This Is The Real Reason The Best Athletes Usually Make The Worst Coaches | Elite Daily

JACKSONVILLE - A companion to the prior article.

from elitedaily.com
https://www.elitedaily.com/sports/amazing-athletes-flop-coaches/1339816

This Is The Real Reason The Best Athletes Usually Make The Worst Coaches

Dan ScottiJan 8 2016

I've always thought I'd make a great coach.

To be completely honest with you, I was never a spectacular athlete growing up. I mean, I was pretty capable at most sports, but I never expected to earn a scholarship anywhere. I just loved sports and played as a result.

Still, regardless of which sport I was playing, I always found a way to make myself useful -- because of my sports IQ. You know, I'd do all of the little things that don't usually show up on the stat sheet to help my team win.

In short, I played with a very "coach-like" mentality. One that I chalked up to an exorbitant amount of time spent watching sports on TV and playing sports video games.

See, to be a coach, you don't necessarily need to be a great athlete. You need instincts -- and the type of charismatic personality that gets the guys around you fired up to play. Most importantly, you need to know how to win games -- not necessarily have the athletic ability to do it yourself.
Take Vince Lombardi, for example, the man who most consider the greatest football coach of all time. Despite winning five NFL Championships -- and the first two Super Bowls -- Lombardi never played football professionally.

Lombardi just understood the game and was great at translating his knowledge to his players. Although his own football skill set might have not been too profound, he was remarkable at elevating the skill sets of his players. And that's what matters as a coach.

Just because you're able to excel at a sport as a player doesn't mean you'll excel at teaching the sport to others. Sure, it probably doesn't hurt to have achieved some level of success as a player prior to coaching, but the two are far from being causally related.

In fact, according to Sian Beilock Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, the best players rarely make the best coaches:

As you get better and better at what you do, your ability to communicate your understanding or to help others learn that skill often gets worse and worse.

Sure, you might have a world class jump shot, but unless you're able to pass that skill on to the players around you, you'll never be a good coach.

As Beilock explains, many of the top athletes rarely are able to communicate how or why they're so talented.

These types of upper-echelon athletes might flourish with the ball in their hand -- with the game on the line -- but putting other players in the right spots to succeed is a different thing entirely.

I recently was thinking about the whole player-coaching thing earlier this week, with Real Madrid's announcement that Zizou Zidane would be the new boss of "Los Blancos."

Anyone who follows football (soccer), even slightly, should be familiar with Zidane -- one of the greatest footballers of all time. However, this new opportunity at Real Madrid presents a new test for the Frenchman, marking his first major coaching position.

Although he surely had one of the highest football IQs of any player to ever step on the pitch, it remains to be seen how well he'll fare from the sideline.

If he were to falter, he definitely wouldn't be the first superstar athlete to do so. I mean, take some of these amazing athletes whose coaching tenures weren't nearly as impressive as their playing careers:

Wayne Gretzky

If Gretzky was one fraction as good of a coach as he was a player, he'd probably still have a job behind some NHL team's bench today. In his time coaching the (then) Phoenix Coyotes, "The Great One" failed to elevate his team to the playoffs and produced only one winning record in four seasons.
After putting together a .473 percent winning percentage from 2006 to 2009, he resigned and pumped the brakes on his coaching aspirations. Although I have a feeling he'll return to the sidelines again at some point in the future.

Magic Johnson 

Yes, it was a very short-lived experiment, but Magic Johnson did, in fact, coach his beloved lakers for a brief stint in the 1993-1994 season (in between retirements). Coaching many of his former teammates, Johnson led the purple and gold to a dismal 5-11 record before surrendering his duties at the end of the season.
He then returned to actually playing the game -- as opposed to coaching it -- as a point forward of sorts in the 1995-96 season. Despite it being his worst statistical year as a player, it was still lightyears more successful than his job as a coach.

          Isiah Thomas

I'm a Knicks fan, so I could probably lecture you about Isiah Thomas' shortcomings as a coach until the cows come home. Aside from being a poor coach, Thomas might've been a worse GM -- acquiring Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury at the expense of the Knicks future.
While Thomas surely knew how to run an offense during his days with the Bad Boy Pistons, he couldn't make it happen at the Mecca of basketball, posting a career .456 winning percentage over five seasons with the Pacers and Knicks.

