My coaching Experience, Part 3

In life we are often told what to do, but not so much why to do it.

I've found the best way to have effective, efficient, and successful teams is to ensure that everyone understands what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how we will define success in doing so.

Continuing the end of practice talks and feedback, I'd like to follow up on what was working and what wasn't from the team's perspective.

As the third coaching staff in three years, the team was experiencing their third different approach to practice and how it ran.

I believe until you achieve a certain level of technical ability the best way to coach a team of twenty plus is to drill on the whistle. This allows the coaches to see everyone at once and mistakes stick out and can be corrected either with the entire group or individually.

Our practice structure was different from what the team was accustomed to. We taught and drilled most of practice in the early part of the season. They wanted live wrestling. 

I explained to them that until they were doing things right, live wrestling would only reinforce bad technique and habits.

Another thing that came up repeatedly was to learn new moves. Wrestling is the oldest sport and the fundamentals have not changed very much throughout its history.

If you are not fundamentally sound, you will not be successful.

We zeroed in on specific moves from neutral, top, and bottom. They were basic moves, not exotic ones. I explained that there is no secret sauce. As the season went on, they saw that other teams were not using moves they had not been taught, but they were executing ones they were taught at a much higher level.