I don't know if anyone is interested in this, but I thought I would put this out there.
I know that there are quite a few members on this board that are coaches in multiple sports and multiple age groups.
I thought it might be nice to have a thread where we can talk about coaching, ask questions, exchange ideas, maybe in terms of things like coaching strategies and around drills and conditioning (because for the most part those things are fairly common).
I also thought it might be good to talk about certifications or things that we picked up from training.
I think we can also do things like talk about our coaching stories good and bad.
As well if there are people that want to get into coaching and have questions about it, we can help guide them. If maybe there are guys here looking for coaching help with their team and there are experienced coaches looking for a position, this could be helpful as well.
I mean I think that most of you know my story. But I'll put it here as a starter.
I've been coaching football for 12 years on and off. I got into it in the late 90's when I was asked to help coach defensive line at Forest Lawn for the Senior team. In my second year there I was moved to Defensive Coordinator and stayed for 2 1/2 more years.
I got back into coaching when I was asked to help Coach the Calgary Rage, in 2011. The Rage are a woman's tackle football team. I started with a similar story I was asked to come and help out and I coached the defensive line and linebackers. I then became their defensive coordinator for 3 years.
After that I got an opportunity to move onto the Calgary Bantam Cowboys Gray. they needed help with their offensive line and I stepped in. Last year they asked me to be their Offensive Coordinator. I'm now heading into my second season with the team and the tryout camp starts in a couple of weeks.
Anyways, I hope this thread has some activity.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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I have been coaching minor hockey for 8 years now on both with both my son and daughter. Started out as an assistant and ended up being asked to head coach my daughter's bantam team when they didn't have anyone else (I had volunteered to assist again). I absolutely loved doing that although I was nervous as hell at the start. I've been HC three seasons now and hope to coach her one more time in her final year of midget.
I've learned a ton about the game, about coaching, about others, and about myself over these years. Best advice I could give is to learn everything you can from others, there's no humility in that. Borrow ideas, steal drills, talk shop, don't do it all by yourself. I've had the good fortune to have assisted some really good coaches and the misfortune to have worked with some not so good ones. From that I have hopefully learned the good habits and learned what not to do.
You're always learning as a coach and every year has it's challenges. But it is also extremely rewarding.
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To be honest, I've been offered head coaching jobs in football, and I've never wanted to pursue it because it just seems like the administrative end of coaching, especially in football, where the coordinators basically make their game plans, decide on their rosters, and manage the calls.
Out of curiousity, I'm kind of interested in your certification requirements for your sports.
In football for example all coaches need to have taken the "Safe Contact", "ethical Decisions in coaching", "Introductory to position coaching" and a position just to get on the field now.
To get to the coordinator level you need multiple positions and a on field evaluation by a football alberta evaluate.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I only coach community level hockey so it's fairly basis (Coach Level/Speak Out, Respect in Sport, Safety (ie First Aid type stuff), and Checking Skills. If you coach higher levels then you need some additional high performance type certification.
Honestly the certification (in my opinion) has very little to do with coaching skills (other than checking skills). Sadly most of it has to do with how to stay out of trouble or in others words stuff like bullying, harassment, respect etc. Unfortunately that seems to be part of the coaching world now and the other ongoing thread about the high school phys-ed teacher is a perfect example of why. Fortunately most of the minor hockey organizations are very good at providing their coaches with material, drills, plans, ideas, guidance etc. on actually coaching skills and all stuff on ice. There is good training there and a gold mine of on line resources.
Specifically the first part where he talks about coaching in general.
Spoiler!
Quote:
Paddy Upton has developed a reputation for doing things differently to most cricket coaches. Having originally made a name for himself when he worked alongside Gary Kirsten, taking India to the top of the Test rankings and to a World Cup win on home soil, he is now making waves as a head coach in Twenty20 cricket.
The tenth edition of the Indian Premier League will be Upton's sixth as a head coach - having previously worked alongside Rahul Dravid at the Rajasthan Royals, the pair is now in charge of the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the head coach of Sydney Thunder, who he helped to the Big Bash League title last year, and Lahore Qalandars. In a chat with Cricbuzz, he spoke in depth about his coaching methods, what it takes to succeed in the IPL, and how Delhi are looking for the coming season.
Do you see yourself as a coach or a mentor, and do you see a distinction between the two when it comes to cricket these days?
The distinction that I think is relevant is between coaching, mentoring, advising, instructing and abdicating.
Instructing is: I know, let me tell you what to do.
Advising is: I know. Let me make a suggestion and leave the decision up to you (whereas with instructing it's not your call).
