Outside the box
I believe that I have addressed this topic before, though it may have been in brief.
I have a nearly insatiable curiosity when it comes to coaching. This "need to know" everything is amusement for some, a headache for other, but it generally defines how I coach. I like to tell my athletes, or coaching peers that it's not enough for me just to know that Plan A worked, and Plan B didn't. I need to know why it worked, why it didn't work and then how to best improve both. I believe that the best coaches are always learning as much as they can about their particular sport whether it be rowing, soccer, or basketball. They have their finger on the pulse of the sport, keep an eye out for innovations, or new ideas, and always ask questions.
With that being said, I watched an excellent documentary on Coach Augie Garrido, the head baseball coach at the University of Texas. The whole film is quite good, but what struck me was something that he said toward the beginning. He started watching other sports practice, particularly football. I'm going to paraphrase here, but the basic idea behind this practice was to get some ideas on how he should organize his baseball practice. I think that makes a lot of sense. You never seen football teams practicing as one giant team. They walk through as separate units and practice as units.
I've carried this idea over to how I coach. Less about how to divide up a practice, but more about thinking outside of the box. Rowing coaches are great. I love doing launch rides. My ride at Stanford, and riding along with Mike Teti in Oklahoma City were two of the best coaching experiences I've ever had, and I'm looking forward to doing more. But I really like the idea of working with coaches who coach something other than rowing. While in my last job, I talked with the football coach, the men's soccer coach, the women's soccer coach, and the women's basketball coach. I talked to them about developing programs and expectations and running practices. Currently I'm in line to go spend two days shadowing a successful high school wrestling coach.
I like to think outside of the box. I like getting input from other coaches with how to run an organized practice, how to divide up a team so that you're maximizing your time and the team effort. I think that stepping outside of our comfort zone, outside the coaching launch and into an area we don't identify with beyond the scope of athletic competition, really helps us gain some clarity. We do this when we're writing papers. We have friends or others edit, read, and correct. We ask others for opinions when they're not directly tied to what we're asking about. So why not do this as a coach?
I have a nearly insatiable curiosity when it comes to coaching. This "need to know" everything is amusement for some, a headache for other, but it generally defines how I coach. I like to tell my athletes, or coaching peers that it's not enough for me just to know that Plan A worked, and Plan B didn't. I need to know why it worked, why it didn't work and then how to best improve both. I believe that the best coaches are always learning as much as they can about their particular sport whether it be rowing, soccer, or basketball. They have their finger on the pulse of the sport, keep an eye out for innovations, or new ideas, and always ask questions.
With that being said, I watched an excellent documentary on Coach Augie Garrido, the head baseball coach at the University of Texas. The whole film is quite good, but what struck me was something that he said toward the beginning. He started watching other sports practice, particularly football. I'm going to paraphrase here, but the basic idea behind this practice was to get some ideas on how he should organize his baseball practice. I think that makes a lot of sense. You never seen football teams practicing as one giant team. They walk through as separate units and practice as units.
I've carried this idea over to how I coach. Less about how to divide up a practice, but more about thinking outside of the box. Rowing coaches are great. I love doing launch rides. My ride at Stanford, and riding along with Mike Teti in Oklahoma City were two of the best coaching experiences I've ever had, and I'm looking forward to doing more. But I really like the idea of working with coaches who coach something other than rowing. While in my last job, I talked with the football coach, the men's soccer coach, the women's soccer coach, and the women's basketball coach. I talked to them about developing programs and expectations and running practices. Currently I'm in line to go spend two days shadowing a successful high school wrestling coach.
I like to think outside of the box. I like getting input from other coaches with how to run an organized practice, how to divide up a team so that you're maximizing your time and the team effort. I think that stepping outside of our comfort zone, outside the coaching launch and into an area we don't identify with beyond the scope of athletic competition, really helps us gain some clarity. We do this when we're writing papers. We have friends or others edit, read, and correct. We ask others for opinions when they're not directly tied to what we're asking about. So why not do this as a coach?
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