What does ‘be the coach your people need’ mean? What is the superpower of the best coaches? How do you build a coaching relationship? What tools do coaches use to create the environment for performance and wellbeing.
Unlocking potential
On a hot Dubai afternoon a few years ago Graham watched as Ashley Ross, Head Coach of the International Cricket Council Academy, led 30 coaches onto the beautifully manicured oval.
It was the opening of the Global Coaches Program, and instead of the anticipated speech he divided them into groups of three and gave each group a medicine ball and a few plastic cups.
‘Please place a cup on the oval 50 metres away from the medicine ball,’ he instructed them to quizzical looks, before asking each group to nominate one person as coach, one as a player, and the other to use their phone to video the coaching to follow.
‘Players, your objective is to crush the cup by landing the medicine ball on top of the cup in the fewest possible throws. You can't walk with the ball, you must do it safely, and you have a coach to help you. Everything the coach does including instructions, feedback and tone will be videoed.’ That was it. No other instructions.
Suddenly coaches sprang into action. Some picked up a medicine ball and demonstrated throwing techniques; others asked players about their plans; still ...
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