Mentoring can only happen with a wise senior with a specific domain or content knowledge, passing on information about what he did to a grateful junior. So Gary Kirsten can mentor an opening batsman in Test cricket, he can't mentor a No. 7 or spin bowler. Allan Donald can't mentor a spin bowler nor can he mentor a swing bowler in T20 cricket. And mentoring is, 'When I was in that situation, this is what I did.' It leaves the other person to figure it out and connect it to what they do. When a Gary Kirsten is mentoring a young opening batsman and says, 'This is what I recommend that you do or try,' he is not mentoring, he is advising. When he tells someone what to do, he is instructing. So a mentor can do all of those things.
In the modern day when people talk about empowering players and saying, 'Well you figure it out and do what you need to do', that's abdicating.
Coaching is a process where I help you find your own best answer for yourself through a process of questioning, testing your thinking, maybe giving you information and asking how you make sense of it. I'm probing, questioning, engaging, giving feedback for you to make your own best decision for yourself.
So I coach. Whereas most coaches today are actually instructors. They tell people what to do, when to practice, when to bat, for how long, where to bowl, etc.
You no longer have batting or bowling coaches at the Delhi Daredevils. So how does your role work?
The knowledge of how to play T20 cricket at the highest levels in the world, at the moment, sits in the playing group. Very few current coaches have played T20 cricket for any length of time at the highest level. What I do is harness the collective intelligence of the playing group, to work out how best to train, how best to have meetings, play games, what is Plan A, B and C. So I use player knowledge, and I facilitate the knowledge landing on the table, and facilitate good conversations. Strategy comes out of the playing group.
As soon as there is a coach in place telling players what to do, it stops players having to think. For a lot of players that's quite alluring because you don't have to do the thinking, and if something goes wrong you have someone else to blame. I believe most games are won and lost in key moments. You get some games that are tearaway wins or tearaway losses where someone blows it out of the water, but most are relatively close-fought with a couple of key moments where it goes one way or the other. For me it's the quality of thinking in those moments that sets you up to fall on the right side. So, I want players who are able to understand what's going on, understand Plan A, B and C because they have been part of the thinking that's gone into why we are doing what we are at that point in time. I don't have to send gloves on to a field because the thinking is already in the playing group.
Does that make it quite important to recruit players with knowledge to share with the group, given that in the IPL you are going to have a lot of young players?
If I've got 10 young players in my team, it means there are 10 young players in another team and of those, at least four are going to be playing against us. They are too young and inexperienced for there to do stats and video analytics, so who knows best about the four young players in the Mumbai team when we play against them? The young guys in our team. So they are as important, because they bring knowledge of those opposing players that I can't bring, Rahul Dravid can't bring, a Shane Watson can't bring and our video analyst can't bring. Everyone has a place where they have value to add. In any T20 team around the world there is enough knowledge to cover almost any topic. If there is some piece of information we don't have in the group, I'm 100 per cent certain that somebody in the group knows where we can get it.
But do you only look at players with something to share, or will you also recruit players who are supremely talented but might not be able to contribute as much?
I can't have all 15 people talking. So there's always enough knowledge, and enough space for the guys who don't know or don't want to have an opinion. What I look for is talented players - and there's quite a detailed process of how we identify someone, we don't just look at numbers - and the other key piece is the kind of character they are. They need to be a good bloke who is going to add to the team plan or the team bank, as opposed to take away from it. That's as important as good numbers.
If you're tapping into such an extensive knowledge base, does that mean you have long team meetings?
I will ask the players in that room what works in terms of team meetings in their experience and what doesn't work. So even for meetings I will get the players' inputs on the best way to go about them. In the last two T20 tournaments I've done (the BBL and the PSL) I had the same assistant coach, and he commented that the team meeting and preparation in each was fundamentally different. We had a different captain and senior players, and I will do what meets the team's needs that is also lined up to where we're going. The key is we're there to win it - that underpins everything. But then it is 'what is the best way to hold meetings - do we meet in the hotel, or go to the ground early and meet in the change room?' I get players to come up with what they believe is honestly best for that group of players, so they know it is their team and we co-create the team, as opposed to most teams where the coach arrives with what he believes is the best idea.
There are three ways I can build a campaign: I can build it 'my way' with my experience and knowledge; the 'right way', which is go and find out what the experts of the day are doing and copy it; or the best way, which is to put 'my way' and the 'right way' aside but remain informed by it, and have a conversation with the players. 'Okay guys, we're here to win. Do we want to have an unbelievable experience while we're here on this journey, so even if we don't win, we turn around and say flip that was an incredible campaign?' And if we want it to be incredible, what do we need to do? And then we design it.
