It’s always very rewarding when someone writes in to respond to something “encouraging” that I’ve posted. A coaching friend wrote in yesterday to tell me about his experience with trying to “grab the gold ring too fast!”
He shared: “I have enjoyed all of your posts but this one in particular hit home with me. When I first started coaching I thought the key to success was to simply out-work my opponent; to put more hours in would automatically lead to success. What followed was my only losing season of 3-6. And everything else in my life suffered as well: my teaching, my relationships, etc. I learned a valuable lesson that year. I still work hard but I have also learned to work smarter.
The same philosophy I have used in the weight room. When I first started, we would have 2 hour weight lifting sessions. But, I have learned that all they did was burn out kids and coaches and our attendance suffered. Now I have our sessions done in under an hour and we are stronger and better.”
He later added when I wrote back to thank him for sharing that “Another thing I have learned over the years is that I can’t do everything. When I first started I felt I needed to make every decision in the entire program. I thought I had to coach every position and every team in my program. I have learned over time to let my assistant coaches coach. All I was doing was burning myself out and I was not allowing my assistants to grow. And then one day, I had an epiphany— not like a hit with a lightning bolt epiphany— but more of a self-reflection epiphany. I decided to change my approach. Now, I have 3 former assistants who are head coaches and my life is much happier and fuller.”
Outstanding! Head coaches: you need to be paying attention to what Coach Holman just shared and…. putting it into practice! Don’t just think about it— DO it!
