Over the last few months I’ve been training pretty regularly, paddling three or four times a week on top of daily circuit and cardio training. My core training has been twice weekly coached sessions at Lee Valley. I’ve found it really useful to have the feedback and focus that comes from working with a coach. It lifts the quality of the session immensely, and there’s been some useful input that’s helping to bring my technique up to date. Most of the coached sessions have been with Shaun Pearce, a former GB paddler and 1991 world champion who has since coached the Canadian and GB teams.
There’s a nice symmetry to this, because I coached Shaun in 1992 – 1993 when I first came to Britain from Australia. I must admit I found it quite a challenge to coach the GB kayak squad back then, stepping into the role vacated by Hugh Mantle. I’d only been coaching for a couple of years, but it did include the full international season up to and including the Barcelona Olympics. I’d raced against Richard Fox, Melvyn Jones and Ian Raspin through the 80’s, and they were far better and more consistent than me. We all knew that there wasn’t much I could teach them technically. So I was forced to take a different approach to coaching, focusing on maintaining a high quality environment, enabling the paddlers to train well and making sure they had the information and resources they needed on race day. 1993 was a very successful year for the team. Richard won his 5th world title, Melvyn was 3rd and Shaun 4th. Together they dominated the teams event. So at the very least I did no harm!
Shaun, Melvyn and Richard 1993 World Champions, K1 teams
I often refer to this experience in my corporate work, when I’m training managers how to coach their people. Managers can find it hard to believe they can coach people who know more, or are more technically skilled, than they are themselves. This is a barrier only if you believe that coaching is just about telling someone what to do. It can be much more than this, like asking insightful questions that get people to think through their own solutions, giving feedback that helps people take accountability, and ensuring there is a constructive environment with the right resources available. Of course it’s important to have some technical knowledge and to understand the context. But it’s not necessary to be a better performer than the person you’re coaching – in fact this can even be a disadvantage if it gets in the way of really empathizing with the person being coached.
Being a truly world class slalom coach requires deep technical knowledge as well as a solid understanding of physiology, strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology and so on. But sport coaches are increasingly supported by experts from each of these fields, so that the coach is more of a co-ordinator and focal point than the sole source of knowledge. My own view is that a good coach is primarily motivated by seeing someone else improve, they are creative and passionate about making this happen, and they build a trusting relationship. Without these attitudes, all the technical knowledge in the world is of limited value.
I’m interested to hear other thoughts about coaching – either as a coach or being on the receiving end. What’s been most useful for you? What hasn’t helped?
Comments here please or on the Facebook page
See you on the water!
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
As a former high performance national coach for British gymnastics I came across a diverse range of characters and attitudes. No matter how technical your knowledge and ability to deliver the knowledge, it’s fundamental to be able to understand each individual athletes coaching needs and adapt your techniques accordingly. It is an art in itself to be able to switch methods from one athlete to the next but is important to maximise learning potential. As a coach I always try to consider the thoughts and emotions of my athletes. How one may be slightly “higher maintenance” than the other, requiring that little bit more regular reassurance and positive feedback than the hardy work horse. Through the pressures of developing elite athletes to the even harder battle of maintaining that level, a coach should always consider that well-being is the core of optimum performance.
Thanks Wendy, good point about understanding how athletes vary and have different needs.
Hi Jon,
My son is one of the young lads lucky enough to benefit from the fantastic slalom facilities and coaching at Lee Valley. Through the Legacy Project Team we were sent a copy of your thought-provoking article ‘What does a coach do?’
I am not a sports coach, and certainly no canoeist, although I have been involved in coaching programmes. My primary involvement in coaching has been in the workplace as the company I work for places great store on coaching as a part of our everyday activity. We use coaching to develop ourselves as individuals, our teams, and our clients on either an individual or team basis. Our starting point is that coaching is a route to enhanced performance.
So, on this basis, I think a simple answer to the question ‘what does a coach do?’ is that a coach facilitates performance improvement in others. There are other elements around the nature of the relationship and rules of engagement, but the critical element of the role is being an enabler. This begs questions as to what being an enabler means from a coaching perspective, and what are the differences between say, a coach and teacher or a trainer or a mentor.
I liked your story about your coaching role in 1992 to 1993. For me it summed-up what coaching should be, and is often thought not to be. From the training in coaching that I have provided, most people think of coaches in the sporting context and rarely in business or other aspects of life. Often, they highlight managerial qualities, or technical expertise when they think of coaches to be admired. It is only after pondering the role further that the realisation takes place that a coach isn’t necessarily a managerial role, that the role of coach isn’t relevant solely in the sporting context and that a good sports coach isn’t necessarily the best exponent of their sport. It is the latter aspect of coaching that initially evokes the most furrowed brows, but later the greatest revelation as to what a coach does. This is because it is not about handing-on the acquired technical competence of the coach to a coachee. It is about enabling the coachee to improve their performance by realising their latent potential, developing their right environment to thrive, developing their analytical tools for self-improvement, and helping them establish the improvement plans and targets for enhanced performance.
To be able to do this, a coach does need to have credentials and be respected by those being coached, but the respect does not have to derive from the coach having been a top performer in the field within which they coach.
Jon, thank you for allowing me to record a few thoughts on this subject, and thank you for being a role model to the young paddlers on the Legacy Project. We enjoy and benefit especially from watching the lines you take and your reading of the water.