Nothing Hurts a Struggling Athlete More than a “Wishy Washy” Coach
Nothing hurts a struggling athlete more than a “wishy washy” coach who keeps changing the approach to solving an athlete’s struggles. When an athlete is struggling, without doubt an intervention is necessary. Problems simply don’t solve themselves. But if a coach keeps jumping from one thing to another the athlete’s problems are more likely to get worse not better.
It’s a coach’s job to identify the specific intervention a struggling athlete needs. Moreover, once the coach makes the decision on the intervention, the coach must stay with it or risk losing credibility. Therefore, coaches must not jump to conclusions on choosing an intervention as the solution. Instead, it’s best to put rigor behind it using proven assessment techniques.
The process of doing an assessment and then choosing an intervention creates trust between the coach and the athlete. If an athlete has trust in what they are doing to get better, then they will get better. On the other hand, if an athlete is constantly trying different suggestions to eliminate what’s causing them to struggle, nothing will help them.
Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan says it best.
A good plan that is completely trusted is far better than the greatest plan with little trust…trust proceeds progress.