What's a coach?

With all the junk going on in sports lately, I'm beside myself with anger.  First with bullying taking place in the locker room, and so many "experts" saying that people need to "toughen up" and it's "part of the game".  I don't know, but through my experience coaching, some of the "toughest" players on the field were the quietest and most even tempered in the locker room and off the field.  "Oh but professional football is different, the sport demands a 'killer instinct' to survive, they're a different breed".  So were are saying that if a player goes home and beats up a family member, spouse, child, or regular citizen it's OK, because it's just them being "tough" and that's the type of attitude we need from our athletes?  And then you have the waste of grey matter sports commentators saying that because a player is intelligent, maybe they aren't cut out for professional sports.  Since when is being intelligent and good-tempered a bad thing?  All of these issues, for me, come from the main problem that there are a lack of coaches in the world.  Oh hey, but Gregg there are tons of coaches out there.  So many, that there are some great, amazing coaches they are still looking for jobs (cough:hint:cough).  Well what I mean by that thesis statement, is that there is a lack of ACTUAL coaches, and this fact precipitates the failures of the athletes and culture within athletics.

                                                         What is a Coach Anyway?
Whenever I am asked what being a coach means, I always say the same thing.  Coaching is education.  To me, that statement needs no further elaboration, and really shouldn't warrant an explanation, but I always need to expand.  Anyone who has taken a course in education knows that the main purpose of an educator is to create an environment conducive to learning.  In other words, the main role of a teacher isn't to throw knowledge at the students and hope for it it stick, rather their job is to create an environment so that learning CAN take place.  Think back to the various classrooms of which you've been a part. Sometimes the teachers who may not know the most about the particular subject are the best,simply because they create an environment that is comfortable, welcoming, professional which causes you to retain more knowledge.  On the other hand, sometimes the most intelligent teachers create the most uncomfortable, un-welcoming environment and you learn very little.  I remember some classes where every single day the teacher would turn out the lights, put on the overhead projector and give notes for an hour.  Between the dark room, and the slow, hypnotizing hum of the projector I would invariably doze off within fifteen minutes.

Compare what I just said to some coaches you have had.  A coach that I greatly admire (Dan Steele currently of University of Northern Iowa) calls the idea that a great athlete becomes a great coach a "Pervasive Myth".  All too frequently, athletes, athletic departments, and coaches believe that if someone was a great athlete, then surely they will be a great coach.  This conclusion is far from accurate for a number of reasons, partially for the same reasons why the most intelligent people don't make the best teachers.  Sometimes a great athlete is simply that, a great athlete.  Once again, I'm reminded of what Coach Steele has written, comparing it very aptly to a mechanic.  "Being a former athlete gives you many wonderful tools for the coaching toolbox, but you still have to know how to apply them. A great mechanic isn’t great because of his mastery of tools. He is great because of his mastery of problem solving." (http://unitrack.blogspot.com/p/coaching-compass.html)

So ok, what is the goal of the coach then?  Well, remember the goal of a teacher? According to some definitions, coaching is "a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve."(Eric Parsloe,  The Manager as Coach and Mentor (1999) page 8)
If you notice, simply replace the phrase "a process" with "an environment" and you have almost the same definition as what it means to be a teacher.  From this extrapolation, we can conclude that being a teacher, and being a coach are synonymous.  It is due to this fact that we understand exactly why many elite athletes are not effective coaches.  Being able to do something yourself, and being able to teach someone else how to do that skill are two very different things.  In the track and field world, think of how many athletes you've come across who may not be as skilled as you in terms of technique or training, but still beat you in races or field events simply due to genetics.  Some of these athletes then move on to the coaching ranks and become frustrated when their own athletes don't share the same success they once had.  However, that is not their fault in my opinion, it is simply the mechanism that society has created as of late.  I know of a number of coaches whom I admire, that never competed in track themselves, or if they did not at a high level.  Yet the were very effective coaches once they learned the skill-set simply because they were great educators.

                                                   Modern Problems of Coaching 
Recently, a current coach was taped going on a lengthy, abusive tired directed at his players.  This story is nothing new, however some of the commentary on the matter is what greatly upset me.  "When I was a football player, our coach would yell things worse than that!" or "These kids need to toughen up, the coach did nothing wrong".  Really?  Simply because you were treated a certain way doesn't mean it's right.  Heck, during the reign of Charles II in England, a man was allowed to give his wife "moderate correction" if she deserved it (I'll leave you to decipher what 'moderate correction' would be if a wife was thought to be misbehaving).  So by their logic, that means domestic violence is OK, because their ancestors used to do it.  What angered me the most, is that this coach is at one of the highest levels of his sport.  So we can infer that he has had this coaching, um, let's call it 'style', for many years and hasn't had to change a thing.  Yet coaches like this are paid good salaries, and put in charge of the growth of numerous 18-24 year olds year after year.

Another problem with scholastic coaching (youth, high school, and college) lately is understanding what the goals are.  Too often, the results are seen as the goal, rather than seeing them as simply ONE of the goals.  In an area such as collegiate coaching, retention, GPA, and graduation rate should be just as highly praised, as number of all-americans, national champions or other high performance.   Some coaches are happy having a squad of student-athletes just barely above the minimum GPA requirement as long as they are performing well during competitions.  From there, the student-athletes may move on to the professional ranks having not grown as individuals at all during their time at an institute of "higher education".  Think about that for a minute, I just did and it made me a little sad.

