Is it Appropriate to Give Advice to a Pro?

 

I got this message the other day from an old acquaintance and opponent back in the day.
“Coach, I saw this pro play and watched this athlete make what I thought were two crucial mistakes at the end of their match. I don’t know this athlete but the next day I introduced myself and told them what I saw. They thanked me. Now here is my question. Should I have just kept my thoughts to myself? I hope I was not too forward. What do you think?”
signed, 40 year racquetball warrior.
Dear 40,
I think that is perfectly appropriate. I think it is nice of you to offer your thoughts. When I competed I had a “filter”. I filtered every piece of advice I got. Much of it was valuable no matter how painful it was to receive that information.
I will never forget a guy who had never played racquetball in his life who approached me after one of my practice matches.
“I can help your game”, he says.
I was really skeptical he could help my game but I played! “How?”
He says, “Hit a drive serve.”
I did.
He says, “What number would you rank that 1 being worst and 10 being best?”
I responded, “7!”
He says, “Can you give me an “8”?
Then he says, “How many times do you bounce the ball before you serve?”
I say, “I don’t know.”
He says, “Pick a number and make that part of your serve ritual.”
Whoa-this guy was a club weight lifter, lift two minutes, talk 5 minutes, with the big baggy disco pants so popular in the 90s but gave me two valuable pieces of information.
Back to advice offers. Feel free to give and if the player is smart they will listen!
Onward and upward,
Coach W
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