What It Takes To Be A Top Coach

What It Takes To Be A Top Coach

By Peter Shaw

16/11/14

While studying for a BSc in Sports Strength and Conditioning, I have been researching coaching philosophies and developing my own. I have been coaching for four years but the past two years my coaching practice has been a lot more intensive. Coupled with this I have been observing quality coaches such as Dr.Liam Hennessy, Jim Gavin , Gerry Fitzpatrick , Martin Kennedy and all the coaches National Athlete Development Academy. I aspire to be a top coach one day. From my own experiences, studies and interactions with great coaches so far in my career, I’ve come to understand that to be a great coach you need to develop a multitude of qualities and skills. In my opinion, these are a few elements I deem necessary to be a top coach.

Empathy
A great coach understands his players and relates to them on a personal level. As a coach, you have to interact with people from different cultures, backgrounds and work/study commitments. All these have implications on your approach to the session and how you implement the training programme. 

“People don't care how much you know until you know how much you care?" John C. Maxwell, author of  'The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership'
This is crucial particularly in a team setting. Caring for your athletes directly correlates with the whole "buy in" factor of the team. Developing a connection with your athletes is imperative. Check out our other article by Des Shaw about how to connect with your athletes.


Empathetic coaches are by nature athlete-centred coaches. In my opinion these will always be more successful in the long term than coach-centred coaches. Coach centred coaches tend to be selfish in their approach, results orientated and egotistical which can yield results but athletes will see through this and are less likely to perform for a coach like this.

Positivity

I worked during the summer at NADA and its owner Martin Kennedy said something that resonated with me ever since. "As a coach if your players are moody or unenthusiastic go home and take a look in the mirror" 
The climate you create will determine largely what mood the athlete’s in. (Martens 2012) notes that "your athletes are more likely to become what you are rather than what you want them to be".

In a study done by Harvard business school; positivity directly related to the success of the team. Three teams were each given the same business task. The winning team had 5.6 positive comments for every negative. The team in second place had 3.9 positives for every negative. And finally the least successful team had a ratio of 0.36:1 which equates to 3 negatives for every positive comment.


Obviously I do not advocate everything a coach says to be positive but merely reducing the negativity of the environment the athlete is in is essential. I suggest the next time you coach, have a fellow coach or assistant observe your session and record your positive comments and negative comments. You may be surprised with your findings.

Experience
This could be possibly the most important of the list. As I have studied papers and books, I have quickly come to the realisation that some methods just don't work as described. In the field we will be forced to adapt and alter things on the spot. Certain things will of course run smoothly and others will have you tearing your hair out. It's up to you as a coach to have these experiences to become a more competent and versatile coach


I would encourage all coaches to diversify in their coaching. Don't always coach kids or always coach males for example. I coached ladies for the first time this season and it added so much to my thought process about coaching. When you feel disillusioned with your adult team perhaps coaching a kids team can rejuvenate you or inspire you again. Enrol yourself in a tutoring course. This will force you to analyse other coaches and tweak the finer details of the art of coaching. I would highly recommend all coaches to have a mentor and a network of other coaches which you can share ideas with.
Lots of top coaches conform into management. This another potential area for a coach to experience. Become a manager and discover for yourself if you wish to be a hands on coach or simply be a logistical manager and delegate to a team of coaches.


If you’re a young coach I would suggest shadowing or applying for an internship. My internship at NADA was invaluable and I still to this day contact the senior coaches there for feedback and with questions I have.
Lastly, I believe we as coaches know very little still. This industry is always evolving as sciences naturally do. Continuous professional development is a key element in becoming a better coach. Seminars, workshops, clinics and courses are of course expensive most of the time but choose wisely, as these are all an investment in yourself. There is always at least one thing you will take away and implement in your coaching almost immediately.

Observational
This skill is heavily linked with experience. As coaches we have to train our eye. The most vital way of doing this is by observing and analysing thousands of sets and reps. Another route to consider  is the use video technology. It can be used for your personal observation or visually displaying to the athlete what he is isn’t executing proficiently or provide them with positive feedback on what they are doing well. A cheap application I use for android is V1 Golf or Coaches Eye. It is a free app which can capture video and be utilised on the spot . You can analyse the skill/movement using lines, circles, boxes and degree angles in slow motion.
Without the skill of observation we cannot coach proficiently . For example , if we cannot spot the flaw in an Olympic lift we cannot cue the athlete to improve this particular lift . Being able to spot and fix is an art itself. Once we can clearly see faults then we can cue the athlete and thus improve their lifting competency or skill proficiency.
Next time you coach in the gym or on the pitch take a step back and give the athlete space. Spot one flaw and then cue them accordingly as opposed to being up close and noticing anything at all.

