A great coach is hard to find and impossible to forget

If there was an attention deficit disorder in sports, I think I could serve as a prime example. Growing up, nobody in my family understood or encouraged sports, and in actuality, my parents put an effort to limit any kind of physical activity over mental pursuits. But because my heart was always in for the physical challenges and not the mental ones, from the moment I broke loose from home at the age of 19, I have been jumping around the elite sports arena for more than two decades.

Spanning different sports in different countries and going through a variety of clubs and coaching systems, I have learned that evidently, there is no right or wrong method when it comes to ways of improving human performance in any sport. A lot comes into the athlete's physicality and mentality as a whole, and some scientific knowledge plays a role but the majority of success boils down to the coach's quality and skillset that can bring it all together. Generally speaking, it's easy to find one or two key qualities in a coach that make them fairly good, but in reality, it's hard to find all of them in one individual that make them truly exceptional.

A good coach is positive, enthusiastic, supportive, trusting, focused, goal-oriented, knowledgeable, observant, respectful, patient and a clear communicator. An exceptional coach is all that but also possesses the very unique ability of developing a great feel for the athlete, which is the ultimate piece for elevating performance.

TOP QUALITIES OF EXCEPTIONAL COACHES

1. Deep knowledge of the sport

A coach is primarily a teacher, and deep knowledge of the subject matter is important. That is, deep knowledge that extends from fundamental skills to training methods, advanced tactics and racing strategy. Good coaches understand the progressive nature and the adaptation process of the sport. They can thoughtfully plan the season and provide a safe and structured environment for all athletes to progress. As a coach, having experience in the sport is one way to gain insights and knowledge but not the only one. It is possible that a great coach can be a good athlete or could have been a good athlete in the past but not all good athletes make great coaches.

2.  Unlimited desire for learning and educating others

The sport is driven by experience, observations, intelligent thinking and science, all of which, continually  evolve. A coach must be passionate about learning new approaches and critically accepting, rejecting or adapting them to fit their style. Some examples include attending clinics and camps, exchanging ideas with peers or athletes and discussing technical, physiological or psychological matters of athletic performance. The best coaches value opportunities to learn new concepts and try new methods in quest for advancing performance. And because coaches are fundamentally educators, they truly enjoy teaching others, sharing ideas or debating opinions for the purpose of advancing themselves, the athletes and the sport in totality. In other words, a great coach is a sponge for knowledge, has the confidence to discuss and exchange ideas, is a profound thinker and a true visionary.

3. High energy, passion and motivation

Coaches are coaching primarily because they love what they do. Great coaches are supercharged with energy for the sport and for the athletes. They are not there to just deliver a workout and go home. They show up at sessions to motivate and inspire the athletes, to mentor and guide, and to help them go through the most tough training days. Motivation comes by keeping the training fun, exciting, challenging and focusing on the bigger picture of personal progress and performance rather than the outcome or the day-to-day fluctuations.

4. Good listener and effective communicator

Being productive as a coach requires precise planning and goals and clear communicational skills - from planning the season to delivering workouts, giving constructive feedback and acknowledging success - all of which, transmit safety, credibility, competence, respect and authority. Following that, to be an effective communicator, a coach must be a great listener, compassionate and welcoming to all comments, questions and concerns of the athlete. The effective coach actively seeks out information from athletes, and creates an environment, where athletes are encouraged to present ideas and thoughts to the coach. These are essential elements for an athlete to rely on and safely progress in a structured and fair environment, where they feel valuable and respected. 

5. Ability to develop an excellent feel for the athlete

Perhaps the most crucial part of the equation here is the coach-athlete relationship. A coach must understand the athlete well, pay attention to their emotions, strengths and weaknesses, and find a way to work with those to elevate overall performance. Very few coaches possess that quality. Developing a great feel for the athlete requires high emotional intelligence and a strong rapport based on honesty, clear and simple communication, mutual respect and attention to details. Every athlete is unique in their abilities and personality traits - an exceptional coach is able to decompose those successfully and build them back up again in a more concrete way, which ultimately translates to a better athlete and higher-level performance.

As always, everything in this blog is part of my personal opinion and up for debate. But if you ever encounter or have a chance to work with an exceptional coach who owns all or most of the qualities above, you are on a lucky star. Hold on tight and enjoy your journey, which is about to become immensely exciting and profoundly rewarding. Because an exceptional coach will not just improve your sports performance, they will mold you into a higher-quality human being.