{"id":1577,"date":"2011-08-30T17:34:35","date_gmt":"2011-08-30T17:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:46:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:39","slug":"sports-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wedevelopyou.com\/riggs\/2011\/08\/30\/sports-coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Same old, same old?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michael Riggs, M.Ed.<\/p>\n

What an exciting time for coaches\u2026 the beginning of a new season! The stage is set for fresh new ideas that will invigorate the staff and players. The opportunity to create exciting and challenging strategies is knocking down the door. The time is perfect for getting on the leading edge of technologies that will improve your team\u2019s performance. There\u2019s just one big problem, though.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each year most coaches simply recycle what they did last year. The same planning book is opened, tweaked a bit, printed and handed out to the staff for the day\u2019s practice. Very little forethought goes into what is innovative in the realm of strategies or programs that could move their team from good to great. The\u00a0<\/span>habits<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>and ruts of most coaches are grooved so deep they no longer even recognize that they are just the same old coach that they were last year and last decade.<\/span><\/p>\n

What holds most coaches back from becoming\u00a0<\/span>extraordinary<\/span><\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Most coaches are creatures of habit<\/strong>. What they\u2019ve always done is what they will always do. In many cases coaches aren\u2019t doing what they ask their players to do, \u201cPush yourself and stretch to become your very best.\u201d While the execution of habits<\/strong> are very necessary to producing and maintaining high levels of performance, if those same habits<\/strong> are out-dated and produce mediocrity they need to be scrapped. The best question a coach can ask himself is, \u201cAre the ways I\u2019ve been doing things producing extraordinary<\/strong> results?\u201d If the answer is \u2018no\u2019, then the solution is crystal clear \u2013 create some new habits<\/strong> that will produce extraordinary<\/strong> results.<\/p>\n

Most coaches are afraid to be creative in fear of being interpreted by colleagues as \u2018different\u2019. Coaching can be a \u2018fit-in\u2019 profession. The best coaches attract the most attention \u2013 because they consistently win championships – yet, the coaching profession is knee-knockingly afraid of attracting attention to ones\u2019 self. Not making sense, here? In order to become a great coach you need to begin to care less about what others \u2013 colleagues, media, parents \u2013 think of you. Find your own extraordinary<\/strong> ways and forge ahead with them. Someday, if you do, you may be invited to speak about creativity, innovation and success at the annual coach\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n

Most coaches are too focused on what they are doing and don\u2019t make the time to conduct employee satisfaction surveys. Whether paid or not, your players are your employees. Employees must be kept happy or you\u2019ll have mutiny. Every truly extraordinary<\/strong> coach makes the time get out of his bubble and tune-in to whether his players are truly motivated and excited about his ways and means and the direction the program is headed. If the players are bored and are \u2018going through the motions\u2019 you can bet your whistle they won\u2019t be producing to the level they are capable.<\/p>\n

So, coach, do you really want to have an extraordinary<\/strong> season this year? Focus on three things:<\/p>\n