Leadership
Personally, I feel there can be two strands of leadership.  Sometimes as a coach you have to give control to get control. This can come in the form of delegation to your subordinate coaches. Perhaps giving the players more responsibility. This trust in your players can be a form of leadership. When the athletes are in competition they are in control so we have to give them some form of responsibility as coaches.
Secondly, a coach may have to be the head of the programme. A coach in this situation must be capable of leading the group in the desired direction.

Moran & Kramer gave a comprehensive list of 10 keys to leadership:

1) It has to matter                             2) Letting Go
3) Reflecting                                     4) Adapting
5) Motivating                                    6) Decision-Making
7) Monitoring                                    8) Communicating
9) Be Fair                                          10) Manage Conflict   
  
I hope these inspire you to perhaps change your thinking on coaching and broaden your mind on how you coach. Remember these are my list of top qualities coaches should possess; there are many more that a coach may require. Feel free to give feedback on your top qualities as well.

And finally I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the National Athlete Development Academy (NADA) for giving me the opportunity to intern there over the summer. It was an invaluable experience with great coaches and athletes.

Many thanks to Martin, Mairead, Kev, Cliodhna, Daithi, Conor and my fellow interns.

Do everything better.

Peter Shaw

Gaelic Football, the Real Beautiful Game

Gaelic Football, the Real Beautiful Game

By Des Shaw

31/03/14

As long as I can remember I have known the game of soccer to be called 'The Beautiful Game'. The phrase’s origins are disputed but it has been attributed to Brazilian footballer Waldyr Pereira (Didi) and the presenter Stuart Hall claimed to have coined it in 1958. In its current manifestation; with all the billion dollar sugar daddy owners, superstar egos with bank accounts to match, the mercenary ethos of most of the players and the constant diving & feigning injury, I’m finding it hard to see the beauty in this game. I conducted a coach education course recently with some Dutch physical education (PE) teachers who were visiting this fair isle and found myself coming away from it having somewhat of an epiphany; that our own Gaelic games are more special than I had ever realised before.

Some background about this visit; it was part of a European GAA initiative, who have the arduous task of developing our Gaelic games in schools and cities all around Europe. Currently there are over 360 international Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) affiliated clubs worldwide, 51 across Europe and 5 in the Netherlands alone. So my new Dutch friends travelled from the city of Almere located to the east of Amsterdam to pay us a visit and learn about the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and Gaelic football. A total of 7 PE teachers from the Helen Parkhurst School in Almere made the trip. It became clear from speaking to them, that their school system operates differently to ours here in Ireland. They are a public school but they pay special attention to science education, information and communication technology (ICT), culture and society, sport and environmental education. While there is an overall curriculum, there is a major focus placed upon on these particular areas. An example of this is the way their aspiring elite athletes who attend benefit from special education, where they are provided the opportunity to develop their athletic endeavours with more focus by having tailored learning schedules and by being given special exemptions. Our Dutch guests were given a guided tour of Croke Park and then I had the great privilege of presenting a coaching seminar on Gaelic Football, on behalf of the Leinster Council.

My job for the day was to educate these Dutch teachers in the subject of Gaelic football, an introduction to the game so to speak. The main aim was to give them an overview of the game and highlight the basic rules and skills involved. I also intended to provide them with some ideas of drills and games that they could bring back to their schools and use in their PE classes. I decided to use a brief presentation with some group work followed by a practical element introducing the skills, rules and games to the group. After a brief introduction I set the group a little task of introducing themselves, naming their sporting background and highlighting the key components that encapsulated their particular sport. So an example I gave them was golf which requires: eye/hand coordination, balance, core strength, power, touch, reading, timing, flexibility, visualisation and mental toughness (I probably left out some but this was only an exercise). This is where the session became interesting for me and, I hope, for them too. In the room we had some diverse sporting backgrounds, which included swimming, soccer, volleyball, basketball and judo. The group described their particular sports in detail, all of which are great sports in their own right. Though the skills and physical demands required for playing their particular sports often overlapped, there were also unique and interesting components to each of them. To follow on from this exercise and as part of the presentation I used a Youtube™ clip of Gaelic football which provided a reasonable summation of the game.

