Aim to develop players not 'mini-coaches'
by not drawing attention to technical aspects once part established
“Allow the players to play”
“They don’t need to always know, but they must be able to play”
Thats was the advice I was given
I watched my mentor coach
Many years ago, I watched my mentor coach at work with a very good young player. I was surprised by how little information he gave about grips, when to split, how to move, etc.
I was confused.
Surely he must tell them more about what to do and how to do it! – Oh, how I was wrong!
I also noticed that he rarely spoke during the rallies, apart from grunting (to fake effort) when he tried to move to their “good shots” 
This happened against 13 yr olds as well as 18 yr olds.
I listened for the information that he spoke to me about
But I didn’t hear any of that ‘coach to coach’ language – Why ??
After a few years, I realised he was “Coaching players to forget”
I’m not sure if that is a Sports Science term
But it’s my term and one that I keep in mind when coaching.
It helps me consider what type of information/instruction I should include.
More importantly, it also acts to remind me that maybe there will come a time in the performer’s development when I stop saying the critical things I had been doing previously.
Reducing (eg no longer talking about) the amount of previously critical information can be a difficult challenge for me.
It was even more challenging when years later I spoke with one of my players about one of their accomplished skills/techniques, and they said “I don’t think you ever taught me that, well I can’t remember!”
I’d previously been reinforcing ‘essential’ technical tips, often shouting out loud during the rallies.
I thought I needed my players to understand the technical elements 🙁
I also believed that by often reinforcing and checking technical elements through questioning, it would help the players 🙁
Roger did draw the player’s attention to these aspects;
- the things they could see over the net
- where space was on the court (their side & the opponents’ side)
- what were the opponents’ most likely replies
- how could they make it tough for the opponent
All the coaching (talking) was done in between rallies
He ‘coached’ in the rallies by returning the shuttle and by allowing the players to play
Nowadays I realise that in order to Coach to Forget ….
- I believe once a skill is partly established and many of the initial cues are no longer required, I STOP talking about them
- I very rarely mention terms such as “basic grip”, “thumb Grip”. In fact, I deliberately try not to use these terms after the first few lessons, they perform the action so why tell (remind) them how they are achieving it!
- I never mention the words “supination or pronation” or “kinetic chain”. These are coaches’ words and how do they help performance or stress opponents?
- I use the rally situations to test the robustness of the technique without telling the player. Using play as a ‘test’ and not a prescribed isolated test from a manual is preferred.
- If they (the players) ask “how is my technique ?“, I’m careful with my reply. Often talking about the performance outcome and the effect on the opponent.
- When reviewing for the purpose of reinforcement, I’m careful over the questions I ask and allow the player to describe in whatever way they choose. It shouldn’t have to sound like a coach’s reply!
- I want my players to perform rather than know the mechanics of how and why they perform as well as they do.
I smiled when one of my players was asked (by another coach) what grip she used to cross-court from her low backhand net –
“one that makes it go up and over” was the reply 🙂
Send me a question
I’m always grateful if you have read this far.
If there is anything that you have read that has helped or that you disagree with, then please send me an email.
I promise to read all your comments
It would be great to hear from you contact@badmintonandy.com
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