          Ted Williams

Ted Williams is probably the greatest pure hitter of all time, undisputed. However, when it came to Ted Williams the coach, he was far from great.
His career as a manager was pretty short -- lasting only five seasons between the Washington Senators and Texas Rangers -- and for good reason. After winning 86 games with the Senators in '69, his first season, the team got progressively worse over his tenure as manager.
He eventually left the Senators after the '71 season for the Texas job, where he managed to rack up a mere 54 wins. That's just not gonna cut it.
While I'm sure Zidane will kill it as the manager for Real, being great at a sport doesn't necessarily mean you know how to coach it.

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The Best Players Rarely Make the Best Coaches | Psychology Today

JACKSONVILLE - At the youth level, I can tell you that parents "believe" that the best players make the best coaches and throw a lot of money at what seems to be a low-ROI investment.

from psychologytoday.com
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/choke/201008/the-best-players-rarely-make-the-best-coaches

The Best Players Rarely Make the Best Coaches

Why those who do can't teach

Posted Aug 16, 2010

The 92nd P.G.A Championship ended yesterday with the usual fanfare and excitement that this last major of the year typically garners. But, what this tournament may be most remembered for was the younger generation of golfers - most who had not yet won a major - that sat atop the leaderboard throughout the final days at Whistling Straits.

Seasoned players like Padraig Harrington missed the cut and, although we saw some amazing shots, Tiger Woods was never really in contention. With younger players climbing the superstar ranks, you might wonder if it is time for some of the older generation to think about retirement. But, what does a golfer do after his career on the tour is over? There is of course a long list of options. You might be interested to know, however, that sport science research suggests that coaching should NOT be one of them - especially if a player wants to keep his game at a high level.

As it happens, the best players don't make the best coaches in sports. According to Canadian gold-medal hockey player Therese Brisson, "Recently retired hockey players who played at high levels rarely make the ideal coaches for youth hockey. They know what to do, but they can't communicate how they do it!" She says that given the choice between a skilled hockey player and an experienced physical education teacher to help at the youth hockey camps she now runs, she will always take the teacher. "Teaching skating skills is one of those problem areas," Brisson says. "How exactly do you skate faster?" Being able to communicate this type of information comes from coaching experience, not from playing experience.

This sentiment applies in golf too. Take a recent study conducted by psychologists Mike Anderson and Kristin Flegal.¹ The researchers asked expert golfers and beginners to take some short putts on a fairly flat, straight green. The golfers then spent several minutes describing the putts they had just taken or they worked on an unrelated task, instead. Afterwards, all the golfers were asked to perform the putts again. After spending time describing their past putts, the expert golfers needed twice as many attempts to sink their putts as experts who had not put their performances into words. Beginning golfers' performances were not affected by describing putts. These less skilled players even improved a little bit when asked to recount what they had just done.

As I have blogged about in the past, for well-learned activities like taking a free throw, hitting a simple putt, or playing a cadence that you have performed a thousand times in the past, thinking too much about the step-by-step processes of what you are doing can be detrimental. But, it's not just that trying to describe your performance can disrupt it. Skilled performers often have trouble putting their actions into words in the first place. That's why those who perform at the highest levels should think twice about teaching their skills to others. When a scratch golfer in my lab, for instance, was asked to describe a putt he just took, he replied, "I don't know, I don't think while I putt." When your performance flows largely outside of your conscious awareness, your memories of what you've done are just not that good. This makes it hard to teach what you know to someone else. Just think about the type of description you might get from Michael Jordan if he were asked how he dunks a basketball. He might invoke the Nike motto and say that he "just does it," not because he doesn't want to give away his flying secrets, but because he may not know what he does.

As you get better and better at what you do, your ability to communicate your understanding or to help others learn that skill often gets worse and worse. This communication can even screw you up. Just think about golfer Ralph Guldahl, who won the US Open in both 1937 and 1938 and then the Masters in 1939. He was, at the time, one of the best players in the world. Then he wrote, "Groove Your Golf" - a how to guide for the beginning player. Guldahl never won another championship again.
__

¹Flegal, K. E., & Anderson, M. C. (2008). Overthinking skilled motor performance: Or why those who teach can't do. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15, 927-932

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ABUSIVE SPORTS PARENTS: Plane Fly-Over Banner a New Low in Parental Behavior - Ask Coach Wolff

Look!! Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane!! No, it's just Johnny and Billy's parents doing stupid $pit again!!

