Why you may not be collaborating
I’ve come up with 8 possible suggestions
Do any apply to you?
A coach asked :
” How do you think coaches should go about learning from other coaches? “
“What is stopping Badminton coaches from collaborating?”
This post looks at the 2nd question, the tougher one.
It’s been stuck in my head for the weeks. I’m struggling to know if I should publish as it could be seen as negative.
I’ve been told many times that the majority of your development will happen after your Coach education course has finished. However, I was never given the tools or even the ideas about how to go about doing that!
I guess that there are several you could use, including self-reflection, self-development and of course, collaboration with others.
The last one, collaboration, seesm the least used by coaches in my opinion.
Coach Education didn't encourage you to
Were you given ideas and methods on how to collaborate?
You may have been taught / shown how to coach badminton movements, tactics, and strokes.
You may have spent hours looking at lesson planning and practice progressions.
But, did you discuss how to learn from other coaches: what to observe, how to engage with them, how to evaluate what you observed?
If you are to continue your development away from formal education, then I think you need the skills. Skills that are more important than say, knowing what grip to use for deep cross-court backhands. Collaboration and reflective skills that continue your development for years after the course.
If you are to progress on your own, you will need friends or maybe someone who isn’t your friend!
Do you think collaboration techniques should be included
as part of Coach Education programmes?
There is no one to ask
“I don’t have anyone to talk coaching with”
You may think that is true, but is it really that difficult to ask another coach a question?
However, if you believe that all the coaches you know or see in your area won’t want to collaborate, then that’s your reality.
You may get lots of rejections or people side-stepping your questions, but please persist.
They could be just like you and are cautious about asking other people.
ally isn’t anyone else coaching in your area, then use Facebook and Badminton websites to comment or ask questions.
Why don’t you find a website that publishes articles and ask a question, then comment and ask a question of your own!
Could you send a message to a friend right now, asking for their advice? 🙂
Fear of the unknown or rejection
Asking a question can be scary!
Making a list of the things you don’t know can be just as frightening!
Especially if it includes these …
‘How do I prevent (name the technical error) from happening?”
“How do I improve decision-making skills?”
”What are the important early skills for 7-9 year-olds?”.
These were on my list after 2 years of coaching. I didn’t ask anyone for fear of being embarrassed. I was qualified; I should have known the answers.
The fear of realising that you ‘don’t know can easily stop you from trying any collaboration.
Get a pen and paper and write down a shortlist of the things you want to know more about right now.
Then write down 2 or 3 names of people who could help you with your questions.
The fear of the unknown motivated me to react. I found a mentor who helped me to embrace the things I didn’t know. Reflecting back, I must have been a real ‘pain’ with all my questions.
Identify the issue, create a question, and discuss with someone,
share the enjoyment of collaboration 🙂
“It worked for me”
“These practices help me become a good player, so I use them”
If you are a good player and now find yourself coaching, then surely it makes sense to repeat what worked for you.
I’ve heard this many times.
“These practices help me become a good player, so I use them”. “If it worked for me, then it must work for the players I now coach”.
I call this ‘hereditary’ coaching, coaching in a way you ‘think‘ you were coached.
If you are happy with your methods (the methods your coach used), then there is no reason to collaborate with anyone other than your old coach.
What do you think of this approach?
Are there any problems that immediately come to mind?
Be careful if you find yourself referring back to the way you coached. Ask others to test you with critical questions. These should lead to an interesting conversation.
It’s not wrong to coach the way you were coached, as it’s your choice. However, it is wrong to assume that it will work in all cases and produce the same outcome.
How far back in time can you accurately remember: what did you do when you were 9-12 years old?
Can you trust your memory over anything longer than a few months?
You believe that you don't have enough time
“I’m busy coaching”
I hear this from so many coaches –but is this really your reality?
Maybe it’s worth the time.
Developing on your own will always be less effective than working with others. Try to find the time, or make your interactions short and specific.
Quick conversations can be as good as 2 hours of deep discussion.
Use something like WhatsApp where you could post a quick question. You and your friends can contribute whenever you have time.
Please don’t let time be a factor in your development.
My friends may take minutes or days to reply; it doesn’t matter to us.
Sometimes true, sometimes not!
There is so much visual information on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube then why would you need to talk with another coach.
All the ‘answers’ are presented to you in short 10 – 60-second clips.
It’s obvious, copy what you see! Or should you?
Many coaching sites detail the ‘ideal’ routine (how many are multi-feeding?) to develop that perfect technique.
Some give more details than others and provide explanations, but many don’t.
If you’ve read my previous posts, you will have seen that I like the Badminton Family YouTube site.
The Dangers
Coaches often post short 15 seconds clips of their daily practice. Often its how to solve a problem, or how to get that perfect techique.
Do you really think that information will work for everyone who see it?
You are only seeing a snapshot of the work these experts are doing, 30 seconds out of a 3 hour session.
Will the practice really improve your player, or could it just reinforce the current techniques (good or bad).
Is it just keeping your players busy?
Be careful of just repeating what you see on Social Media
Talk with your friends, will the practice produce the type of development you’re seeking
You suffer from Imposter Syndrome
You doubt your skills and talents
People see you as their coach; you should know all the answers as you are getting paid!
That’s on the outside, but inside your head, do you know what to do in every situation?
If you have questions or are unsure, how can you tell another coach that you don’t know and have a questions.
You are a qualified coach
It is not uncommon to feel this way. It’s a psychological pattern in which an individual can have several doubts, one being the persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.
So why would they reach out to collaborate with another coach?
Do you ever feel this way, especially at times when you don’t know what to do or are challenged by a player or parent?
What do you do next? I recommend that you find someone to talk with.
Many coaches have felt the same as you do right now. Yes, they probably thought that they had run out of ideas within 2 years of passing their last qualification.
If it’s a question from the player that you have never considered, how do you reply? Again, I recommend at these times you find someone to collaborate with. Tell the player you don’t know the answer, but will talk with someone who does. They will respect you for speaking the truth 🙂
If you are unsure about what to do, please don’t make up an answer on the sopt
Its ok, not to know 🙂
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
