A Challenge To Coaches

Some thoughts and ideas to provoke positive and imaginative coaching and validating much of what you are familiar with.

1. YOUR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

A lot depends on the level of team you are coaching. Easiest at All Blacks level (the expectations are higher) as you can pick from the whole player pool to suit your required style of play. Hardest is at club or school level where the limited numbers and talent available means you have to adapt your game plans/patterns of play, etc to suit.

Selector 25%
• Eye for 'talent' — use assistants?
Coach 35%

• Be humble. Get assistance for key or specific areas — no one knows it all.

Man Management 20%

• To get the best from your players, know them — what makes them 'tick' and how to get through to them.
Motivator 20%

• Are you a 'carrot' or 'stick' coach. One aspect of coaching that can be beneficial is to bring somebody in from time to time.

Your Style

• Earn respect — hard to earn — easy to be lose.
• Are you a 'shouter/yeller'?

• Do you use fear as a motivational tool?

• Be wary of playing 'mind games' with players.

• Be consistent and honest.

• Be an innovative/imaginative problem solver.

• Encourage input from team (competitions, suggestion box, etc).

• Never discuss players negatively, in bars or outside the team.

• Always tell players who are not playing before they read about it.

• Try to be as consensual as possible but the 'buck has to stop with you'.

• You have control over most that happens in the team if something goes wrong — look at yourself first.
Responsibilities

• To facilitate the players and management in reaching their potential.

• To produce the performance and results expected or agreed to.

• To be 'head' of the family.

• To be the catalyst for all the group enjoying the experience.

• To encourage the protocols around which the whole organisation functions ('the rules').

2. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Assistant Coach

• A compatible person with complementary positional skills.

Manager

• Can take so much 'pressure' off to enable you to 'coach'.
Fitness / Strength / Skills Trainer

• Ensure that with your input, the 'trainer' is implementing drills etc that are game-specific, and that they have your agreement. Many coaches in the recent past have abdicated their role with this. Consequently many of the 'drills for skills' are not rugby-specific.

• Use of judo-karate etc to improve techniques.
Medical

• Accesses to doctor, physio, rubbers, and other holistic methods, e.g. look at meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga etc as possibilities.

Public Relations (PR)

• Who talks to media, etc.

• When and at what level of information.

• Avoid mixed messages.

3. PLANNING THE SESSION:
Goals for Season

• Must be realistic but challenging to all.
Conditioning

• Ensure the basic aerobic work is carried out before the concentrated anaerobic and hardening processes are actioned.

Pre-season Trials and Games

• Playing trial and pre-season games is the best method of achieving match fitness and observing players.

The Competition

• Probably out of your hands, but plan for breaks, increased efforts, key games etc.

The Pitfalls

• Have a mentor to turn to if insoluble problems occur or just to talk and assess where you are at, especially if times get tough.

• Learn to read the signs of tiredness, boredom, over-training, cliques or negativity developing — nip it in the bud early.

4. PATTERNS OF PLAY - STYLE OF PLAY - GAME PLANS:

Patterns and style of play is really dependent on the ability levels of the players available to you. You will have to cut your cloth to the situation, but always be working to improving the weaker areas (longer-term improvements).

Game plans are the options that are created and trained. The skill is getting the 'shot callers' to use the appropriate options at the appropriate time in a game.

The game plan must be flexible, and the confidence given to the shot callers to call the best option, e.g. weather changes prior or during games, opposition actions, strengths or weaknesses that were not expected — train for these situations so that the appropriate 'options' can be called.

There are many ways of playing winning rugby — the art is getting all your team knowing and producing the agreed action at the appropriate time.

The advent of coaches being linked to the players through radio etc has enabled a lot of 'cop-out' by players, expecting someone else to do their thinking.

Player buy-in seems to be the modern (and mostly successful) way. It is essential for harmony and consensus, and taps into a bigger pool of knowledge, creating a positive feeling that, because "we had input" we need to make it work. Manage the process judiciously. Remember you are the Chairman of the Board and players do look for direction (not dictatorship).

Player empowerment is the modern way, and it has great potential to delve into a wider pool of knowledge, to create consensus and therefore less need for 'dictatorial' decision-making. Players feel part of something they have bought into. Handle it skillfully and 'manipulate' to get the best result for the team. Remember, you are the coach – the ultimate responsibility lies with you.