Nothing should amaze us anymore, and yet it does. It seems like sports parents are having a competition to out-do each other in terms of stupid stunts or abhorrent behavior.

from askcoachwolff.com
http://www.askcoachwolff.com/2018/05/27/abusive-sports-parents-plane-fly-over-banner-a-new-low-in-parental-behavior/

ABUSIVE SPORTS PARENTS: Plane Fly-Over Banner a New Low in Parental Behavior

by Rick Wolff

May 27, 2018
Chances are that you heard about this absolutely bizarre incident that took place last week at a HS baseball playoff game. It was first reported on all sorts of twitter feeds, and a number of you made sure I was aware of it.

In short, at Briarcliff HS in Westchester County (NY), right before the start of a game between Briarcliff and Irvington HS, a small plane flew overhead for several minutes with a banner trailing behind it that read: "Fire Schrader and Kowalcyck"….

As you might have surmised, John Schrader is the head coach, and Walter Kowalcyck is the assistant coach at Briarcliff.

Now, this act of renting a plane to publicly and blatantly urge that HS coaches be fired is, if nothing else, deeply embarrassing to the people who live in that community. That is, instead of the focus being on how the team is having a great season, one parent has selfishly pushed all of that off to the side in order to make his or her point known.

And that, of course, is just not right. Especially if you don't have the COURAGE to step forward and identify yourself – and to explain WHY you felt compelled to do this.
The hard reality is that this is just another progressive step in the increasingly acrimonious friction between sports parents and coaches. And even worse, there's no sense that this kind of alienation is going to decrease.

In short, as we know,  from the parent's perspective, THESE DAYS…it's all about MY KID….not the team…MY KID comes first.

WHO IS THE REAL VICTIM?

That's the sad irony here. Certainly in the small town of Briarcliff, word will soon get out as to who did this. And while that parent will be vilified for sure, the real victim here is the son who's presumably on the team. Of course, it's possible that he's a senior and graduating soon, or perhaps he was cut from the team, or maybe transferred to a different school. We won't really know the underlying reason until the parent steps up.

But regardless, in the end, it's the boy who clearly had some sort of relationship to the team who will be ostracized. Of course, he may be totally innocent in what his parent did, but in the end, that probably won't make any difference.

According to various media reports, the LI-based aviation company which owns the plane, it was a woman – presumably a sports parent – who paid $1250 to have the banner flown over the HS field for 15 minutes.

What is even more amazing is that the aviation company said that they get requests like this routinely. (But if that is true, how come we haven't heard about other similar incidents?)

In any event, at the time of the fly-over, Briarcliff was actually having a terrific season at 19-3 and easily defeated Irvington HS on that day.

That being said, we all know that even when a team is having a highly successful year, there are still usually parents who are disgruntled…that is, they feel that their kid is not getting enough playing time, or is not playing the right position, or they feel the staff is only playing favorites, or whatever reason – and they point to the coaches as the reason why.

Now, the aftermath is that people in Briarcliff are saying that this embarrassing experience has actually brought the team and coaching staff closer together. I sure hope so.

In fact, in the next playoff game for Briarcliff, another plane flew overhead with another  banner – but this one was encouraging the team and the Briarcliff coaches. That banner was signed by the school superintendent who clearly supported the coaching staff.

This entire incident begs the question: what can HS coaches do to defend themselves against unruly parents?

COACHES WHO FILE LAWSUITS

Now, I ask that because  I read where a HS coach in upstate NY fought back against a bunch of parents who basically got him fired by writing nasty letters to the school board. And that coach went to court to fight back; he sued those parents for defamation, and won.

In short, a long-time coach named Mark Storm in a small public school district outside Rochester was let go after 30 years coaching basketball, baseball, and other sports. As mentioned, some parents had sent a letter to the local school board saying that the coach was a bully… that he broke promises to his players… and that he was verbally abusive and had a drinking problem.

Confronted with this parental list of complaints, the local school board decided to let the veteran coach go.

But for Coach Storm, this was the last straw. He was angry at all of these complaints, and especially the false accusation that he had an alcohol problem.

So Storm fought back. He filed a defamation lawsuit against those parents. And last month, he agreed to a $50,000 settlement –he had asked for $150,000. But certainly his point was made. The parents who wrote the nasty letter now have to pay him.

This is not the first time a coach used the legal system. Back In 2005, a HS baseball coach in California won $700,000 in a slander case when a parent accused the coach of ruining his kid's chances of becoming a college or pro player. (That kid, by the way, eventually tried out as a walk-on at the Univ. of San Diego and was cut.)

Now….I'm not necessarily advocating that coaches start to hire lawyers…..but I do think we're at a point where we can certainly understand why HS coaches feel that they have a right to defend themselves.

