Top Traits In A Coach
I read an article about NFL players weighing in on the traits that coaches need to be great. Based on what each player said, I can relate to them. In my 16+ years of running, I have been under many coaches and the traits that the NFL players mentioned make them a great coach.
No matter what sport you play, there are common traits that all coaches need to become successful. What I will mention below is based on my own experiences. Here are the traits that coaches need (these are not in order):
- Flexibility/Adapting to one’s needs
Usually, great coaches planned an athlete’s training plan ahead of time. However, not everything will go as planned. From a runner’s perspective, there are times where external and internal factors, such as poor weather and soreness, can prevent you from wanting to complete the workout given to you. If an athlete just tries to “run through the wall”, the consequences will be an unfinished workout or a higher risk for injury. So when these situations happen, athletes usually contact the coach and communicate the situation. Great coaches are supposed to listen to the athlete’s concern and then change the workout that allows the athlete to still get the best out of themselves despite the situation. This trait also is important if the coach has many athletes under their wing. Not all athletes are the same. An example of that is some can handle a higher load of intensity, while some can perform well by handling a low amount of intensity. My current coach coaches many athletes around the world. I’ve met a few of his athletes and I’ve connected with them on Strava. I noticed how their training plan is different from my training plan.
A bad coach would believe in “the one size fits all” approach. When the athlete doesn’t do well because the methods didn’t work for them, these coaches will likely blame the athlete instead of blaming themselves and their methods. In sports, injuries and bad performances happen almost all of the time. A good coach would accept these injuries and bad performances and then move on. They will then figure out a new plan to prevent these injuries and bad performances from happening to the athletes again.
There have been numerous times when my current and past coaches in high school, college, and post-college were flexible and adapted to my needs. Being flexible and adaptable allows coaches to be open-minded, great listeners, and great communicators.
2. Communication
This is a very important trait in life. When it comes to coaching, this is an important trait because not only it gets the best out of the athlete, it helps the athlete learn and stay in line. There are many ways coaches communicate. Coaches communicate verbally and by body language. The very important thing about communication is your message gets to the athlete and the athlete responds to it. This trait is important when an athlete disagrees with the coach. In order for the athlete to agree with you and respect the coach, the coach must communicate by giving honest reasoning, knowledge, and feedback.
Here’s a story about my high school cross country and track coach in my senior year. It was the first practice of the year. The workout he explained was 800m repeats around the school campus or cross country terrain. In the past, coaches made us do workouts on the track during the cross country season. So I asked my coach, why we are not doing workouts on the track. He then told me why in a nice, polite way. The exact answer was something like “so that you are able to get used to running on cross country racecourses.” His answer made me understand his reasoning, helped me learn more about running, and most importantly, gain respect for him. A bad coach in this scenario either wouldn’t give a good reason or will force you to do the workout by typically saying “do what I say or consequences will happen.”
Coaches being able to communicate effectively allows them to connect with athletes, to be honest, and a great leader. I think honesty is one of the very important traits to be a great coach. If a coach wasn’t honest, then the athlete would only get to a certain point and remain there. In order to get the best out of athletes, coaches need to set reasonable expectations, which requires a lot of honesty. I have so many stories of my coaches being honest and being able to connect with me. I give you one story. When I was training for my first marathon, my current coach communicated to me his experiences from training for marathons. When he did that, he was being honest and he was able to connect with me. This allowed me to know what to expect and have confidence when workouts didn’t go the way I wanted. Overall, it helped me have a great experience in training and racing for a marathon.
3. Organized
This is important because if a coach wasn’t organized, it shows that the coach doesn’t care about the athlete or the team. It will also show that the coach is coaching the athlete or team for the wrong reasons. Lack of organization will result in dysfunction and coaches will eventually lose their athletes. Therefore, coaches must be ORGANIZED.
