Professional Coaches - How important are they?
Coaching, a day-to-day activity that aims to improve performance, a method that’s focused on continuous learning towards a set goal. There is a big difference between teaching someone & helping someone to learn. There are many models of coaching, here we are looking at how a coach a facilitator of learning, learns.
How does a coach learn?
When someone in a normal occupation wants to learn, they probably take a course or read a book. But when it comes to sports, a question that fascinates the most is the question that how does a coach who imparts knowledge, learn?
When the sports sector over the years evolved into an organized activity, coach and coaching became an integral part of player development. Sports participation involves a certain amount of risk, and coaches need to have some level of responsibility on all aspects of player development and performance.
Coaches, the primary individuals accountable for helping athletes to achieve their targets. For a coach to succeed at every level of competition, they need to know more than 0’s and 1’s. A professionally qualified coach will acquire sports knowledge on aspects like performance enhancement, sports administration, sports medicine, sports psychology, strength and conditioning, and injury management.
A coach learns and develops faster than an athlete. The internet has ensured that everyone knows everything, anyone can access anything, anywhere at any time at free of cost. People can learn things every day. But what they fail to learn is how to implement the things they have learned. A coach who has played the sport at the highest level understands the difficulty of competition, has the creative skill to invent unique ways of training methodologies, and inspires athletes to realize their true potential. A good coach goes with the ideology of practice makes perfect, but a great coach knows that performance practice achieves goals.
In this ever-evolving coaching space finding a true coach is a challenging task. Coaching is just not a part-time job that one can do when they have time, it takes passion, commitment, and responsibility to lead someone into the glorious path.
As Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
Hats off to every coach out there, giving their best every day trying to get the best out of their athletes, and sharing their knowledge with the world, making the world of sports a better place.