Becoming a Better Coach

“Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
1 He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
2 He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
3 He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
4 He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5 He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Coaching crosses domains. Your parent is a coach. Your English teacher is a coach. Your boss is a coach. To become better, learn to coach ourselves. 

Melrose volleyball is fortunate literally to have a Hall of Fame Coach. Yet, even Hall of Famers work to improve. Former Celtic Paul Pierce would return to LA each summer and find a part of his game to improve. 

Coach John Wooden gave each player a new basketball at the end of the season. If it came back "lightly worn" at the beginning of next season, that was a bad sign. 

Everyone benefits from coaching. Surgeon Atul Gawande hired a coach to oversee his surgery. He expected the senior surgeon wouldn't find much, but he saw numerous details to improve. 

What 'universals' make better coaches? 

1. Attitude. How do we get more from our players? Do we lift them up or beat them down? Positive coaching yields more positive results. 

2. Player (staff) development. "Every day is player development day." Coach Don Meyer had a saying, "Would you rather have two better plays or two better players?" Some coaches are 'gatherers'; others are developers. Melrose's only recruiting pipeline is within the school system and Coach Celli through word of mouth and clinics finds ways to keep the talent coming. 

3. Cultivate allies. Mr. Rogers said, "Look for the helpers." Enthusiasm attracts supporters. So does winning. "Victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan."

4. Become a storyteller. Learn to inspire, to attract and retain talent, and keep people engaged. Beware hubris. 

Daedalus and Icarus

"The story of Icarus is one of the most famous tales from Greek myth. Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the craftsman who built the Labyrinth from the Minotaur story recounted above. Ever the inventor, Daedalus fashioned some wings out of feathers and wax, for him and his son to use to fly their way off the island of Crete.

However, Icarus got carried away and flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax in his wings. He fell to his death, drowning in the Aegean. Now, Icarus’ name is a byword for one of the Greeks’ most favorite themes: hubris, or overreaching oneself."

5. Use available technology (but don't become overdependent on it). Books, blogs, online and in-person clinics, YouTube videos, Artificial intellegence and other resources help us improve. But it all starts with our engagement, commitment, and editing of the acquired knowledge. 

6. Sometimes less is more. 

7. Look in the mirror. 

As a coach, after each 'evolution' ask ourselves:

• What went well?
• What went poorly?
• What can we do differently next time?
• What is the overarching lesson? 

8. Use the C's. 

Cherish your experience and teammates. Everyone cannot be a great player. Everyone can choose to be a great teammate. 

9. Get players to know, "Control what you can control." 

You worked in the offseason to improve and have a chance to contribute on the court. And you weren't picked to be in the starting lineup. Do you sulk, complain about the coaching, transfer to another school? Or do you work even harder? Assistant Coach Roy Williams asked Michael Jordan what he was willing to do at UNC. Jordan said that he would work as hard as anyone ever had at Carolina. Williams said, "you have to work harder than that."

10. Use emotion. "Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm."

Lagniappe. Got 15 minutes to invest in your training? 

Lagniappe 2. After writing the piece, I add the AI (ChatGPT) input: