As a coach, I’m drawn to using analogies as a way to describe the complex nature of developing athletes. For some reason it provides clarity finding connections with seemingly unrelated things. On the one hand, coaching athletes SHOULD be simple. We are servant leaders there to help reach their potential, right? As well all know, it’s never that simple. Psychology, anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and communication are some of the many things we need to understand to be effective.
It’s a tricky task and something that I am still learning to be better after almost 8 years. This past year was a great learning experience. After working with a very young group of athletes, a thought popped in my head. I’ve finally been able to find the words to paint the picture with enough detail to explain to you.
Some truths I’ve learned over time:
- At the end of the day, a player’s career is his own and as coaches we serve to help them reach their goals and potential.
- Our belief system may be correct, but it is not the player’s belief system.
- Forcing your beliefs and way of life onto a player or coworker is never going to get the result you want.
- It’s more effective to meet them where they are and work together to cut through the complex forest to find a path. It may not be the path you would go, but it’s the path you are going together. We are there to help navigate, cut away problematic things in the way and provide support when things aren’t going well.
Fascinated by effective communication, I’ve modified my approach towards coaching.
Some common questions asked by young players looking for the secret sauce are:
- What is the fastest way to get scouted and drafted?
- What exercise makes me throw harder?
- What supplement can I take to get bigger?
- What do the pros do that I can do now to get a step ahead?
My answer used to be long and detailed because I assumed more information for them was better. Why not give them the answer my knowledge base tells me is correct? Am I not helping by giving them tons of scientifically backed information?
Short answer, no you are not.
Youth athletes want the easy way. They want the fast way. If you give them the long way, they will YouTube someone that will give them the incorrect faster way. So, you’re faced with a situation where a player needs the right answer, but doesn’t want to hear it right now. This is the art of coaching. Find out where your athletes are mentally and adapt to what will be understood by your audience.
I choose an analogy of building a house. Growing up, my dad was involved with construction and always had blueprints around. He would say that a good blueprint and plan from the start means you’re more likely to have a solid house in the end. Little things can be fixed, but if you lay a crappy foundation that house is doomed from the start. Athletic development is pouring the concrete slab and drawing up a blueprint for a new house. We are setting the foundation an athlete will have underneath them going forward. Skipping practices, missing workouts, and giving less than their best lays an uneven foundation. By setting high expectations and holding them to those standards we have a better chance that house is going to last for many years.
I use the mantra, “Build your own house”, because athletes are running their own race. Many sports have a team aspect to them, but athletes are primarily focused on developing themselves. I love the concept of extreme ownership because I’ve seen it work well firsthand. If everyone took responsibility and said “I could have done my role better tonight” we lose the finger pointing and start growing as a group.
In this house analogy, the team is the neighborhood. Each individual player has a house along the street. We want the neighborhood to be one that everyone wants to be a part of. To do that, every single house along that street needs to be pristine on the inside and outside. If each player has laid a great foundation, done the little things right, and put in the sweat and labor we have ourselves a great place to live. By challenging each player to build their own house, you are allowing them to make their own blueprint and take ownership over their careers. Young players want to live in a mansion when they haven’t created a blueprint. They want what they see, but don’t know where to start. Our job is to help them through that process. We are the expert builders, but they are the one’s that will be living in it when it’s finished.
Right now they are living in a rickety piece of plywood that would blow over at the first sign of a storm. So, let’s help them get out of the shack and into the house of their dreams. We are the guide in the forest with the machete chopping through the vines the players cannot get through. What’s at the end of the forest is not up to us, but we are dang sure going to help our players get to where that is.
I hope these analogies helped put our complex and sometimes difficult jobs into a different perspective. We work in the shadows and, at times, don’t get the recognition we deserve. But the moment that athlete has the house of their dreams or reaches the end of that forest, we know we had a hand into helping that person live out a dream.
Peak Sports Performance 