When I passed my 1st Coach Qualification
I was ready to go and coach 🙂
or so I thought ?
I had a structure to follow and had been taught how to plan a session
I could teach at least 6 basic strokes and knew lots of technical elements
However, within 12 months, I faced these problems
- I’d run out of new ideas
- I reverted back to using practices and routines that I could reemmeber from when I was a player
- I was repeating the same things every few lessons, again and again
- I really didn’t know how to ensure that my coaching progressed the players, I just hoped it would
- I had no idea how to prevent the critical errors I could see and started to see in every group of new players
- I had no one to talk with about my problems and questions. My only source of information was YouTube and Instagram
So what did I do?
I signed up for the next coach education course 18 months later. It was the next level, and again, I passed.
I could now understand the critical aspect of more advanced strokes. I knew how to use different feeding techniques. I could manage a group of 16 players. I could write better goals.
I thought about my practice design (easy – difficult, simple – complex), but did I really understand what this meant?
We only had 2 hrs to understand these concepts and try them out!
I met lots of other coaches, and we all swapped ideas. This really helped, and I learned lots from them. Maybe more than I’d learnt previously.
I found it interesting that other coaches were experiencing the same problems as I had
They had the same questions as I did 🙁
The next 6 months produced another set of problems
- I tried to pass all the knowledge I had to my players, I wanted them to know as much as I did, but they didn’t seem motivated to hear the detail
- I carried on reverting back to using practices and routines that I could reemmeber from when I was a player, especially the ones I liked.
- I could see what I thought was progress in practice, but in tournaments, my players seemed to forget everything
- I felt under-supported and had no one to talk with, apart from posts of Instagram and YouTube
- The list of questions (without answers) in my head was growing faster than I could answer
- I questioned my ability as a Coach, although some practices did appear to work 🙁
What was I missing?
What did I need to do?
The luckiest moment of my coaching life
I met my future coaching mentor, who very quickly became a lifelong friend.
The story about our meeting will be the subject of a future post as I’ve plenty to tell you. It’s been a fantastic journey.
Over the next 6 – 18 months, I learnt more about coaching, especially the art of coaching.
Most of it was in a practical setting on the court, but also in his house over the breakfast/dinner table. There was no escaping the learning and challenges!!
The best part was that they were related to the challenges I faced at that time. Specific to me, my knowledge. I was involved in my learning, I was asked questions and allowed to explore the answers.
How to improve every year
- Create a small coaching support group: talk openly and honestly about your thoughts
- Find a mentor or at least someone to discuss those questions you have, challenge each other
- Talk with other coaches : share questions, compare thoughts, resolve challnges
- Consider alternatives, but be careful about ‘creating’ new ways of playing, stick to searching for the best ways of coaching
- Be careful of reverting to the way you coached. Can you really remember what you did aged 9-13 yrs old?
- Consider "How to check for understanding and development" . Every 6 months review if your players are exhibiting the skills that you’ve been working on – in a competition, not your training
- Don’t believe that the internet (especially Instagram) has all (if any) of the answers
Your development as a Coach is in your hands,
seek out those can inspire and collaborate with them
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
