A Time For Everything

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and  a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace."

-Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

I was thinking about this the other day as it relates to coaching. Coaching is an art- it requires you to know both your subject matter, as well as your athletes. Just as the author of Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for everything, and coaching is no exception.

Knowing when to challenge and correct an athlete, and when to simply encourage is crucial to your athlete's success, and therefore your success as a coach. This requires you to know not only your athletes skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, elite), but also their personality. What I have come to discover is that the more advanced an athlete is, the more they need you to be very blunt and honest with them in regards to technique and intensity. If they are not giving their all out effort, or if their form is off at all, they need you to call them on it. They can never get to the next step in their progress if you don't. You can be a little more lenient with beginners though. In fact, their long term success may depend on it. I say this because when an athlete is starting out, building their confidence is often what is most important. Do they need to be pushed? Absolutely. Do they need to be told when their technique is wrong? Without a doubt! But if all I ever do is tell a newb all the stuff they are doing wrong, they can become quickly frustrated. If, however, I encourage them and exhort them that they are doing well, even if a few things are off, they will continue to progress under my guidance.

Knowing how to handle certain athletes is also dependent upon their personality types. Some folks, like myself, respond well to being challenged and called out. If someone were to tell me I was slacking, or yelled at me to keep going even when I was tired, it would push me to places I would never take myself on my own. A good coach knows that athletes like this need to be constantly challenged to push themselves. Some people cannot handle this type of coaching though, and clam up when yelled at or pushed past their comfort zones. A good coach knows that this athlete needs to be challenged, but in a different and more gentle way.

There is a time to push, and a time to be easy;
a time to instruct, and a time to encourage.

An example of elite athletes being pushed, probably further than they thought was humanly possible.

Push, encourage, instruct, yell, laugh, exhort, and most of all, go under the bar