                                                  Where does the athletes' behavior come into play?
I know I know, it seems like I veered a bit off track (haha, track and field pun) from my original thesis, however it all comes into focus when you think about it.  If a student-athlete from the time they are in high school, all the way through college, up into the professional ranks is taught that a certain type of environment is accepted, or even encouraged, can we really blame them for acting a certain way?  That doesn't make it right, but it is the fact of the matter.  Rather than creating a comfortable, educational environment conducive to growth, if they are brought up in an environment of violence, aggression and anger and taught that you need to have a "killer instinct", how would they know any better?

Lately, coaches have also encouraged cocky behavior from their athletes under the mask of being "confident" and "self esteem".  To me, if you feel that you are accomplished as a coach simply because your athletes' exhibit cocky, over-confident behavior you need to seriously examine your thought process.  Making your student-athletes self-esteem strong should definitely be a goal, but if you impart arrogance instead (which is a much easier thing to do) than you are just as guilty as a coach who imparts violence and aggression to their athletes as eventually it will come to bite you in the rear.


                                                                   Conclusion
I could actually go on about this topic for quite a bit longer, but I'll cut myself off now.  Basically I find the direction college, high school, and grade school coaching is going very disconcerting and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.  There are, however, a few rays of light on this cloudy day though.  For one, it is easier than ever to get information regarding a coach or school prior to becoming a student-athlete, so as long as the athlete is diligent in their research, they can get a good feel for the coach prior to going there.  Also, in the same vein, there are a number of outstanding coaches/educators out there that I love listening to regarding their coaching philosophies.  The main hope is that athletic-directors and schools will begin to really sit and think for themselves what they want in a coach.  And maybe they will begin to realize that coaching is indeed teaching.  Sooooooo yep, that's it adios. (I'm awful at conclusions)

Hi, Tea!

Sitting here drinking a nice cup of Oolong Tea and I'm reminded of something.  I freakin' love tea!  Wait wait wait, bear with me I'm going somewhere with this.  Whenever I drink tea I become addicted again, and wonder why I stop drinking it in the first place!  When I was at my peak as an athlete (running and lifting every day along with plyometrics and hurdles/jump/throw training) I would regularly consume around 17 cups of tea a day.  The reason I started was because of my man-crush on Bruce Lee, so that sounds like a good place to start.

Bruce (can I call him Bruce?) would drink thermos after thermos of tea while filming, training, or just relaxing.  He never consumed alcohol or anything that he deemed useless to fuel his body.  Chinese tea comes in almost countless varieties and he tried them all, but would regularly drink Lipton tea, same as anyone else.  When I graduated from college I weighed 284lbs in August.  By February I trimmed down to 192lbs before bottoming out at 187 around August.  Not that it played a HUGE part in me trimming down (not going to sheetz and eating at 3am was a huge part of it, as was laying off the crown royal along with my increase in training) but when researching Bruce and also the benefits of tea it's impossible to say that it played no role at all.  The three main types of tea I drink and recommend are Green, Oolong and White.  I'm gonna give some background on all three as well as the benefits.

Green Tea:  Ok first of all, all teas that I drink come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis ). What determines what type of tea you have is the process of growing and fermenting.  Regular black tea is fully fermented and processed.  Black tea is all good and well, but a lot of the benefits found in tea are lost in this process.  If you're going for Green Tea, don't get the decaffeinated it kind of defeats the purpose!  Green tea also contains HGCG, one of the most powerful antioxidants known!  Aside from the metabolism boost, this reason is the biggest benefit of Green Tea.

Oolong Tea:  If you've eaten in an authentic Chinese Restraunt (not buffet or an "americanized" Chinese food place), and ordered tea, Oolong is probably what you were served.  Many Chinese like to drink Oolong after meals to aid with digestion.  If you aren't a tea drinker chances are you never even heard of this type of tea let along drink it regularly, but if you don't you should!  Oolong is somewhere in the middle of Green and Black Teas (sometimes called brown tea).  It is partially fermented so it's caffeine can be slightly higher than green, but not as high as black.  It does not contain the amount of HGCG as Green Tea due to this process however it contains more polymerized polyphenols. It is the combination of HGCG and caffeine that some research links to weight loss, which is why some really really really bad companies are selling oolong as "weight loss tea" and charging insane amounts of money for it.  If you pay more for this style than you do any other, you're getting jipped.  Research has shown that drinking 3 cups a day will burn an extra 70 calories per day, doesn't sound like much but over a year that's 7 pounds!  Oolong Tea also tastes pretty darn good, and gives you a full feeling.  If you are in between meals or training, chug some Oolong Tea to fight off cravings.

White Tea-  Pretty simple.  It's a baby green tea leaf.  It contains a great amount of polyphenols and other chemicals.  All of these teas but especially Green and White help lower blood pressure, cholesterol and aid in cardiovascular health.  White tea was saved only for the emperors, but lately has become much more mainstream.  Some question the current quality of white tea, or if it's basically just a green tea blend mostly.  If you are going to try it, spend a little extra and make SURE it's ONLY white tea leaves.

Well that about wraps it up.  Tea is awesome, especially if someone is trying to get back into shape, fight off hunger, or just looking for something good to drink.  The amount of caffeine is also good for athletes as it raises your EE (energy expenditure) prior to workouts. Make sure you don't drink TOO much of it (yes I used to drink 17 cups a day, that's prolly not recommended), but if you're used to Coffee and lattes for your caffeine fix (oh my god I loved the pumpkin spice latte it was really good, but I actually tried a peppermint white chocolate latte too and it was bangin!, but anyway) try tea instead.  Now that I decided to back off of lifting for a while and get back into running to trim back down, I'm gonna get back on my tea regimen.  Take it for what you will, but if you need more convincing read some of the research!