What Makes A Good Coach
Is it level of play, competence, students, or other factors? This is a very interesting question.
On the surface, many students equate pure playing level to the ability to effectively communicate to all levels of play. Any good coach or teacher will tell you that coaching beginners requires a far different set of skills and knowledge than coaching Olympic or Paralympics hopefuls. I would further say coaching kids is far different from coaching adults based on their needs and desires.
With an Olympian or Paralympian you need to often resolve issues instantly especially at an event. With a beginner, you need to look towards the future to make sure they are not creating self-imposed roadblocks by learning poor habits or techniques. A different type of Sports psychology is required for both types of players. For the professional athlete you need to reduce the stress so they can play relaxed, however for the beginner you need to up the enthusiasm so they push themselves to learn more as quickly as possible. With kids you need to make, they are having fun and that regardless of the results they know they will be viewed positively in your eyes. If a child feels too much stress on the court, they will act out or go into a shell and notperform to their full potential. Being a former cadet player, I believe I greatly understand what is going through a kid’s mind when they are in a tough or pressure situation. Remember there is a very fine line between playing nervous and playing without any pressure. At one extreme, you cannot execute and at the other, you do not care if you execute. In coaching terms, we speak about being in the centre of the arousal curve.
Coaching is not done solely during a tournament; it is done at the club months prior to any competition when new strokes or movements can be incorporated into a player’s game.
My rule of thumb is it takes at least 6 weeks of dedicated work to make any substantial change in one’s game to where it can be relied upon in crunch time. Getting a tip to serve a no-spin ball to a particular player or to loop to the middle more often isn’t that high level of coaching but just one basic tip that should be worked on in practice to have any lasting impression.
So how highly rated should a good coach be? My best coach of all-time was 1400 rated. He was also Appelgren's primary coach in the 80's. Yes, 1400.
Why was he effective for me? He knew my game inside and out because he saw me play during my developmental years. He knew when I was playing the right shot, but just missing and missing when I was trying a shot I was incapable of making at least 50% of the time.
To me the key to being a good coach is not your personal level of play, but to develop a good set of skills to help each player "uniquely" and to know your players well. Let me stress, first and foremost you must know the player well. This doesn't mean seeing them play one match on table 23 and then barking commands at them as how you would play a match.
It is knowing what makes them tick and how to get them to play their best within themselves. How to make sure they don’t feel intimidated that you are coaching them and try nutty shots to get your approval. It is about the player; not the coach. This only comes from months and years of working together and coaching all levels of play.
Players that go to top players for one lesson with the thought they will learn some secret trick and instantly improve are often greatly disappointed. Yes, they will often learn some areas to work on but it is up the student to put those words into action by practicing religiously.
Here is a list of 10 most common attributes of great coaches or teachers from the book - Beyond Winning. If you are interested in determining if a top player is a great coach, check these off and see where they stand. I think you will see that their level of play is only an added benefit, but not a core issue.
- Committed individual integrity, values, and personal growth.
- Profound thinkers who see themselves as educators, not just coaches.
- Well educated (formally and informally) in a liberal arts fashion.
- Long-run commitment to their athletes and their institution.
- Willing to experiment with new ideas.
- Value the coach-player relationship, winning aside.
- Understand and appreciate human nature.
- Love their sport and work.
- Honest and strong in character.
- Human and therefore imperfect.