Sure, getting a lawyer takes time, effort and money to file a lawsuit, but I do sense this may be where we are headed. I sure hope not.

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Launch Angle vs. Exit Angle | Inside Pitch Magazine

The Precise Point Hitting Mat is a tool hitters can use to practice optimal exit angle based on pitch location.

I get that everyone is blinded by recency bias, I still trust Ted Williams and Mike Epstein for that matter, for being pioneers in the "launch angle" revolution. 

from insidepitchonline.com

https://insidepitchonline.com/exitangle/

Launch Angle vs. Exit Angle

by Rob Ledington, Head Baseball Coach, Lynn Camp (KY) HSOver the past few years, there's been a great deal of discussion regarding the value of launch angles and offensive production, particularly as it relates to home runs, extra base hits, and runs batted in. The increased attention most likely contributed to the single-season home run record set by Major League Baseball this past season. However, does this information alone suggest that every hitter should increase their launch angle? The obvious answer is no.

A physical player with power and below average speed would obviously benefit from hitting home runs or balls in the gap for increased offensive productivity. These types of players are those who can most benefit from working on developing a higher launch angle. On the other hand, a smaller player with little power and superior speed would benefit from a lower launch angle, with their goal focused on producing line drives and hard ground balls. Even a 'swinging bunt' from smaller 'speed' guys is much more beneficial than most anything hit in the air. A buy-in to this approach can greatly increase offensive productivity by providing more opportunities to get on base, utilize their speed and ultimately, score more runs, which is what the offensive game of baseball is all about.
Exit angles, however, have equal value for all hitters regardless of size, speed, and/or desired launch angle. All hitters strive to hit the ball "squarely" thus maximizing exit velocity, and in some instances carry (travel in the air), while guarding against weakly hit fly balls and ground balls. What are exit angles? How do you determine the proper exit angle for each pitch location?

Exit angles are defined as the direction the ball goes after it is put in play. More simply put, the optimal exit angle is dependent on the lead foot, the bat and the ball creating a 90-degree angle at the point of contact. When this occurs, exit velocity is maximized for the ground ball, the line drive, and the fly ball because this contact will not create sidespin. Additionally, a fly ball will travel farther in the air when combined with the proper launch angle and backspin rotation. A high launch angle with a tardy swing (less than square) will create a high fade (in golf terms), or sidespin much like a sinker (in pitching terms), producing less exit velocity and carry. Conversely, an early swing at a high launch angle will create hook spin (in golf terms), or cutter/slider spin (in baseball terms) producing less exit velocity and carry. Therefore, only the ball struck at the optimal launch angle combined with the optimal exit angle will produce maximum exit velocity and distance in the air. It should be noted that is it entirely possible to hit a ball hard without "square contact."

It is common knowledge that a four-seam fastball (with backspin) has more velocity and carry than a sinker, a cutter, or a slider. Similarly, a drive down the middle of the fairway with backspin will travel farther in the air than a fade or a hook. Thus, to maximize exit velocity and distance in the air, the launch angle and the exit angle must work together, with the exit angle having greater importance of the two. This is especially for the smaller player, unless they enjoy jogging to second base and back to the dugout!

Since the invention of the game, baseball coaches have taught their players to hit the pitch thrown down the middle of the plate back through the middle of the diamond. Ironically when this happens "square contact" occurs as it relates to the lead foot, the bat, and the ball at the point of contact. Once this central contact point has been established, it becomes possible to determine every other point of square contact, both on the inside and outside parts of the plate. For example, if the pitch is outside, coaches will say things like, "let it get deeper" or "let it travel." When the pitch is inside, you are likely to hear "hit that out in front of the plate" or "get your foot down and swing earlier." These statements are painfully obvious to everyone, but without an understanding of specifically what needs to happen to yield optimal results, making these adjustments can be a challenge.

The general rule when it comes to handling pitches closer to the edges of the plate is to allow the pitch one ball's width outside of center to travel precisely one ball's width deep of the center pitch location, or behind the lead foot. If the pitch is two balls outside, two balls deep or behind the lead foot, and finally three balls outside, three balls deep or behind the lead foot.

The same concept would apply to pitches inside of the center contact position. One ball's width in, one ball's depth in front of the lead foot, two balls in, two balls in front of the lead foot, and finally three balls in, three balls in front of the lead foot. If this occurs, the batter will create "square contact" for each pitch location, resulting in optimal or maximum contact for each pitch.

