How Can You Become a Better Coach in Life?

     I love coaching. To those that know me that is a pretty obvious statement because I have been coaching athletic teams for almost thirty years. Most of that thirty years has been spent coaching wrestling where I feel I am adequately capable because I wrestled myself in school and I have been around the sport pretty much since I was 13 years old. Let me do the math... that's around 40 years of exposure to the sport of wrestling. That time around a wrestling mat has given me an ability to see things and understand situations on the mat that many others might not be able to pick out. In other words my time invested in wrestling helped me become a better coach in wrestling.
     Several years ago while I was still teaching middle school my principal, Glen Kanipe, came to me and offered me the opportunity to compliment my coaching experience in wrestling with a new middle school sport, volleyball. At that time in the early 1990's volleyball was no where as popular as it is today, and to say I new enough about the sport to be a coach of it would have been a stretch for sure. I would compare it to someone asking me to teach physics or German, it was definitely out of my comfort zone. Mr. Kanipe explained that he felt I had the ability to coach and that the rest would come with experience and time spent studying the game. In the early stages observation, experience, and some good mentoring from a friend or two were my tools for starting this fledgling program in our school. I also read books on volleyball and studied how other programs achieved success. We experienced some early success which translated eventually translated into some championship seasons and even a couple of undefeated seasons.
     Fast forward about ten years to 2013 when I created Extreme Team Volleyball a local "travel" type volleyball experience for youth in our Lakeway area. At this point I realized quickly that my past knowledge of this sport was going to be a good base, yet the game had progressed so far and the depth of knowledge necessary to coach it was out of my current scope of understanding. To stay at a competitive level I had to reach out to resources that would actually coach me up and equip me with the understanding of the game that would be necessary to compete and succeed. Websites, coaching clinics, observing, and asking lots of questions enabled me to learn and grow to the point that I know feel more confident on the court and that has translated into success for the athletes I have had the opportunity to coach.
     You see I have the ability to coach, God has given that to me I believe, yet what I needed to coach a sport that I wasn't near as comfortable as I was in wrestling had to be sought out and acquired. Being a good motivator and hard nosed conditioner will take you so far, but if you don't know the offenses and defenses of a sport you can only go so far on hard work and hustle. It takes knowledge of the sport and an understanding of how things work together on the court to reach championship level output. Those skills have to be sought out they don't just come to you because you have the title of coach. Coaches that experience study, reflect, react, and modify on their sport and always seek out more knowledge of their sport of choice.
     Anything we want to do in life is pretty much just like that. Our walk in our faith is definitely similar to my "coaching up" experience. If we ever want to fulfill our purpose in life and help others as we are directed to do, we must immerse ourselves in what we believe in, and seek out positive counsel when we have questions. Just as in coaching, learning from others that have the experience and knowledge that we are seeking is a great opportunity for personal growth. I believe the tool that serves me best is my willingness to be a life time learner, understanding that I do not have all the answers and that I can takeaway something from every experience I endure or overcome in life.
     All of these skills will translate into an increased ability for us to "coach" others up in their life and in their walk of faith. I challenge you today to reflect on what areas you need to be coached up in so that you will be better equipped to "coach'em up" when given the opportunity. Prayer, meditation, studying, hearing, and memorizing to heart what you need to know are all "practice" tools that will grow you into a champion on the court of life!
Have a great day and a fantastic week. Coach Carter