I hate it when another coach jumps in and spoils what I am trying to do. I am fussy about what I do and how I do it. Mixed messages to athletes mess up the end result.
Here is an example:
Athlete has an issue hitting “floaters” cross court. Opponents get fooled, are out of position, recover and get the cross court pass. My solution is to change how my athlete is hitting the ball. So I have my athlete working away and fixing this problem.
Enter Coach B, a well-meaning knowledgable player. Coach B begins telling my athlete the ball has to bounce twice before the service line. This advice is fine but it misses the point. The way my athlete is hitting the ball that objective will be almost impossible to execute. If my athlete does execute it, the ball will be hit at a pace that might allow an opponent to get to the shot.
When I point that out to Coach B, the response, is “not everybody can hit the ball like that.”
My response, “Who made that rule? So just give up, and let the athlete hit the ball wrong and increase chances of injury, not to mention poor execution? Anybody without injury limitations of course, can hit the ball the way I teach. It takes practice.”
So the following discourse occurs.
Well-meaning Coach: “Hit it there!”
Coach’s athlete: “How do I hit it there?”
WMC: “Just hit it there!”
That never worked for me. There is a reason my athletes succeed at all levels. At the top, they continue to improve. Why? They are practicing how to hit the shots, so what shots to hit are easier to execute. Attempting that the other way around, does not work.