THE CREATIVE ATHLETE

Issue 23 -- The Coach: What to Expect

It should be fairly obvious to most people that all coaches do not coach alike and that what works for one athlete might not work for another. But it might be helpful at this time to discuss some of the pros and cons of different coaching styles.

1. Substitute parent.

Many coaches of younger athletes find themselves playing this role whether they like it or not. Sometimes an athlete doesn't have enough guidance at home and needs a father or mother figure to fill in the gaps. At other times it can be simply a matter of age differences--an older coach and a younger athlete falling into parent/child roles. Examples:

• NBA player and former University of Michigan star Jalen Rose attributed much of his success to his high school coach, Perry Watson. "He was more than just a basketball coach. He was my counselor. Any time I'd want to talk, just gain knowledge, I'd take my lunch down to his office and talk, and find out about guys that made it, and guys that didn't, and what I could do to make it." (1) Since Rose's father was gone and his mother worked long hours to support the family, Watson played an important role in his life.
  
  
• Rowdy Gaines won three swimming gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and gave one of them to his coach, Richard Quick. "I've always considered Richard more than just my swim coach. I've had lots of swim coaches. I've always considered him more of a father figure. He was always there for me. Through the tough times, especially." (2)
  
  
• Another one of Quick's students, Summer Sanders (who won four medals--two gold, one silver, and one bronze--at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics), had this to say: "I think when you get to the level I got you do have a close relationship with your coach because you rely so much more on him and you respect him so much more. You really ask for his advice all the time on certain things. I actually considered (California Capital Aquatics coach) Mike Hastings, my coach from home, a third dad. There was my real dad, my stepdad and Mike. I think the key is to always look at the coach as a father figure. I couldn't see anybody on the team looking at Richard as anything other than a father figure--either that or a drill sergeant." (3)
  
  
• Mary Scotvold, skating coach to Olympic medalists Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie, said that although you send athletes home at the end of the day, coaching is really a 24-hour-a-day job because you spend your time away from away from them thinking about ways to help them improve. (4)
  
  
• According to Georgetown University basketball coach John Thompson, "As a coach, you get involved in the background and the personal lives of your players and you have to be able to deal with more than just what is going on on the court. You have to deal with it. We as coaches are just more aware of what's going on." (5)

Coach/athlete relationships like this can be very nurturing and supportive. They usually work as long as the athlete is young and his or her real parents either approve or don't care.

But they don't work when a) the coach and the parents find themselves battling for control of the athlete or b) the athlete is too old or independent to be parented any longer.

2. Manager.

The manager coach is as involved in the athlete's life as the substitute parent coach is, but the relationship is more businesslike. Just like the substitute parent coach, the manager coach may closely monitor athletes on and off the field, and oversee virtually every detail of their lives. But there is an important difference in the relationship: the manager coach expects respect (based on his or her professional wisdom and experience) rather than love. Examples:

• Mamie Rallins, a four-time world record holder in the hurdles and a member of the 1968 and 1972 U.S. Olympic teams, described her job as track coach at Ohio State University (she is now at Hampton University): "When I coach and recruit for this university, I always try to tell my athletes that I will coach you as if you were coming to a finishing school. When I get through with you, you will know how to dress, eat, do anything else in the world that you want to do." (6)
  
  
• Terry Shea, football coach at Rutgers University, described his coaching style: "I'm probably meticulously involved when it comes to putting my print on just about any decision that represents our football program from an image standpoint and from a logistics standpoint, from travel to the training table." (7)

This coach/athlete relationship works well when the athlete is emotionally stable, but competitively and professionally inexperienced and knows it. The coach is in command and the athlete accepts this because he or she is eager to learn.

It doesn't work as well for an experienced athlete unless he or she hits a slump and wants to be completely remade.

