How do YOU coach an athlete?

Before we get into the deep end of the pool and begin discussing how you coach an athlete, and how you like to be coached, I would like to define what I mean by athlete, and what I mean by coaching?

In this context I will consider an athlete pretty much anyone you will find in your box. Whether the athlete is at a level where he/she wants to compete in the Games, or if he/she is on route to performing their first air squat without looking like a train wreck, really does not matter here today- they are all athletes!
So whether you are about to call Dave Castro to give him an inside tip on the next years winner of the Games, or if you are about to call a medic to pick up the human debris that is left after this person has performed the simplest movements- it really does not matter- they are both athletes in this context!

Coaching! When talking about coaching I am simply referring to the process of guiding and giving advice to any given athlete on how to perform better! I am not talking about making up ellaborate plans for future goals! I am talking about how you coach right now!

So lets get started!

I have had the pleassure of meeting a lot of very gifted CrossFit coaches, and been blessed with the opportunity to be trained by them in all kinds of enviroments. There have been 1 on 1 sessions, classes, and workshops, there have been competition like situations and just playing around trying to work on things that would probably never be used again!
What I have found however is that there is a certain kind of coach that always seems to give me sense that I am taking a little extra something with me from the workout. It can be a technical pinpoint that has made me move better! An insigt into the complexity of a movement that has helped me understand said movement better! Or just a comment that has helped me push through the WoD when I was about to fold and call it a day! Whatever it may be there is always that sense of having been a part of something bigger than a workout!


A couple of examples of coaches like that are inevidable, so here comes the ass kissing:

Karl Steadman- This man has a way of seeing/understanding movements better than anyone I have ever had the pleassure of training with! He knows immidiately where the problem in the movement is, and with very subtle instructions he makes me move better just like that! He never brings out the sledge hammer and shreds everything I do to pieces! Instead he makes me move better in degrees, beginning with the obvious, and then moving down the line, leaving the detail work until all the gross mechanics are in place!
He is a wizard and if you ever get the chance to watch him work, or be coached by him- do yourself a favor and take it!


Martin Altemark- Unfortunately I dont get to spend as much time with him as I would like to, but I know that if I did, a bunch of my old PB's would be in serious danger. He has a way of always making me work a bit harder than I originally intended, without pushing me into the proverbial wall and into the arms of Pukie! Still, without going that far he always motivates and focusses on taking the WoD on step further! It is a quality lost on many, and I wish he could write a book about what it is he does- I think a lot of us would buy it!

So what is it that makes these guys such excellent coaches? The answer is simply that they make me a better athlete, which is exactly what I am striving to become! I will go as far as to say that that is what we should all strive towards! If it is not your goal, please stop reading and go back to focussing on the latest bicep curl blaster extravaganza in the globo gym magazines!
Sorry got carried away there:-)

But there are other coaches outthere who are the exact opposite, and they too have produced fantastic results with their athletes! How could that possibly be? Could it be that there is more than one way to being a fantastic coach? Could it be that you get your thrills and motivation in the exact opposite way that I do, and still you evolve?

Of course there is more than one side to the coin, and of course different things rock your boat and make you a better athlete! The big question is what we do with that discovery? Do we gravitate towards the coaches whom we feel hit all the right spots and leave the others to themselves, ignoring that they have also reached their goals with their athletes, or do we embrace these coaches as well and pick what we can use and discard what we cant use?


My answer would be to do just that! Find some coaches whom you can relate to, and who give you the sense of always evolving and improving, and spend 95% of your time working with them! But you should also try to train with some coaches whom you find to be the opposite, and maybe not quite your first hand choice- there just may be some really brilliant advice just lying around just begging to be discovered there too!

On the coaches side of the house there is also some soul searching to be done! You need to spend time with other coaches, watching them teach, training with them in order to evolve as a coach. If you dont, you easily fall into the trap of becomming a "one-trick-pony" and when that happens you have limited yourself and virtually every single athlete you work with! Dont be afraid to learn from other coaches! It is the only way to evolve, and who knows- maybe one day you will be able to help all athletes, no matter how they click and what they need to become better athletes- Would'nt that be something!

So my question is this! Who is your favorite coach and why, and what do you do to become a better coach?

Much love