I’m always fascinated when the term “Old School Coach” is used – a surprisingly common happening in the Australian sports industry at least. Sometimes it’s used as a positive (“we need an old school coach, these players are soft and need someone to toughen them up”) and sometime as a negative (“she’s an old school coach; she’ll never go with such a radical suggestion”). I’m not sure of where the School bit comes from – I suppose it’s to avoid sounding ageist – but I like to think that it refers to different waves (schools) in the development of sports science. In other words a coach who mostly uses methods suggested by 1960s sport science (did it exist then?) in 2011 might be described as Old School. If this is a correct assumption then I have two disputes with it. First, proper science (sport or otherwise) if adhered to correctly will still suggest the best parts of coaching from 50 years ago but eliminate that which has proved ineffective since then. Second, it over plays the importance of experience. Regardless of if you are a technical, mental or physical coach it’s the combination of the best possible (quantity and quality) experience with the best possible (quantity and quality) qualifications that will ultimately prevail. Outside of our profession of sport psychology our aim is to simply continue to improve at our ability to build mental toughness. Within the profession it’s to establish a critical mass so that everyone can see that Q X E is better than a whole bunch of E. Old School Coaches are overrated.
Mentally Tougher - The Condor Performance Blog
As sport psychologists we want to constantly remind both you and us of the importance of always working on your thought processes - just like any other skill. These “mind jolts” are simple reminders of the importance of the mental side in becoming the best you can be.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Old School Coaches are Overrated
2 comment(s) so far
at 06:44 PM, on April 23, 2012
I deal with many “old school coaches” and while many are open to learn new things and broaden their experiences there are also many that continue plugging what they have always done (I guess like many fields). Research moves on and understandings of how we learn and perform also moves on. For example skill acquisition theory and practice now accepts that learning and performance is a function of individual, task and environmental constraints and that learning and practice should be representative of performance environments. Yet many high performance learning is still stuck on drills. Old dogs who take this new knowledge onboard are often those who can use this new knowledge best as they can combine it with vast experience.
at 09:57 PM, on April 24, 2012
“Old school coaches” are overrated. Every level of society have changed and with the massive explosion in technology and science (sports science also) it speaks for itself that the “old school”approach would not be effective. On the other hand we should never underestimate the influence that individuals (coaches) could have on individuals and teams only on grounds of their personality and relationships with athletes. Coaches could have the best experience and qualifications but if they are unable to relate on a personal level with their players or athletes they would not be as effective. If “old school” means that the coach still values good relationships, then it is not overrated. I am of the opinion that this ability is paramount in being a successful coach in the fast evolving field of sport and sports performance.
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