4. Competitive/Passionate
All the great coaches I’ve been under have one thing in common. They are either competitive or passionate about the sport. One of the purposes of sports is to win! A coach being competitive and/or passionate will make athletes think the coach is in the profession for the right reasons. There are people who coach just for the money or for some selfish reason. If a person is coaching a group of athletes or a team, it’s important for them to be competitive and/or passionate because this will help create the right culture, which at the same time will help the athletes perform better. After all, no one wants to play for a coach that likes to lose.
My college coach is an example of someone who is competitive and passionate. Almost every day at practice, I always hear him talk about running with an excited tone. There were numerous times during the season where he preaches competitiveness and reaching to your potential.
5. Knowledge
No matter the sport, it is important for the coach to be knowledgable. In order for the coach to be successful, the coach must work on his own to keep up with the sport. No matter what, the methods to coach athletes will always evolve that maybe one day, the current methods to get the best out of the athlete will no longer be effective. I think being knowledgable is important because it allows them to be flexible and adaptable so that they can coach different athletes all at once.
Sometimes athletes will ask coaches questions about certain exercises and workouts. A great coach is able to answer these questions with details and uses past experiences and knowledge gained from their own time. A bad coach, on the other hand, wouldn’t be able to answer these questions with detail, won’t be able to understand what they are doing, and make conclusions. Being knowledgable allows the coach to relate to the athletes, which gets athletes to trust the coach, wanting to learn from the coach, and love the coach. Relating to the athletes is what all great coaches do to win in the long run.
When I interviewed my current coach before hiring him, he convinced me that he’s knowledgeable. He told me that he has earned certificates in coaching runners and he also has given me his track record on athletes he has successfully coached. He also convinced me that he is passionate about coaching runners when he gave me an example of a workout he would give me. It’s that excited tone that made me believe he’s the one!
6. Leadership
From a team perspective, it’s important for the coach to be a great leader. Everyone has their own definition of what makes someone a great leader. There are many traits that make a coach a great leader. The traits I mentioned are what I remember on top of my head.
Great leaders must set the tone by creating a great culture. Leaders must hold others and even themselves accountable, they set rules and expectations, they motivate the team, and they create order. When there are hard times, the coach needs to show toughness because athletes are going to rely on the coach. Athletes don’t want to play for a coach who backs down from adversity. Leaders make sure the athletes get the credit for the success achieved and not themselves. Most importantly, a great leader puts everyone in a position to succeed. Overall, a coach with great leadership will make athletes want to run through the wall for the coach. This is true because when I joined my current running club, I was coached by the club leader. Her leadership was great that my teammates and I wanted to run through the wall for her. I remember at a cross country race, I was tired and near the finish line. I saw her on the sidelines and was cheering for me and told me to start my finishing kick. For some reason, I was able to run through the wall for her and I passed a couple of guys ahead of me.
7. Gaining Trust
All the traits I mentioned above will lead to the athlete trusting the coach. However, there are many ways to gain an athlete’s trust for the coach. No matter how the coach gains the athlete’s trust, there is a common purpose. When coaches gain the athlete’s trust, the athlete will want to fight for the coach on game day.
I think in order to gain the athlete’s trust in the coach, the coach must show the athlete that they care for them and want them to succeed. I think that because that’s what my current coach did. My college coaches and high school coach made sure that I know that they did care about me and wanted me to succeed. The one day I gained my high school’s coach trust was when after practice, he asked me if I wanted to run in college. Due to a long story, I had no hope of running in college and I told him that. He told me that there is still hope and he can help me get there. For those who don’t know me, I eventually got there. This is an example of a coach gaining an athlete’s trust by being caring and wanting the athlete to succeed.
There are many traits that make coaches successful. Again, what I mentioned is based on my own experiences. If you are looking to hire a coach, make sure the coach has the traits I mentioned above. To me, I think every great coach has to be someone who doesn’t accept nonsense. I am grateful to have these great coaches in my 16+ years of running. If these coaches didn’t have those traits, my running career would have gone down the drain. This is why at the end of the day, I am grateful for these coaches for being in part of my running career.
