Recently I did my semi-annual call to my fountain of information and mentor, Dave. . I never tire of talking to him about coaching football, racquetball, baseball, basketball and all sports. As a former number one Pro champion and top of the mountain guy, he has a wealth of information and I am lucky I get to learn. . We discussed our experiences with other coaches in sports.
Dave used this phrase over and over, “I coach differently than these other guys.”
So I asked this question and got an affirmative.
“By different, you mean you teach the basics and continue to dwell on those fundamentals while everyone else is teaching “what” to do rather than “how” to do it.
“Bingo, Jim, That’s exactly right!” Is the excited response I got.
Interesting how his teams fared better than the opposing coaches.
I got that in football, tennis, and now in racquetball. I coached tennis in the NorthEast. The kids thought practice would be cancelled because of rain or snow. Nope–wall hitting in the gym and serve hitting outside. Shovel the snow off the courts and get serving for 30 minutes until the tennis balls got too wet and heavy. We beat teams we had never beaten before I showed up.
Never squander practice time!
These principles apply to all sports. Beware of the “what” coaches. Embrace the “how” not the what!
How do I hit that serve, forehand, backhand, ceiling ball, etc. Execute correctly and you have a long shelf life as a player.
Execute Incorrectly and you are a future orthopedic surgeon’s dream!