3. Director.

This coach is less involved in an athlete's private life. He or she wants to be listened to when it comes to training and competition, but doesn't want to be bothered after hours. It is a working relationship rather than a personal one. Most likely the coach is older, is secure in his or her job, and is well-established in the community. The coach has a life outside of sports and doesn't need or want the companionship of his or her athletes. Examples:

• Runner Michael Johnson, winner of two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, has been with his coach, Clyde Hart, since his days as an undergraduate at Baylor University: "Some people try to find a mentor who will provide everything for them: counseling, companionship, guidance, and discipline. That is too taxing a demand for you and for your mentor. A good mentor--like Coach Hart--offers directions and driving tips from the back seat. You still have to drive the car." (8)
  
  
• Mike Kennan, former coach of the NHL New York Rangers (the team won the Stanley Cup under his direction) and now with the Vancouver Canucks, talked about his coaching style: "I never had the desire to be liked by everybody. My responsibility is to determine the best abilities a player has and can give me. To do that, it's not necessary to be liked. It's necessary to be respected. Making the choice was not hard for me.

"... Out of a sense of protection, I made myself hard. I knew I was in a hard business." After his marriage ended in divorce, he realized he needed a life apart from hockey. "I didn't put the time or energy into my personal life that I put into my professional life. I want more balance. It's absolutely paramount for my health." (9)

• Gabriela Sabatini, who retired from tennis in 1996 after 13 years as a pro (most of it ranked in the top 10), explained why she chose to work with coach Dennis Ralston in 1993: "I'm ready for the relationship with my coach to be more of a business relationship and less of a friendship." (10)
  
  
• Pro cyclist and physical education teacher Kelly Cowan has never met her coach, Kathy Zawadzki, an exercise physiologist. Cowen lives in Baltimore, Maryland and Zawadzki lives in Denver, Colorado. They communicate by e-mail, telephone, and fax.

Because this type of coach can sometimes seem distant, he or she is not a good choice for an insecure athlete of any age. Probably the only type of athlete who would do well with this type of coach is someone who is emotionally self-reliant (not a quality found in most athletes) and at the same time has great respect for the coach's expertise.

4. Companion.

This coach hardly coaches at all. He or she is more of an observer/friend. In this relationship, it is the athlete who is making most of the decisions and the coach is there primarily to serve as a familiar, supportive audience. Examples:

• Said Shirley Robertson, ranked number one in the world in yachting (Europe-class boat) and a member of the 1996 British Olympic team: "No one person can offer me everything so I use a variety of people for coaching. I select them because I think they have something to teach me like match racing or improving my downwind racing.

"There are, however, two people I have a close relationship with--Peter Bentley, friend and coach, and Rod Carr, the Olympic yachting manager. I tend to discuss everything with them--good and bad." (11)

• Figure skater Brian Boitano, who won a gold medal at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, has had only one coach--Linda Leaver. She has worked with him since 1971 and continues to accompany him to professional competitions. "She doesn't tell me what to do, she tries to make me be independent." (12)

"I don't accept constructive criticism very well--except from Linda. I accept it from her because I know she has absolute faith in me, that whatever she asks me to do, it's in my best interests." (13)

• Davin Williams is a three-time Idaho high school state champion in the triple jump. Since eighth grade he has been coached on a volunteer basis by Gerald Bell, a junior high school assistant principal who was a triple jumper at Boise State University. Williams works with him on Sundays. ''He's more than my coach. He's my friend. I can talk to him about anything. He's there. He'll always be there.'' (14)

This type of relationship rarely happens overnight. It usually starts out as a more traditional coach/athlete relationship, but evolves over time as the athlete reaches his or her peak and no longer needs formal instruction. By this time, the athlete knows as much about the sport and his or her abilities as the coach, but he or she still values the psychological bond between them.

It is a rare relationship because most coaches do not know when to step back and let the athlete take over. In addition, many athletes never develop emotionally to the point where they begin to make their own decisions. But it can be one of the best kinds of coach/athlete relationships because there is mutual respect and appreciation along with professional and psychological growth.

 

1 Denver Post, October 2, 1994.

2 The Dallas Morning News, July 14, 1996.

3 The Orange County Register, November 7, 1993.

4 CBS "Sports Show," December 16, 1995.

5 The Washington Post, December 07, 1997.

6 Steven Ungerleider. Quest for Success. (Waco, Texas: WRS Publishing), 1995.

7 Austin American-Statesman, November 25, 1997.

8 Michael Johnson. Slaying the Dragon. (New York: HarperCollins, 1996).

9 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 17, 1996.

10 The New York Times, May 23, 1993.

11 The Scotsman, August 22, 1994.

12 Los Angeles Times, February 13, 1994.

13 The Wall Street Journal, December 29, 1987.

14 The Idaho Statesman, August 21, 1997.

 

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