|THE ART OF COACHING| COACHINGEDGE


7


PLANNING FOR SUCCESS G


reat coaching doesn’t happen by ‘magic’ and ‘blagging’ it can only get you so far –


as the experienced coaches in this issue’s video will testify.


It’s an old adage that failing to plan means you are planning to fail, but there’s plenty of good advice out there to prevent this and our four featured coaching experts share some great advice.


Basketball coach C J Lee speaks for many when he admits that, perhaps in his early days of coaching, he wasn’t sure exactly how he should approach sessions: ‘I never saw my coaching role models with a piece of paper in their hand... I think I just thought it happened by


magic, so when I became a coach it never really occurred to me to plan.’


Lee admits in the early days he was quite good at ‘blagging’ through, but soon came up against other coaches ‘who seemed to be amazing’.


‘Their sessions ran smoothly, and I wanted to be like that,’ he admits. ‘I began to realise these guys weren’t just accidentally brilliant, they spent time planning sessions, they knew what their learning outcomes would be.’


Lee, together with PE teacher Alison Tootill, FA national development coach Pete Sturgess and Alan Williams, of the Plas Menai Water Sports Centre,


discuss the massive benefits to be gained by simple planning. As Williams stresses: ‘Youngsters like to be well organised, they don’t like chaos, they like to know what they’re doing and what they’re doing next.’


Tootill talks about how good communication is paramount and how youngsters should know the outcomes you want to achieve before sessions, while Sturgess gives practical tips on using your coaching environment to your advantage.


These coaches have learned through experience, trial, and sometimes error, and part of your preparation could well be to gain from their experience.


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