June 2018 in review: the art of coaching
Any coach with an ounce of experience knows that coaching isn’t just about the methods; it’s also about how you put them into practice. That’s the art of coaching, our June site theme. Throughout the month 10 contributors helped put together 2 new videos, 4 new podcasts, and 8 great articles. Below you’ll find links to all our new resources and some highlights from our archive on the topic. As always, become a Plus Member to make sure you get access to all of the vast resources on the site. But before we look at the resources, I wanted to share two key takeaways from this month.
» Past themes: see a full archive of our past monthly themes here.
Defining the discussion
The art of coaching is one of those terms we throw around all the time, but few people have a succinct definition for it. I really enjoyed Chris Gallagher’s article this month, as he took a stab at the task.
For me, the art of coaching is about what you do when you don’t have a playbook. Sports science has come a long ways, but in most training situations we don’t have a clear answer whether door A or door B is the better one. Coaches develop their own tools, processes, tricks, and heuristics to deal with these situations. That’s what I call the art of coaching (even though I think it would be best reframed as the craft of coaching).
We’re in the people business
On GAINcast 121 this month, Professor Wade Gilbert started out the discussion by reflecting on many of world-class coaches he had recently visited. “No matter where I travel it always come back to the people. You are coaching people. The best coaches have good people skills and can make connections.”
The art of coaching is about more than communication. But communication is what it often comes down to. When you don’t have a playbook, you want a clear communicator leading the way. That point came up over and over again from different coaches throughout the month.
Resources on the art of coaching
Podcasts
- GAINcast 121: Professor Wade Gilbert on coaching better
- GAINcast 123: Toni Minichiello on helping Jessica Ennis to gold and improving coaching
- HMMR Podcast 157: Examples from our mentors on the art of coaching
- GAINcast 122: Competition management and helping athletes perform under pressure
Articles
- England Rugby and the art of coaching by Martin Bingisser
- Case studies in player-centered coaching by Nick Hill
- 4 simple strategies to enhance the athlete learning process by Brett Bartholomew
- Defining your coaching philosophy by Martin Bingisser
- Reflections on the art of coaching by Chris Gallagher
- The craft of coaching by Martin Bingisser
- Let the athlete choose by Craig Pickering
- Adding an element of theater to coaching by Craig Pickering
Videos
- Lessons from master coaches: Martin Bingisser explains three common themes among different world-class methods and shares examples of each.
- June 2018 Hangout: Beyond the Methods: Members get together to discuss success factors beyond training methods.
From the archives
- GAINcast 47 with Harry Marra on coaching Ashton Eaton and our written interview with him on the art of coaching
- “Is coaching an art of a science” by Craig Pickering
- GAINcast 11 on coaching art and science, as well as the article “Coaching art and science” by Vern Gambetta
- “Putting the art of coaching in practice” by Martin Bingisser
- GAINcast 35 with Paul Davis on the art and science of coaching baseball
- Coaching cues: finding the right cue, cue staleness, and an example from Harry Marra.