With team meetings, there is so much you can analyse and talk about for a game. You might need to analyse as many as 15 opponents, so to do so in a team meeting might make it a bit long and tedious...
So the ideal that we're moving towards is that each individual goes and sits with an analyst and gets what he needs. An opening batsman only needs to understand a handful of bowlers. Each bowler needs to understand where he's bowling. So if he's bowling two up front and two at the death, he needs to understand batters 1-3 and the power hitters. I will sit with the player and the analyst and ask, 'What is it that you want that will leave you prepared?'
Then when we sit in the team meeting, we won't go and analyse everyone - that's already done on an individual basis. But I'll put the probable opposition on the board, and say to the batsmen, 'Is there anyone there who anyone in this forum would like to ask a question about?' An Australian might say, 'Does anyone know this young Indian spinner?' Whoever knows him will give some brief inputs. The same with the bowlers.
"When Rahul was captain of the Rajasthan Royals, he asked the owners to interview me, and I came on board. When he moved to Delhi, we went together. It's a partnership."
Will you do any active coaching in terms of working with a bowler's action or a batsman's stance, for example?
I've asked a huge number of players this question: 'When it comes to technical inputs around your game, how many pieces of advice do you think you've received that were helpful?' Players who have had an extended career will say anywhere between one and three out of 100 things that they have been told by an expert actually makes a point. So I know that if I give a player a piece of input, there is a 99 per cent chance it is going to be useless. I'm very cognisant of that.
If I recognise something in a player, I'll go and get a video of them when they were doing well, and a video of them now, and I'll look at it with an analyst or someone who understands batting or bowling, and we'll see if we recognise a difference. Nineteen out of 20 times if we can see a difference, I'll go to the player and say, 'Listen I've got some video footage, do you want to have a look at it?' If they don't it's fine, although generally they always say yes. Then they'll look at the video and self-assess.
If a player is battling with something, I'll ask who the one or two people within the team are that they would like to pull in to have a talk about that aspect of their game? So I will always include their peers if they wish. For example, (at) Sydney Thunder two years ago, Shane Watson had been dropped from the Australia side in all three formats. Jacques Kallis came to me and said, 'Paddy, I've been playing with and against Watto for a number of years, and there's something I've been noticing about his preparation in his stance.' I said, 'Stop right there, are you happy to talk to Shane about it?' He was, so I called Shane and told him, 'Jakes has an observation, are you interested?' His response was that absolutely he was. Three games later Shane was picked for the T20 WC. I think since that conversation, Shane Watson, who had previously been out lbw more than half the time... I don't know that he's been lbw three times in two years. So I really do believe in the value of peer coaching.
The other option is if, say, Quinton de Kock has a technical problem, I'm only with him for six weeks so I will rather ask him who his go-to person is around his batting. Then we'll see if we can connect them somehow. Everyone has a go-to person. I don't assume that's going to be me. But if someone wants me to give my input, I will offer it.
You and Rahul have worked quite a lot together. Is that because of how you enjoy operating together? And how do you draw on analysts?
When I was with India and Rahul was still playing, we used to speak about everything under the sun, and often we would talk more about life than about cricket. Then when he was captain of the Rajasthan Royals, he asked the owners to interview me, and I came on board. When he moved to Delhi, we went together. It's a partnership.
Between myself, Rahul and Zubin (Bharucha), who I call a 'stratistician', we cover all bases because we use that player-take-responsibility, player-coaching model. For most short-format teams, there are enough experts within the environment that you don't need people (like batting and bowling coaches) telling the players what to do, and it's too short to be changing anything technically. If you've got another coach then often you have people who think they need to justify their position.
The analysts who worked with Rahul and I at the Rajasthan Royals, I would say they are the best in the game by a distance. Fortunately they have come across with us to the Delhi Daredevils. I tap into that knowledge base even when I go across to other leagues. I don't necessarily bring the knowledge, but I bring the people who have access to it. For me, to find out a piece of information on any cricketer in the world is now one phone call away. So often it's better to pick up a phone than look up a stats sheet. That's what's happened in the T20 game - it's brought everyone closer. Having worked around the traps and built good relationships with players, I can pick up that phone and ask the question.
Does that knowledge that the analysts gather relate to stats?
Ways to look at stats.
What sort of things are they collecting and analysing?
It's looking at the obvious stuff, but often it's obvious stuff that people don't do. Right-arm spin over the wicket or round the wicket. Left-arm seam round and over. There are a lot of people who don't even look at that level of detail. If it is stats, is it in comparison to conditions and the overall total scores? A batsman in Kolkata [Knight Riders] will always have a lower strike rate than a batsman whose home ground is Bangalore. It's understanding all of that.
