DO YOU NEED A COACH? .... DON’T YOU ?!

DO YOU NEED A COACH?  ....  DON’T YOU ?!

INTRODUCTION

Some popular wrong concepts -

        Coaches are only for beginners! 

        Coaches are only for only the young!

        When you get a degree, you are an expert!

       As you become a senior by age or job, you are an unqualified expert! By then you know everything!

       What do the young know anyway to teach you? 

       Coaches are needed only in sports and not in real life!

       In this ever growing world, where the source of knowledge appears to be only ‘Google’, we know everything!

These are some of the common misconceptions in life!

These are the beliefs of many people! 

If one is involved in a profession where one has to physically perform, where results are direct products of manual crafts, improvement is always possible!

DO YOU NEED A COACH?

Coach is one who helps you to develop to full potential and to maximise your strength.

Though the term is mainly used in sports, this term to applies to every aspect of life where one wants to do better.

HOW CAN A COACH HELP YOU?

Coach can help you to stop wasting time and help you to improve growth and output.

All of us can do better.

When you change, everything changes.

When you realise that there are limitations in your technique and approach, improvements occur tremendously.

Coach - analyses your strength and weaknesses

           -  points out where there is room for improvement

           -  works on your weaknesses with suggestions, exercises

           -  maximises your strength 

           -  sometimes alters your beliefs and behaviour too.

YOU, BEFORE COACHING

We all have our own attitudes to life, with its attendant failures and successes. Our firm beliefs are based on individual experiences. We need to realise that our own experience is not unique. It may be more common than you believe.

One should have room in the heart to believe that someone, who is experienced in this aspect would be able to help one to excel.

If you, on the other hand believe that you are already the best in your field and will always remain so, then you do not need a coach!

WHY DO WE NEED A COACH?

Anyone wanting to excel in what he does, needs a coach.

A top rated teenage musician achieved a lot of talent on his own. He went abroad and realised that there were much better musicians around. He took on a teacher ( coach), but soon realised latter could help in some areas only. So at present, he is also taking coaching with his teacher’s teacher! 

Another example is the Indian cricket team. Indian team has top players. They have coaches who travel with them, analyse the play, discuss how to do better with each match. They also to a large extent, discuss food, exercises, assess moods and mundane repeats of exercises at regular intervals during off seasons too - to keep them in shape. As we know, there are  different coaches for bowling, batting, fielding, etc - showing how depending on the speciality, more than one coach may be required.

HOW DO YOU CONDITION YOURSELF 2 BE COACHED?

When one aspires to be specialist, one needs to keep doing the basics right!

Fundamentally, function of a coach is to reinforce the basics and make you keep doing the basics right all the time. This itself may be good enough in most situations, be it a game, music, studies or even profession!

On top of this, there are newer developments in every field, the so called advances! 

It is the function of the coach 

-to identify the advances and

-to expose the players, professionals to these advanced technique, so that nothing is wanting.

WHAT THEN ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD COACH?

Each human being is different.

Hence a coach need to be malleable enough to adjust to each  player's or professional’s whims and fancies.

At the same time, he has to be rigid enough to rigorously put them to routine exercises, through scheduled hours of work and knowledge.

He should also have the time to be a be able to sit with the candidate throughout his roller coaster journey! If the coach is too busy with his own interests and has no time for you, he is not fit to be your coach.

Needles to say coach should have high degree of knowledge and skill in the speciality.

He should discuss the strategy in the field of sports of the opponent teams and exploit their weakness. Hence his knowledge and skill in the field is important.

NOMENCLATURE OF THE COACH

Coaches in life, by different names!

The word coach is commonly used in sports.

Teacher is a better term in school!

‘Thalaivar’ ( chief) is an unofficial term used in community!

Priest is a term used in religion!

Mentor is the term of a surgeon who guides in a new technique for initial cases! (only)

These may suggest identification of coaches, as the person needs to fit the bill. Some do , some don’t!

WHO NEEDS A COACH?

In sports, role of coaches is clearly defined.

But unfortunately in many other professions, not so much.

As one gets older in experience, you refer to them as advisor or a consultant!

Roger Federer has a coach in tennis, top basket NBA ball teams have coaches….. not because they are rich, but because they want to excel in what they do and to remain on top!

Coaching centres exist for higher eduction - medical graduates , IAS candidates, etc. 

DO YOU NEED A COACH EVEN IF YOU ARE A SENIOR?

Should your advanced age stop you from getting a coach? Not really!

Anyone who wishes to improve quality of whatever work he is doing, needs coaching. Not just for learning, but to keep doing things well and to advance further!

A word of caution the seniors about coaching as a performing professional !

You need to make sure that 

-your coach is a good person interested in your welfare,

-your coach need to be qualified enough and experienced. But not necessarily even higher than you are. But he should motivate you to perform better

-your coach can be of any age, even much younger than you are, but should have the temperament to analyse your weakness, confront you with them and discuss options to improve.

-your coach is not your friend or colleague, and a coach should be paid an adequate amount of remuneration for his job. Free service is not long lasting, especially if one sided.

As regards the age, there is no bar. Employing a coach is most useful if you want to improve as a professional or as an amateur. 

Remember, if you are young, your coach will be older; if you are elderly, your coach is likely to be younger than you are.

I know a 93 year old American violinist who still goes for a 40 year old teacher for music training! 

Hence coaching at all ages is useful for improvement of your work or passion !

Acknowledgement:Images from internet with thanks.