Side note: I wish the GAA would put together a professionally developed summation of our games which highlights the key skills and rules for people who may never have seen our games before. The video I used although it certainly got the message across, at times was lacking in visual quality and it would certainly have been nice to have HD quality footage to convey our games in the best light.

Upon viewing this video clip the look on their faces was first one of confusion which then turned into amazement. What followed was a barrage of questions which I can only describe as similar to the shelling the allies received at the Siege of Bastogne, they were coming thick and fast and from every direction. It was around this time that I started to break down the basic rules and skills. Through the process of highlighting the skills and rules to my Dutch guests, I tried to relate as many of them back to some other sport that they were familiar with as possible. This is where my epiphany occurred. I came to the realisation that Gaelic football is so multi faceted and is a combination of the greater elements that encapsulate so many other sports. When describing the handpass our volleyball coach in attendance described it as a serve, when describing the catch or bounce it was evident to us all of the basketball skills required to play Gaelic football. This occurred time and time again when explaining the skills/ rules and I began to realise, as did the Dutch teachers, how special and complex our game actually is. The more I thought about the components of Gaelic football, both the skills and physical demands that are required to play it, the more I started to see the limitations of the others sports that I enjoy watching or playing myself. Take for instance soccer which in my opening is described as ‘The Beautiful Game’ which, when you break it down, really does require a lot of skill to play. However one the Dutch teachers made a very significant point, soccer completely lacks the hand/eye coordination of Gaelic football. This was more and more evident when we looked at other popular sports and if you think deeply about it, there are very few sports that feature as many skills to master as Gaelic football. In my opinion the only game that offers as much (and more) is another of our national games hurling, which requires all the same components of Gaelic football but involves significantly more hand/eye coordination with the introduction of a bat/hockey style stick (hurl) and smaller sized ball (sliotar). I know I am completely biased when it comes to this topic but I challenge anyone to suggest another sport that offers more in terms of physical demands and skills required to play.

To finish our day together I went through some practical work developing skills, drills and games in which my Dutch guests were the participants. This gave them a further understanding and appreciation for our game. Performing each skill individually proved relatively easy for them but when I introduced more skills/ rules to each game, it was evident that there was a demand for increased concentration levels to perform these skills and adhere to the rules. We then discussed at length the different types of games and drills that could be used and in this discussion I made a very important point that using Gaelic football in their PE classes would benefit their pupils greatly by developing skills and movements that maybe alien to them and their preferred sports. In the broader picture of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), diversifying and playing multiple sports early will encourage the development of a more complete physical literacy of their athletes. I have found in my coaching observations that players, who have played basketball, can develop better ball handling, tackling skills and incredible spin (pivot) moves that transfer so effortlessly and naturally on to the Gaelic football field. The players who never play basketball can struggle to develop these skills and perhaps in some cases never will. The same principle can be applied to Gaelic football, that it will offer other movements and skills that will help the overall development of any athlete regardless of their particular sports. This is a principle I always endorse and try to pass on to fellow coaches and aspiring athletes.

In conclusion found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable day; the merging of cultures provoked a deeper understanding of our sports in both my Dutch guests and I. It’s a strange feeling but I believe I have gained more from that coach education session than the actual participants. I have to admit I have been one of those critics in the past who have damned Gaelic football in its recent manifestations, with the blanket defences and the over emphasis and reliance on fitness levels. However this experience has unearthed for me a greater love, appreciation and understanding of Gaelic football, it truly is a special game and one which I feel we as coaches, players and supporters are not nearly proud enough of. Its complexity, physical demands and skill levels are unparalleled with the exception of our sister game hurling. My wish is that anyone reading this will also come to this realisation and develop a new appreciation and love for our game. Gaelic football is ‘The Real Beautiful Game.’

Until next time.

Do everything better!

Des.

New Team, New Challenge, Where To Start?

New Team, New Challenge, Where To Start?

