Players will say “He’s a player’s coach.” What do you think that means? Is it that the coach has been where they are now? Or, that he understands what motivates the player? How about, “I see him as my friend?”  Maybe, he “understands” what I am going through because he was a player? Just what is this myth of the player’s coach?

Number one, rarely do players know what coaches do. Or, more importantly, what they see. The context for being a great coach is entirely different than that of the player. Secondly, the coach’s view is about “everybody.” The coach is always looking further out in the future.

Here’s the litmus test … how many Hall of Fame coaches were seen as a “player’s coach” during their careers? What coaches have is two-fold; empathy for what the player is going through, and the unwillingness to sell out on them in the way he is going to coach or what is required of them as a team member. A great coach is more committed to the individual than they are to themselves.

I am not saying a great player can’t be a great coach. I am saying it doesn’t happen often. One thing that needs to happen is the realization that the coach is thinking like a player and that their playing days are over. This includes what you think you would do if you were them. Remember, you are not them, and you probably weren’t as good as you think you were anyway.

Each athlete is at a particular place in their development. The team is in a different place in its development. The trick is to grow as a team while using the growth of each athlete in the most effective way on game day. The keys that will support all of this are as follows:

  • The coach knows what each athlete is committed to
  • Each athlete knows what the coach is committed to for them.
  • Each athlete knows what the coach needs from them.

With these keys, the coach can coach from commitment rather than moods, personalities or wants. Actions fit the commitments or not. End of story.

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