Coach’s Corner: Coaching — A Knowledge of the Nature of the Learner — Part III

Posted at 5:30am — 8/2/2012

Coach’s Corner: Coaching — A Knowledge of the Nature of the Learner — Part III

Tenet One: A Knowledge of the Nature of the Learner

A firm and competent grounding in educational psychology is a must for teachers and teacher/coaches. The above thought cannot be emphasized enough.

The literature base on human learning and development has grown exponentially in the last few decades. Separate, related disciplines, linked to human behavior and performance have sprouted up and taken strong root. These disciplines are of clear benefit for coaches and include learning style, personality type study, cognitive development, critical thinking style, and communication science.

All of the above disciplines provide a necessary base for the key attribute of successful teaching and coaching: understanding the nature of the learner. Perhaps, besides technical knowledge, there is no aspect of professional preparation for coaches working with youth more critical than understanding the nature of the learner.

Many of the legendary coaches of today or yesteryear excelled at this element of coaching. John Wooden had many talents but one that always came forth was having an understanding of his learners. Sparky Anderson was a brilliant field tactician, but this was due in large part to clearly understanding the nature of his players and thus knowing who could succeed in difficult situations. He was a master psychologist as well as a superb organizer.

Tenet Two: Communication

Once the nature of the learner is understood, the art and science of communication needs to be effectively mastered and applied. This is no simple task as there are many communication nuances making this domain both complex and difficult to master.

Coaches must be comfortable with the communication skills and methods they choose to best fit their personal coaching style. Some coaches value intense, perhaps long, private sessions to dissect player thinking and then respond. Some coaches value what is referred to as the one-minute manager method of communication, whereby the player is clearly communicated a situation and the expectation as well as the means for the situation to be resolved. It then becomes the player’s responsibility to assimilate and conform.

Regardless of method and tone, players respond to clear communication and the associated expectations that are reinforced through precise feedback and successful assistance/intervention.

The nature of the learner and communication is used to underpin another critical psychological component of coaching, motivation.

Tenet Three: Motivation

This is as old as the chicken and the egg. As one famous educational psychologist put it. “How to motivate the ants?” Behavioral psychology put forth positive and negative reinforcement, conditioned responses (military), and cognitive psychology put forth deep thinking and problem solving. All can work, but a coach must take into consideration what will fit his or her style and situation best.

Tenet Four: Physical Knowledge

A fourth component of coaching preparation is physical knowledge. Physics and Kinesiology (also spelled kinesiology) scare many students/potential coaches away, but the knowledge that can be gleaned from such courses can be invaluable for understanding and, more importantly, explaining movement patterns related to sports skills.

Sport revolves around human movement and so an understanding of physics and kinesiology leads to a young coach better understanding the specific techniques specific to individual sports.

If a coach has a superior knowledge of technique (assuming organization and reasonable communication) there is an increased likelihood that a player can translate technique teaching to on the field mastery/performance. A simple five-minute physics or kinesiology lesson on the side can sometimes lift the fog that may have plagued a player for lengthy time amounts with reference to skill mastery. A less than gifted athlete rarely masters a skill unless sufficiently learned in the neural-physical, motor realm.

Tenet Five: Nutrition Knowledge and Emergency Knowledge

Nutrition is the newest element being incorporated into coaching preparation programs. A young coach who demonstrates knowledge of this precept may advance up the ladder with increased haste. This benefit then yields further positives as the higher up the scale in coaching nowadays, the more important nutritional practice becomes. Major college programs are looking for little advantages, minute edges if you will, and nutrition is the new cutting edge to victory, everything else being equal. No major program scoffs at nutrition; it is now an accepted and essential tenet.

Emergency response is a physical component of coaching that has been pretty much universally required, and schools wary of liability problems will look favorably on the hiring of young candidates with documented athletic/first aid/CPR training. Coaches must be proficient in supported protocol for weight training, concussion precautions and prevention, procedures for acquiring immediate medical help, heat issues, and resuscitation, little of which was addressed just fifty years ago.

Tenet Six: Technical Knowledge

A third component of coaching preparation is technical knowledge. This is the component most commonly associated with coaching and coaching success by the general populace. But be advised, technical knowledge is necessary for success in the coaching world, but not, by itself, sufficient. There is more to coaching as has been demonstrated above.

Technical knowledge is the teaching of skills germane to individual success within a chosen sport. Natural talent is a great gift, but even the most gifted athletes need technical mastery to improve, and the coach is the vehicle for such improvement.

Technical knowledge for football would include stance, reading keys, tackling form, lateral pursuit, pad level, footwork, use of hands, and on and on. Football is a very technical sport and frequently gifted players have below average technique. There are reasons for this: a sense of superiority, the belief that technique is not important due to past success, or a general lack of concern or effort.

Those who once played a sport under a master coach have a great advantage over other coaching candidates regarding technical knowledge. This is why so many former players are hired. Those who enter coaching with minimal playing experience and hence less technical knowledge, have an uphill battle to catch or surpass the well-versed former athlete, but the antidote is excellent coaching clinics, especially those sessions where selected speakers simplify the art and science of sport technique.

But with work and intellect, and a superiority gained in the other areas of coaching competence, this type of coach can flourish as an assistant under a master head coach who develops not only his players but a staff as well. Eventually this type of coach, one who developed over time, is called a successful developmental coach. This group started at the ground level and earned promotions over others with better background.

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Written by GBMWolverine Staff — Doc4Blu

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