12/02/14

By Des Shaw

So I was chatting with a fellow coach about the potential of taking a managerial position with a field sports team. It would be a season long gig and I would have complete control of how things would be done. In the past I have held managerial roles and similar coaching roles but never had complete control or it was only for a short period and not enough time to make a significant impact. So he asked me where would I start and what approach would I take?? As any coach or manager will tell you, you’ve got a base of knowledge and experiences that have influenced you, lots of coaching resources and coaching mentors that you can draw ideas from but at the end of the day you have to filter through all of the above and develop your principles and coaching ideals from these.

So after a long reflection on this topic and I have come up with some areas, thoughts or principles which I feel are important to practice and establish when heading into a new coaching job or dressing room more to the point.

Take It All In

Take an opportunity to firstly ask questions, observe and listen. Get an idea for the club culture, strong characters, previous failings etc within the club itself. This will give you much needed information to make decisions later on.

Know Thyself

Think deeply about what your coaching principles, ethics, and expectations are. Examples of this would be ‘It’s all about development of the younger players’ or ‘Performance is key, not the result.’ It is crucial that you know these before you start as they will be the foundations on which your team are built.

‘To know thyself, is the beginning of wisdom.’ – Socrates

Stay True To Thyself

Once you have an idea of your principles and expectations, you need to stay true to yourself and to your coaching style and principles. Far too often coaches fall into the pitfall of mimicking other successful coaches. If you’re not a passionate, animated coach like Mourihno (Chealse FC) or Davy Fitzgearld (Clare Senior Hurling Manager) they don’t try to be, players will see through you and you will lose them and become less effective as a coach. Coach your way and be confident in your methods and beliefs. Repeat and emphasise these on a daily basis; it will take time for player buy in and an impact  to be made but stay the course and it will happen for you!

Be Professional, Be Accountable and the Driving Force at All Times

Conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times; be organised, be on time, finish what you start, never get personal, do what you say; all are good staples of being a professional coach. If things are sliding in the wrong direction, your accountable, it’s a reflection of your work as a coach. Always be enthusiastic and energetic, bring it each session. Players or athletes love an energetic coach, it motivates them and they will strive to do better and improve in an energetic and positive environment. You must be the driving force of this environment. 

Turn Them Who You Want Them to Be

Get back to basics from day one. Focus on game fundamentals or technique, strength and conditioning, good nutrition, scheduling of sessions, simple tactics and most of all discipline. Simple non-wavering standards of punctuality, honesty in absence, two-way communication (responding to texts or calls), respect for club representatives, coaches, fellow players, club’s equipment are all crucial for creating an environment or culture that you want.  

Always Follow Through

It vitally important to follow through with whatever you say, especially with regard to discipline. No deviations. Ever! Players will quickly lose respect for you and will begin to see through you and your idol threats. Never ever let any player be held to a different set of rules, it’s a bottomless hole that you will never dig yourself out of. Often you will be met with resistance by some players at the beginning but if you’re consistent they will begin to pull with you rather than against.

'Words are meaningless without intent and follow through.' - Unknown

Surgically Remove Any Cancerous Elements

I believe everybody can contribute to the team, but if there is a truly resistant person or contingent in your team, I suggest removing this, as I call it a ‘Cancerous Element’ from your coaching environment. These elements can hold some power or influence in the team and will only be detrimental to what you are trying to achieve if you allow them to sway others to their way of thinking. Often when your standards are high and kept high these people like to resist, will disagree with everything you do or say and more often than not eventually will leave the team on their own accord because they realise this is not for them.

Create a Great Environment

You control the environment your players are subject too, so make it:

POSITIVE - Encourage players regularly and be specific. Use positive language, emphasise strengths and work quietly on weaknesses. 
CHALLENGING - Challenge players with lots of decision making both as a team and as individuals. Small sides games are perfect for developing this.
THOUGHT PROVOKING – Create problems or situations and encourage them find the solutions. Don’t always tell them what you are looking for or what you wish they would do. You create better decision makers this way. 
FUN – Coaches often think that fun is for kids to keep them engaged and that everything has to be serious at adult level. Do you think adults don’t like to laugh and joke about too? So throw in fun games or exercises into your sessions, it will break up the mood from constantly being serious and it can be a great way to bring you and your team closer together.

Check out this good atricle I read The Power of Positive Coaching about the current superbowl champions Seattle Seahawks' head coach Pete Carroll's (pictured above) positive approach to coaching.

