Were you given you the coaching skills you need?
Those every day, in-session skills that help you make decisions
Or did it just provide information?
Can current coach education provide you with the all learning you need
Consider the information you received
Did it make you a better coach?
Talk with your coaching friends and discuss your experiences of coach education courses and conferences.
Have educational experiences shaped the way you coach, and been the biggest driving force in what and why you coach as you do?
Or, have they only made a fleeting, temporary impact, acting more as additional interesting information, quickly forgotten?
Many coaches attend qualifications, feel excited at the informtion they recive, BUT then ina few session revert back to how they do what they do.
Here are some of the issues to be aware of, plus links to further reading and maybe possible solutions.
Did you forget what you were shown and continue to coach as you always had
How useful was your current knowledge
Did you experience a challenge
Often, coaches will expereince a challenge or ‘test’ of their current knowledge, beliefs, and methods.
Did you expereince that?
If you did, were they presented in practical examples and challenges? Or was the challenge just theoretical and verbal?
Or did you find that most of what you believed was presented on the course?
Your current experiences may be tested, challenged or reinforced. You must be ready for all 3 experiences.
Did you agree with the information or stick to your own belifs
How did you act
Were you a true represention of yourself
Did you act as you normally do, say what you would normally say to other coaches, and present the practices that you do in most sessions?
Or, did you listen to the tutor and change in order not to annoy, upset or risk failure?
I’ve seen behavioral changes in others (and myslef)
Coaches often “put on an act during the assessment, ensuring they deliver what they believe the assessor wants.”
Assessments can become a “shaped snapshot” rather than a true reflection of everyday coaching.
The pressure to pass encourages safe, textbook behaviours.
Assessments often fail to capture a coach’s true capability,
especially their decision‑making, adaptability, and rationale.
Additional reading to inspire
Meaningful coach education begins with personal responsibility and proactive thinking, rather than criticising existing systems,
Coaches should not rely on governing bodies for development and instead design their own coach‑education pathway.
They must think deeply about what they want from tutors, course content, coaching methods, decision‑making, assessment, duration, cost and learning environments.
I realised that I had relied too heavily on governing bodies, while the most valuable, practical learning happened elsewhere.
Real development came from key people, assisting other coaches, challenging my own thinking, exploring “why,”
Progress accelerated once I actively sought mentors, observed other coaches, and stopped simply repeating course content.
My ideal badminton coach‑education framework, would be centred on stimulus, meaningful challenge, collaboration and practical learning.
A systems that re‑energise coaches, provide context‑specific tasks, encourage exploration of practice, and assess coaches through discussion, rationale and real‑world application rather than one‑size‑fits‑all methods.
With a strong emphasis is placed on connection and community : introducing coaches to each other, building networks and fostering shared learning.
Do you want a conversation?
I’d like to hear from you if you have a viewpoint on anything that you’ve read
We don’t need to agree, but explore viewpoints.
It would be great to hear from you, send me an email : contact@badmintonandy.com
This is part of a series of conversation starters.
Although not in detail, the posts are written to get you thinking and talking with others.