It really speaks to me and my coaching.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Best advice I could give is to learn everything you can from others, there's no humility in that. Borrow ideas, steal drills, talk shop, don't do it all by yourself.
I have a buddy that is a professional national level coach.
This is his approach, always learning, and he doesn't limit it to his sport, he pulls from other sports as well.
"Everyone can learn something from someone"
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
I learned something from a coach that is now coaching at the college level.
When I was a younger coach, like most coaches I was a bit obsessed with drills, working on footwork, doing the cones, that bags, working on rips and swims for example.
But he pointed out two things that I later found were utterly brilliant.
If you run a lot of drills your players become exceptional at doing drills but they don't become exceptional players.
Its all in the stance stupid.
Seriously, those two things are huge in every sport.
You need to find a way to translate your drills into a game situation and it has to be unpredictable for the players.
If your footwork drills are on the ladder for example, find a way to incorporate change of directions into it, get them to turn on the ladder.
IF its linebackers and you use cones for footwork, add a ball carrier to the drill so that they get used to their footwork incorporated into game play.
In fact right now the only time I do pure footwork drills are in game warmups.
As for the Stance, he pointed out if your players don't know how to stand up, whether its on skates or cleats or whatever if they don't have a good starting position that allows explosive play they're always going to be a second behind the play.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
You know, man, when I was a young man in high school
You believe it or not, that I wanted to play football for the coach
And all those older guys
They said that he was mean and cruel but you know
I wanted to play football, for the coach
They said I was a little too lightweight to play lineback and so I'm playing right-end
Wanted to play football for the coach
'Cause, you know some day, man you gotta stand up straight unless you're gonna fall
Then you're going to die
And the straightest dude I ever knew was standing right for me, all the time
So I had to play football for the coach
And I wanted to play football for the coach
I learned something from a coach that is now coaching at the college level.
When I was a younger coach, like most coaches I was a bit obsessed with drills, working on footwork, doing the cones, that bags, working on rips and swims for example.
But he pointed out two things that I later found were utterly brilliant.
If you run a lot of drills your players become exceptional at doing drills but they don't become exceptional players.
Its all in the stance stupid.
Seriously, those two things are huge in every sport.
You need to find a way to translate your drills into a game situation and it has to be unpredictable for the players.
If your footwork drills are on the ladder for example, find a way to incorporate change of directions into it, get them to turn on the ladder.
IF its linebackers and you use cones for footwork, add a ball carrier to the drill so that they get used to their footwork incorporated into game play.
In fact right now the only time I do pure footwork drills are in game warmups.
As for the Stance, he pointed out if your players don't know how to stand up, whether its on skates or cleats or whatever if they don't have a good starting position that allows explosive play they're always going to be a second behind the play.
And if the kids done do the drills correctly then they become very good at doing them wrong! So lesson #1 with drills - ensure they are being done correctly or the way you want them to be done otherwise it's pointless.
Second point, in general I always try to end my practice with a few minutes of scrimmage/game with the idea that the kids can take what we worked on in the drills and use them in a game situation.
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And if the kids done do the drills correctly then they become very good at doing them wrong! So lesson #1 with drills - ensure they are being done correctly or the way you want them to be done otherwise it's pointless.
The one caveat is to ensure you are not practicing the drill instead of the skill. It is easy to do (I have done it), you focus on the correct completion of the drill at the detriment of the skill.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
So just to keep this fresh, and to selfishly bump it. We have our tryout camp for Cowboys Grey and Navy next week and it goes 3 days next week and 3 days the week after.
During that time, Grey and Navy will hold a draft of the new players while evaluating all of the players in terms of positions and roles.
Just to put this into perspective.
Out of my offense last year I have three returning players.
Those returning players are a offensive tackle and Guard that I'm going to convert to center. I also have one Wide Side Wide Receiver returning.
So I'm basically going to need at minimum 3 to 4 receivers a quarterback a half back, a fill back/tight end.
I'm also going to need some backups.
It should be an interesting camp.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Cowboys are a great program... My son played two years for coach Woodson and two years for coach Cooper and loved every minute of it... The Cowboys teach the game well with a strong emphasis on respect - my son is a much better person for it. He has spent the past three winters working out with coach Woodson's son who starred with UofC and is now in camp with the Toronto Argos.
I actually played the first two seasons of the program back when I was a kid and believe it or not Coach Cooper was my coach... I still have a strong relationship with him.