Monitor Them

Try to monitor your players over the duration of your time in the job. Fitness monitoring is the most common for coaches to use. Performing a barrage of standard fitness tests with your team which can easily be replicated at different stages of the season. This will provide an indication of their fitness levels progression or regressions. and is a great tool for any coach for decision making purposes i.e. team selections. It also enusres that each player in the program is developing at the rate that, you the coach want. Do not fall into the trap of testing for testing’s sake or worse test once or twice. Build up a repertoire of standard tests that you can use in the long run, these can be used in monitoring your current players but also for the rest of your career to reference back to.

One on Ones

Have one to one meetings with players. This should be done regularly and will provide you an opportunity to get to know your players more personally. Emotional Intelligence is often overlooked by coaches when dealing with players. Remember players are people first; they have problems, issues, good days and bad days like the rest of us. Showing them you care about them and their development is hugely important. They will play harder for you when they know you care about them. This is also a great opportunity for performance appraisals; use objective records, video footage etc so it gives you and them a clear indication of how they are performing. You have got to be honest and direct in your appraisal or it will be of no benefit to them. To often I find coaches avoid this or worse they only give their subjective opinions in their appraisals of players which can never give a true refelction of performance.

Delegate Work

If you have selectors, assistants or volunteers then delegate the workload to them especially for training sessions. A common mistake made by coaches is to try and do everything themselves; set up, warm up, take the session, look after the equipment, referee, hands on coaching, observe, motivate and the list goes on….Delegate as much of the less important stuff to assistants in order to free yourself up to provide more hands on coaching and also to give you more opportunities to just take a step back and observe.

Do Everything Better

Build on what was done before and do it better. Whatever was done by predecessors in the past, make sure and do it better and to a higher standard.  Don’t drop these standards ever and you will in time, see the rewards from it. This ethos can be instilled in the players, to 'Do everything better' and by holding them to these high standards this will increase your chances for success drastically.

Reputation Follows after You

Whether you’re an aspiring coach or a well known coach already, remember that your reputation follows you wherever you go. So what I mean is, build a good reputation for yourself and it follows you. A good reputation will lead to other job opportunities opening up for you. Always do your best to improve yourself and the team even when things are going bad. Becoming complacent or indifferent as a coach can damage your reputation; word of mouth and reputation are everything for a coach when securing future work, so always give your best effort or your reputation will suffer. Players are often told ‘you’re only as good as your last game’ to avoid complacency and same goes for coaching you’re only as good as your last job. Reputation is everything!

So these are a few areas which I feel are important for a coach to be aware of when beginning a new job. If you can practice and adhere to these principles I believe you will be on your way to having a productive and successful year. There are probably many more items you could include in this list but these are ones which I feel are most important. If you have any more or disagree with mine, leave me a comment I’m always open to debate. So If I do choose to take up this role or another role this season I hopefully will be able to report back in the future with additions or modifications to the list for you guys.

Do Everything Better!

Des Shaw

Getting Connected

Getting Connected

By Des Shaw
01/02/14

Making connections today is as easy as the click of a mouse button; you can talk to literally anyone in the world now instantly with the use of the internet and smartphones. For coaches though, the most important connection of all that they make is with their players. Making a connection with players is crucial for creating an environment that will allow them to develop and express themselves naturally. I believe if you make a positive connection, players will respond accordingly and will want to improve and play hard for you.

Far too often in my opinion coaches make the mistake of being too totalitarian in their approach, too stand-offish with players or coach through fear. These kinds of environments have a detrimental effect to players’ development.  I feel that without a positive connection with players you will never get the best out of them. But how do we achieve a positive connection with players???

“When you punish your people for making a mistake or falling short of a goal, you create an environment of extreme caution, even fearfulness. In sports it's similar to playing "not to lose" - a formula that often brings on defeat.” John Wooden (Former College Basketball Coach)

I pondered over this topic a lot and here’s my take on making a positive connection with players.

Be Friendly, Smile!

I know that is common for most coaches/ managers to keep some distance from players because you are there to do a job and not to become best friends but I think it’s very important to develop an emotional and friendly relationship with your players. Smile at them, it makes you more approachable becasue no player wants to go for help from a grumpy looking coach. A lot of players have a habit of internalising there issues, or difficulties with training, tactics etc. Being more approachable will you help build a better bridge for communicating with your players.

