Most of you know how passionate I am about coaching. I love trying to help people achieve what they previously thought impossible. I love seeing the faces of athletes who run a full 400m without jogging or walking for the first time. I LOVE hearing how people who are a bit older, have the medical numbers of a 21 year-old with decreased blood pressure, improved resting heart rate and an increased lung capacity in just one year’s time! (cough*Wes*cough)
While I love those things, I also work everyday to try and become a better coach, myself. This blog post, from CrossFit Games athlete Lauren Plumey of Coastline CrossFit, touches on what I agree are some of the most important qualities of a good coach! Hopefully I can show at least some of them when leading a class of athletes. I agree with what she wrote so much!
I hope you enjoy this post!
A Good Coach…
~by Lauren Plumey
What do you see in the picture above? I see a coach. A good coach; and probably a good friend; post-CrossFit workout.
There is a reason that most CrossFit gyms chose the term “Coach” rather than “Trainer” to entitle their instructors. A coach is so much more than a trainer. And a good coach is a whole other story.
A good coach doesn’t lie to you and tell you that you’re doing great when you’re not. A good coach tells you what you’re doing right, and commends you for it, but then tells you what you need to “work on.”
A good coach does not sacrifice your safety for your ego. He/she will pull you out of the “game” when you are hurt, even if it causes his/her team to “lose”.
A good coach realizes that there are some things that just won’t be fixed overnight. And he/she is patient as you work towards fixing these faults.
A good coach thinks about you long after you leave the gym. He/she thinks about what you’ve done well, how you have made him/her proud, and how you can continue to get better. Sometimes this coach even “drops you a line” to let you know these thoughts.
A good coach can recognize a bad day. A day when you just “don’t have it.” And tells you to take a rest day. It’s not the end of the world…you’ll be back taking names in no time.
A good coach feels your victories and feels your defeats. Ask any coach, in any sport~I guarantee that they’ll confirm this. I’d go as far as saying a good coach would rather lose herself than see you lose.
A good coach is one you fear…not in the sense that you think they’ll hurt you, or penalize you with more burpees; but because you do not want to disappoint him/her.
A good coach will sacrifice his/her training, to make you achieve a desired end.
A good coach will tell you there’s hope–and actually make you believe there is–even when he/she can’t quite find it herself yet.
As an individual who didn’t engage in a sport until my mid-twenties, I never got to meet many great coaches, or even understand the importance of one. I firmly believe that in the short time I’ve CrossFitted I have witnessed some of the best coaching in existence. Some of this has been of those who directly coached me, or in simply witnessing other athletes be coach in their “boxes” and at competitions.
Thank you Jason Leydon, David Plumey, and Ben Kelly for your superb coaching throughout the years; and for providing me with the skill set to coach others that I care about. And thank you to our great coaching staff at Shoreline CrossFit. You all possess the aforementioned qualities, and many more.
Take the time to thank your coaches when you get a chance–it may even be you basketball coach from high school–shoot him an email. I bet he’ll appreciate it…
Smashby's Training Blog 