On the coaching front I have many seasons as a baseball and hockey coach and made a living as a college baseball head coach for six-years with three seasons coaching pro... Additionally I've spent seven years as an area scout for the Expos and with Oakland. I am was a level-4 NCCP instructor through Baseball Canada and met many great coaches and players through that who are still good friends.
As said earlier in this thread you will know a good coach when they know they can learn from everyone and share their knowledge and experience with anybody who wants to learn. Coaching is a fraternity and good coaches realize that weather they are in the bigs or on a sandlot - we are all the same.
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That's awesome to hear Bossy, I work directly with Coop, so its been a learning experience for me. I was sitting here looking forward to the start of tryout tonight until I looked out the window.
Ah well football in the rain.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
That's awesome to hear Bossy, I work directly with Coop, so its been a learning experience for me. I was sitting here looking forward to the start of tryout tonight until I looked out the window.
Ah well football in the rain.
One of my assistant coaches was British. A huge Brit, like you read about, one of those guys who likes his pints black....and at 9am.
I was the coach that would still run practices in the rain and the parents hated me for it, to the point there was (albeit a very polite) protest.
Before I could answer and defend my policy of running practices in the rain my assistant coach steps in and bellows:
"If you cant play football (soccer) in the rain the English would never play football! Now get back to it!"
It was slightly less polite than that but you get the gist. I didnt cancel practices on account of rain.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
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If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a Fire Exit. - Mitch Hedberg
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That's awesome to hear Bossy, I work directly with Coop, so its been a learning experience for me. I was sitting here looking forward to the start of tryout tonight until I looked out the window.
Ah well football in the rain.
Wouldn't be spring football if it wasn't in the rain!
I'm involved with one of the high school football programs and we hit the field next week for our week of spring camp. I'm looking forward to the year, I am returning 4 out of my 5 DB starters which should put us miles ahead of last year.
A lot of great advice and tips in here. I think the biggest one for me has been surrounding myself with people who understand the sport and not being afraid to ask questions, no matter how simple they may seem. Also, investing in the players as kids and not just athletes. Let them know you care about them beyond the field and develop life skills in them through the use of sport
Man I suck at ladders and bags, most remember not to swear in from of players.
Okay, I'll share a fun coaching story, I have lots of these but this was my first day all by myself.
I was brought in as a coach initially because a friend of mine was volunteering and they just didnt have enough people, so I was assisting him on his third team with the idea of replacing him as head coach because he was over-extended but my Police checks were still going.
So one day he tells me that hes going to be late for a game because he was coaching one of his other teams across town. No problem, I got this. But it was my first game going solo.
Now, I'm 21 at this point. Playing Men's league and rec and coaching, so I was pretty intensely into the game.
One thing that most of us know now is that with time and experience we learn to tone it down, even out the emotional rollercoaster. We may still lose it on a bad call or bad play from time to time, but less often and less intense.
This was my first day on my own taking a team that hadnt won a game that year, I got to set the lineups, warm them up and explain the game plan.
Its early in the first half and two of my players got a breakaway. I'm talking 2 on 0 (except goalie) and its our opportunity to take the lead for the first time!
First player shoots and hits the post but it goes directly to the second player who shoots and hits the crossbar but it goes right back to the first player who proceeds to shoot it over the bar.
I'm on the sidelines, and the parents kind of know me, but not really yet.
And I'm screaming my head off with obscenities.
"Are you MF'ing kidding me?!?! What are the goddamned MF'ing odds of that?!?!"
And so on and so forth. While right behind me my friend the coach walked up and tells me...
"You gotta relax man, first of all, their parents are like 10 feet away, they saw and most definitely heard that, and you're going to kill yourself with the stress."
It was a valuable lesson really, I was a kid and I wanted these kids to win so badly that I lost my focus.
The funny part was though, that they saw that desire and they wanted to win for me too and that was something that was hard to balance because while we want to win, it wasnt the primary focus at that level.
The moral of the story is: "Swear in front of the children."
They love it. They're kids, they swear like sailors on shore leave when adults arent looking so it kind of endears you to them.
But make sure their parents cant hear you. Thats an important lesson as well.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a Fire Exit. - Mitch Hedberg
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I'm confused ... your advice to coaches is to swear around kids that you are coaching so they will think your cool???
Sorry, I thought that story kind of grew organically about the fact that the Coach should always be in control, both of his team and his emotions, but you're going to lose it from time to time, its about how you recover.
The 'swearing in front of the kids' thing was heavily sarcastic. I thought that was clear but evidently not clear enough.
__________________ The Beatings Shall Continue Until Morale Improves!
This Post Has Been Distilled for the Eradication of Seemingly Incurable Sadness.
If you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a Fire Exit. - Mitch Hedberg