Body Language

Your body language can tell a story, Amy Cuddy describes it best, “Our non-verbal’s govern how other people think and feel about us.” Be conscious that your body language matches your mood, players will identify it very quickly because as humans we are hard wired to read body language. So it’s important that you exude positive body language because clenched fists or crossed arms can dissuade a player from approaching you for advice or assitance. 

 “Our non-verbals govern how other people think and feel about us.” Amy Cuddy (American social psychologist)

Get To Know Them, What’s Your Name Again?

Getting to know your players names as quickly as possible is key to making a connection. Using their names will make a more personal connection with them. Players love to be praised, especially when it's individual praise and you can only do this if you know their names. So learn them fast and make that connection early.

Talk on Their Level

This means make eye contact, this shows players that you are fully engaged with them. It’s so important when working with kids to get down to their level in order to talk to them. Getting down on one knee to a child's level will help them learn the important skill of keeping eye contact while conversing. It also shows that you are ready to give your full attention to them. It’s a wonderful way to enter a conversation!

Be Empathetic

Empathy is the capacity to recognize emotions that are being experienced by another person. So being able to identify if one of your players is down or having a bad day can have a huge affect on their ability in training. If you don’t act on this it can be detrimental to your relationship with them which will impact their future development. Drive them too hard or being over critical on these days and they may resent you for it. It may damage your relationship with them beyond repair. 

“Look, coaching is about human interaction and trying to know your players. Any coach would tell you that. I'm no different.” Bill Parcells (2 Time Superbowl Winning Coach)

Two Way Street

Opening a two way communication process with your players is hugely important to making that vital connection with them. Make them know that they can talk to you about the game, their progress or whatever. This is imperative to making a great connection with them and speaking from experience they will play harder for you. If you don’t they can develop resentment towards you because they may feel that you do not value their opinion/ thoughts and its logical that they will feel you don't value them. 

Take a look at this video - IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

Find Out Their Interests

Like a good barman (I’m thinking of a particular one I knew years ago) who can talk to any customer and will have something to say about their interests, you have got to try do the same. This is a great skill  to be able spark up a conversation outside of your sport and can build a better relationship with your players. It shows that you care and are taking a vested interest in them as people not just as athletes.

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.” John Wooden (Former College Basketball Coach)

Ask Open Questions

Some players are like clams, it takes a lot of effort to get them to open up if you don’t know how. Ask them open questions. These are questions which cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no", or with a specific piece of information. It provokes thought before answering and encourages the player to share more of their opinions or ideas. Instead of, ‘Are you happy with your performance?’ try ‘What went well for you today out there?’ It’s a great tool and one that every coach should use.

Balancing Act

Praising players is crucial in making that valuable connection with them. Every player loves to hear their name and to get praised for doing well, but you also need to provide them with constructive criticism from time to time. Getting a balance between praise and criticism is important. Too much criticism can be detrimental to your relationship with your player. Try using the ‘Praise Sandwich’ this involves praising the player and providing them some constructive feedback followed by more praise.

High Fives, Back Slapping, Hand Shakes and Fist Bumps

There’s no doubt that physical contact is part and parcel of most field sports and players are accustomed to it, but physical contact between the coach and player can establish a greater bond between them. A path on the back, handshake or fist bump to some players can be worth a 100 spoken ‘Well Dones’ because there is something more intimate and honest being shared by the physical contact being made.

Fun? Your Having A Laugh! Are You Serious?

Yes in a more serious and competitive sports world, where coaches and athletes strive for that optimum performance; fun and laughing have become an almost endangered species. Having a sense of humour as a coach can help you connect better with your players, but best keep this impersonal to start with. Incorporating fun activities into your sessions will always be welcomed by your players such as scoring drills, crossbar challenges or even simple games of tag. This will endear you to your players, will develop a better relationship with them and it will lighten the mood in a far too serious world.

“If you see players who hate practice, their coach isn't doing a very good job.”  Bill Walsh (3 Time Superbowl Winning Coach)

Making a positive connection with your players can make all the difference in how they develop while under your influence. Making these connections requires some hard work and persistence but will prove rewarding in the end and its best to try develop these relationships as early as possible, trust me you won’t regret it. These are just some areas which have helped me in the past and I think will help you too. If anyone has any others to add, just leave a comment. Until next time.

Do everything better!

Des Shaw