coaches as educators

Ever wondered what the best coaches say to their gymnasts or other coaches in their gym to get them motivated and glad to be working every single day?

1. “I trust you.”

These three words tell your gymnasts that you believe in them, you believe in the work they’re doing, and you know that they’re going to get it right. This simple vote of confidence can do wonders in any gym.

2. “I’m proud of you.”

Telling your gymnasts that you’re proud of the work they have done is as powerful as letting them know you trust them–maybe even more so. Be specific and let them know that you are proud of an ACTION not a train. i.e. “I am proud of how hard you worked this season.” instead of “I am proud of how strong you are”.

3. “Thank you.”

Showing gratitude is key to earning the trust from gymnasts you work with. Gymnasts never like it when their coaches expect them to give their best-quality work without appreciation, especially if it’s asked for every day.

4. “I always have time for you.”

There’s something undeniably satisfying about having a coach–especially those who are very busy–say they always have time in their schedule for their gymnasts. It makes the team feel valued–and appreciated–beyond what they may verbalize.

5. “What can I do to help?”

Knowing that your coaches care about you is always heart-warming, especially when it appears like they’re the busiest people on earth. No matter how small the problem, a small query here and there to remind your team that you care is ideal for maintaining good relations.

6. “I’m sorry.”

When coaches make mistakes, which is inevitable from time to time, it’s important that they fully own up to it. There’s nothing worse than coaches who pretend they do everything right.

7. “Don’t worry about it.”

Knowing that you will help them take care of mistakes they make, or simply have a situation under control, is incredibly influential in shaping how your team feels about you. I once saw Wendy Bruce-Martin speak on Coaching a Perfectionist. You should set the bar high but you also need to let them walk away from an unsolvable situation. From time to time, reassure your gymnasts that it’s going to be ok.

BONUS. “I don’t know, but I’ll find out”

No one coach has all the answers. You are going to encounter situations where YOU JUST DON’T KNOW. Tell them! Then go and find out! They will respect you MORE than if you just make something up.

Not long ago someone asked me what I do to for professional development and to keep learning. I thought I would share what I do, that is not to suggest that is the way to do it rather to share a process that has worked for me over the years. Even though I call it a process for someone like me who is full of questions and inherently curious it is more semi-organized chaos. Those of you that followed this blog over the years know that I love to read, so for me reading actual books (I like the tactile sense of having a book in my hands, although I do use my iPad when I travel) is the cornerstone of learning for me. I read on the average of two books a week. I also subscribe to several on line sport science journals, numerous coaching journals, The New Yorker, Atlantic Magazine and Fast Company Magazine as well as Olympic Coach and, of course, USA Gymnastics. For current events I read the Huffington Post and then our local papers. I try to devote an hour a day to professional reading and research and probably another hour at night to recreational reading. All too often the time I have allotted for research gets interrupted by life and sometime life gets interrupted by research or reading.

I have my journal where I where I record my ideas, notes from Conferences and notes from my reading. **Maybe I am old school but I like the longhand writing process a notebook. In my office at home I have a bookshelf devoted to these journals. I keep them more or less chronologically. If I am searching for an answer that I remember writing down it doesn’t take me too long to find.

I have not bought a journal in a while because people tend to give me them as presents which I really appreciate. Below are the notebooks that I have been using in the last year. Thanks to a couple friends in Australia. Much of what is in these notebooks probably would not make sense to anyone but me, but it helps me organize my thoughts.

I keep of log of all the books I read and I try to Log of my own training, something I started doing when I was in high school (I wish I could find those old logs, I know they are buried somewhere in a box). I keep track of things that work in the gym and things that don’t, recipes I found and like and jokes I am writing (I do stand up comedy on occasion)

I try to talk to professional colleagues as often as possible and speak to my mentors as often as I can. I can’t emphasize enough the role that my mentors have played in my learning both in terms of guidance and inspiration. I go to many more conferences than I used to but I am speaking at most of them and do not have a huge opportunity to go to lectures. Because of this I try to find other speakers and talk to them during lunches and catch up on what they spoke about

Podcasts are my other outlet. Whether I am working out, doing yard work or cooking I tend to have a podcast on.
Current favorites:
Rachel Maddow
Myths and Legends
Star Talk Radio

Each day that I coach is a learning experience. I learn from the athletes I work with and the coaches I work with. More of my coaching today is of the mentoring coaching nature but I still do some coaching daily, you can’t learn if you don’t have skin in the game.

I love to watch coach’s coach. Because I spend a lot of time doing clinic through out the USA and other countries, I get to see a wide variety of coaching technique and drills. I try to learn from others successes and failures. Watching those sessions, interacting with the coaches and athletes are priceless learning opportunities. For that matter I learn by watching anyone who is good at his or her craft. Excellence transcends sport, watching a chef at work an artist paint or draw or a musician play is great learning. I feel you have go outside your field and specialization to broaden and deepen learning. Everything is connected. I read a quote the other day, “If you go back far enough everything is connected.”
I will build upon that quote.

“If you go back far enough, everything is connected. As coaches we just need to show the kids how to reconnect the dots.”

I love to learn, the excitement and joy of learning new things and challenging myself daily sustains me. I am constantly trying to look at the world with new eyes and discover new ideas and approaches. I hope this helps give you some ideas to guide your learning.

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Students who used longhand remembered more and had a deeper understanding of the material
SCIENTIFIC AMERICA