Great Coaches Are Great Demonstrators
The post by Allistair McCaw
Great coaches are great demonstrators. How much time are you putting into this area?
One of the most powerful training tools in teaching an athlete a new drill or skill, is to execute and demonstrate it well. In fact, the best way a person learns a new skill or movement is visually and kinesthetically.
That’s one of the reasons why I feel it’s important that every coach should work on his or her ability to practice and better their ability to demonstrate the exercises and drills they teach.
Personally, I put aside and spend about an hour a week going through the main drills and exercises I use with my athletes. Especially when something is new.
At first, it might not look pretty, but the more I practice it, the better it gets, and the better my teaching skills become.
We all have seen a coach demonstrate an exercise or drill poorly, and it doesn’t look good, or is it accepted well by the athlete/s. Right?
My ability to demonstrate better, not only gives me the respect of the athlete but more importantly allows them to first see it in reality, mimic it and put it into practice.
Great coaches are great demonstrators. How much time are you putting into this area of your coaching?
100% agree. Most coaches talk far too much. Some (but not all)coach education systems place a lot of emphasis on demos as a specific assessed competency for coaches. That’s certainly the case in the UK, and I believe that the KNLTB in the Netherlands requires coaches to be able to demo their teaching point in no more than 3 minutes.