With this understanding of what 'square contact' means as it relates to pitch location, creating a feel for the best exit angle on a pitch-to-pitch basis becomes much easier. It is even possible to practice these angles: for example, if a pitch is one ball's width inside of center, the optimal exit angle is 10 degrees for a baseball and 13 degrees for a softball (angle variance attributed to the difference in diameter of the balls). Each pitch location inside and outside of center will have precise and varying exit angles that can provide players and coaches with the opportunity to set up precise targets to aim for off the tee, during soft toss, and even during live batting practice.

Providing visual targets can help your team buy in to the concept of becoming a more complete offensive player. It also gives them instant feedback, which is something that this current generation of players is finding more and more desirable.

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COACHING TIPS: If You Sign Up to Be a Volunteer Coach, Be Sure to Do Your Homework First! - Ask Coach Wolff

This is a great list for those just starting down the path. Read the article for more details.

I especially relate to "rules knowledge". I had a game recently with two highly competitive middle schools softball coaches. The batter hits the ball off the plate, it bounces straight up, the catcher shuffles out and grabs the ball over the plate in fair territory and throws the runner out at first. BOTH coaches yelled, "Blue, it hit the plate, It's a FOUL BALL!!", The coach whose team was on defense, who theoretically, was advantaged by the call, argued the longest and I think still didn't understand the rule after explanation. 

from coachaskcoachwolff.com
http://www.askcoachwolff.com/2018/04/29/coaching-tips-if-you-sign-up-to-be-a-volunteer-coach-be-sure-to-do-your-homework-first/

COACHING TIPS: 

If You Sign Up to Be a Volunteer Coach, Be Sure to Do Your Homework First!

by Rick Wolff 

April 29, 2018

I thought this would be a good day to review what all coaches – especially those parents who volunteer to coach – need to keep in mind when working with kids. 

Rule number one: Absolutely no sarcasm is allowed

Rule number two: If you don't know the rules of the sport you're coaching, learn them.

Rule number three: organize and run your practices so that there's no standing around.

Rule number four: every kid plays – and plays a lot in each game.

Rule number five: Watch your language – including your body language!

Rule number six: Be specific in your praise 

Rule number seven: It's still about having fun.

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WHY we coach | Coach Cano, ONEighty Athletics

Coach Slavik I just read this article from Jeff Janssen Sports Leadership Center on WHY we coach and had to share it with my fellow coaches. why we coach: I COACH YOU because I care about you. I CHALLENGE YOU because I believe in you. I EXPECT YOUR COMMITMENT because I know your family and job will. I HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE because life will hold you accountable. I PUSH YOU OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE because it's the only place where real growth occurs. I WANT YOU TO DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME because life doesn't always give second chances. I ASK YOU TO SACRIFICE FOR THE TEAM because true success means being a part of something far greater than yourself. I IMPLORE YOU TO GIVE YOUR BEST because I don't want you to look back on this season, your career, or life with regrets. I DEVELOP YOU TO LEAD because your company, community, and country will eventually need you to. I DISCIPLINE YOU because I want you to learn there's a right way and wrong way to do things and treat people. I CHALLENGE YOU TO COMPETE because you'll fight some battles in your life where losing is just not an option. I INSIST YOU PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL because you'll soon realize that the little things are the BIG things. I PUT YOU THROUGH ADVERSITY because you'll need the persistence to overcome far greater adversities in your life. I MAKE YOU EARN A SPOT because you'll take more pride in and ownership of the things you work hard for and earn. I INSIST YOU DO THE RIGHT THING because I want you to look in the mirror and be proud of who you are and what you stand for. I REQUIRE YOU TO REPRESENT YOURSELF WITH CLASS because you'll carry your reputation with you for the rest of your life. I FORCE YOU TO FACE YOUR FEARS because breaking through your fears gives you the confidence to take on any challenge life throws at you. I DO EVERYTHING I DO because I want you to become the absolute best version of yourself and develop into the responsible and respected adult your family, friends, coworkers, community, and the world all need you to be. THIS IS WHY I thought this was a perfect message to start off a great week! Coach Cano Win The Kids! The offseason is here! If you haven't joined the other 1000's of coaches in our Elite Sports Performance Program click the link below and check it out. https://oneightyathletics.com/elite1

Sent to: Theslav1959@yahoo.com

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The Best Post Game Speech of the Year

...and this after a season-ending 19-0 loss to Florida State. Amazing. This is what it's all about. 

Lance Miles on Matt Deggs

Heath Donica on Matt Deggs