I have been having a lot of conversations lately about what it takes to be a great coach. On many occasions the question that has been raised is; can you be an athlete and a coach at the same time? I have to say that since my injury my opinion has really changed. I have now done both and although I feel you can be a good athlete-coach, you can never be great until you focus on one or the other. I know this may receive some criticism and I am not using anyone as an example but merely speaking from my own experiences.
You see being a great athlete you focus primarily on yourself and although you feel you are giving your best effort as a coach, you really are not. This is because that drive to be the best athlete will always out weigh that of being a coach. If you think that you’re going to put as much focus into your athlete’s success as you do yourself than you are just kidding yourself. It is human nature to want to be better first, before others. It is not a big deal as you can be very successful being an athlete-coach but if you want to have competitive athletes then a choice needs to be made. When you decide that you are going to be a coach 100% of the time that is when you will notice a significant shift in your athletes performances. You no longer are worrying about yourself so therefore all that effort you were putting into competing now gets focused on your athletes. Believe it or not, it is a ton more time and energy than you thought. This past 3 months all I have had time to do is focus on the betterment of every one of my athlete’s. I have seen significant improvement’s not only in performance but in athlete psyche. When I hurt myself it was the best thing that could have happened to me from a growth perspective. It allowed me to take that next step towards being a great coach. Yes, when I am healed up I will still enjoy the local throw down from time to time, but as far as competing on the big stage, heck I would rather coach the athletes to be successful for me.
Now, in all my years of coaching one of the things I picked up was that you can never stop learning. Once you feel that you know it all then you have failed as a coach. Although, I have learned a ton this year and have taken another step in my coaching career, one thing I want to do is continue to better my coaches. In my opinion one of the steps in becoming a great coach is to develop other great coaches. We have awesome coaches at Precision and this past Saturday we had an excellent example of the depth of the Precision coaching tree. At the “Weekend Warrior Rumble,”Jose took on the role full go as a coach of several Precision athletes. He was nothing short of astounding. I think Jenny sums it up best;
“Hi mike! I wanted to let you know what a great job Jose did coaching today! I wanted to make sure you give him props. I have had good and bad coaches-not every good athlete makes a good coach! I was once part of a running club, run by a world class/professional runner and he was a horrible coach. It’s an art and takes a lot of work to do a good job at. He wrote down every single athlete’s WOD time slot and was at EVERY WOD. He even wrote everybody’s split times for 400’s in “Helen”. He gave poignant critique and positive encouragement. In addition, he took lots of pictures and videos of everyone. His character and professionalism shined through today and I wanted to make sure you heard about it! Thanks, Jenny.”
To be the best at what you do means that you are making those around you better. In hearing how well Jose did this weekend tells me that I am doing just that. I am so very proud of him and all the coaches at Precision because I know how much they dedicate themselves to the betterment of everyone. Jose’s work this weekend is an excellent example of the kind of coaches Precision has to offer. I know it does not end with Jose as Hunter, Jess, Billy, Greg, Daniel, Butch and Katie are all excellent coaches in their own right. It is just really nice to know that my coaching has rubbed off on others and that the future is bright for all my coaches in their own right.
Fitness-Strength-Community
WARM UP:
500 M. Row
Then:
2 Rounds
5 Pass Throughs (Over)
5 Pass Throughs (Under)
10 OHS
10 Good Mornings
Then:
Shoulder Mobility
SKILL:
3 x 60 Sec. Weighted Planks
LIFT:
Snatch
5 @ 65%
3 x 5 @ 70%
*Squat on all reps.
WOD:
“BURN BOOK”
4 Min. AMRAP
6 Power Snatch (135/95) (95/65) (75/55) (65/45)
20 Double Unders
Rest 1 Min.
4 Min. AMRAP
6 Power Snatch
6 OHS
20 Double Unders
Rest 2 Min.
4 Min. AMRAP
6 Power Snatch
6 OHS
6 Dead Lift
20 Double Unders
*Sub. Back Squat for OHS accordingly.
POST WOD:
Shoulder Mobility
