Yesterday I posted some feedback regarding my amazing athletes that have chosen me for a coach. I talked about the juniors and today-
The adults
What they get right-
Adults understand life due to more experience and I find the guidance on different problems is not needed as much as it is for youngsters developing character and personality. That said, there are times, after I know the player, that the athlete needs a guidance session. Unlike the juniors the adults may stray from the court time and usually it is for good reasons. Family, life, work, school etc. are the things adults need help with to balance their time.
What they get wrong
Also unlike the juniors, adults tend to question the coaching more. What’s worse is there are many competitors out there in the coaching field and they are not telling my students how great I am. When you win you have a lot of friends and when you lose you have a ton of advice from everyone and it is difficult to filter out what is useful and what is not. What’s really worse is when someone misunderstands what I do or my goals for them do not align with theirs.
When someone chooses my coaching I take it as an honor. I am not a disengaged teacher. I am a coach. I want you to improve and win more yes, but I also want you to understand the game, and be able to use the entire court. To do that you need skills. To get the skills you need repetition of skills the correct way. This is where I sometimes lose players. When you improve after that hard work you believe in the process. When you believe in the process you improve.
As I told the kids yesterday-Go get’em tigers and don’t snack on the candy the kids brought home last night!!