is flawed?

This is where the term The Art of Coaching comes into its own. Coaching is actually much more of an Art. It is knowing how to turn that painting into a Monet.

Start at the beginning to get the technique correct so drop the watch, the timing gates, the various gadgets and focus on the athlete. What is it they do right, what is it they can improve upon? Two simple massive tools make the bigger difference and thankfully most people are actually born with these tools; sight and hearing.

Watch the athlete with your own eyes initially, get used to how they move, spot the good parts and the weaker parts. Once you have seen it then you know what it is you are looking to improve.

If the visual doesn’t pick it up then the sounds can; listen to their stride pattern when running, is it even sounding on both sides on each foot strike? If it isn’t then there is likely an issue. This simple technique can spot early issues before they cause an injury; it may be a slight alignment issue of the hips causing the uneven sound, it may be an imbalance in the strength between the legs, it may be something else. But straight away you are building that picture and getting to know the athlete. The stats from some gadgets won’t tell you anything you can’t have already figured out with your own eyes and ears. Now you can work on various tests to check what the cause is.

For an alignment test simply lie down straight and check each leg length, it can be that simple. If it is imbalance in strength you can jump on single leg up steps on either side to check if there is a large difference. Lunging, single leg balance tests; all simple but can very effective in spotting imbalances.

However don’t take this as the prompt to throw your gadgets away, they can have a place but should never lead. For example when trying to see the issues sometimes it is useful to grab that Smart Phone or Tablet and record the athlete, the footage can even be enhanced using the Slo-Mo options as you can review it over and over to spot the visual cue you are looking for. This is where the coach controls the science and uses it to their advantage.

It is all about knowing your athlete, everyone is different and it takes time to know them, their ability and any quirks they may have.

Coaching is 80% art and 20% science and it takes flair and ability not facts and figures to get the best from each athlete.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *