Great Player Make Poor Coaches

[Kenny Croxdale]

Great Player Make Poor Coaches

This is a preface the the article below.

One of the greatest misconcepition in sport and business is that Great Player make Good Coaches.

Ironically, the majority of Great Platers, lifters, usually are Poor Coaches.

With that said there are a few exception to the rule.

As per Dr Sian Beilock, Ph.D regarding Great Players, "They know what to do, but they can't communicate how they do it!"

Beilock is an "...Expert on why people choke under pressure and how to fix it."
Sian Beilock Ph.D.

SPORTS PSYCHING: Playing Your Best Game All of the Time
Amazon product ASIN 0874771366
This is one of the best book on how to handle competition presssure, harness it and make it work for you is...

This Is The Real Reason The Best Athletes Usually Make The Worst Coaches
This Is The Real Reason The Best Athletes Usually Make The Worst Coaches

...To be a coach, you don’t necessarily need to be a great athlete. You need instincts -- and the type of charismatic personality that gets the guys around you fired up to play. Most importantly, you need to know how to win games -- not necessarily have the athletic ability to do it yourself.

Take Vince Lombardi, for example, the man who most consider the greatest football coach of all time. Despite winning five NFL Championships -- and the first two Super Bowls -- Lombardi never played football professionally.

Lombardi just understood the game and was great at translating his knowledge to his players. Although his own football skill set might have not been too profound, he was remarkable at elevating the skill sets of his players. And that’s what matters as a coach.

Just because you’re able to excel at a sport as a player doesn’t mean you’ll excel at teaching the sport to others. Sure, it probably doesn’t hurt to have achieved some level of success as a player prior to coaching, but the two are far from being causally related.

In fact, according to Sian Beilock Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, the best players rarely make the best coaches:

As you get better and better at what you do, your ability to communicate your understanding or to help others learn that skill often gets worse and worse.

Sure, you might have a world class jump shot, but unless you’re able to pass that skill on to the players around you, you’ll never be a good coach. As Beilock explains, many of the top athletes rarely are able to communicate how or why they’re so talented.

...Amazing athletes whose coaching tenures weren't nearly as impressive as their playing careers:

1) Wayne Gretsky

2) Magic Johnson

3) Isiah Thomas

4) Ted Williams

 

[Boris Bachmann]

Shigeo Nagashima, one of the greatest Japanese professional baseball players of all time, became a very successful manager of the Tokyo Giants after his playing career ended. He is famous for many Yogi Berra-esque anecdotes and quotes. While guest coaching at a youth clinic, he reportedly said:

"The ball's going come in like zooot! There you gotta get your stance like hrrrummph and then go VOOM with the hips! After that, you hit it like BAH-BOOOOM!"

This story was probably the basis for this scene from The Boy and The Beast:

 

[offwidth]

Shigeo Nagashima, one of the greatest Japanese professional baseball players of all time, became a very successful manager of the Tokyo Giants after his playing career ended. He is famous for many Yogi Berra-esque anecdotes and quotes. While guest coaching at a youth clinic, he reportedly said:


This story was probably the basis for this scene from The Boy and The Beast:

Classic. Reminds me of when I was learning Japanese sword….

 

[3letterslong]

1) Wayne Gretsky

I just want to share my favourite bit of trivia about Wayne Gretzky's dominance in hockey:

There have been many NHL family dynasties: groups of brothers who rose to the top of the game, dominating in point scoring and setting records along the way. Many people don't know that Wayne had a brother, Brent, who played professionally and together they hold the all-time record of the highest number of points combined between any two brothers with a staggering 2861 combined points.

Brent scored 4 of those points.

 

[Hung]

I just love this guy.
And he had 3 Champions League title with Real Madrid.
I don't disagree with what Kenny share, but thinking about Zidane 's work...just wow

 

[offwidth]

I also agree with Kenny’s post, but since we have started sharing exceptions…

Steve House

Mark Twight

Tom Randall

 

[Torin]

I also agree with Kenny’s post, but since we have started sharing exceptions…

In this same vein...

Dan Gable
Cael Sanderson

 

[svencandy]

I'd have to agree.
Ive played under 2 rugby coaches that represented their country, one Australia, the other Canada.
Both were terrible coaches.
The short chubby unathletic gambling addict was the best coach I ever had, and turned our team from division 2 water treaders into division 1 champions in the space of 2 years.

 

[Kozushi]

Are we just talking about team sports? I would have thought that for individual sports there would be more of a correlation.

 

[Boris Bachmann]

To be fair, I've known terrible coaches who were great athletes, AND terrible coaches who were terrible athletes.

 

[watchnerd]

I don't remember where I read it, but there is a saying that the best coaches are frustrated mediocre former athletes who had to try harder and train smarter to even have a chance.

 

[Antti]

I just love this guy.
And he had 3 Champions League title with Real Madrid.
I don't disagree with what Kenny share, but thinking about Zidane 's work...just wow

I instinctively approach the proposition from the football angle, and to me it seems that plenty of great players become great coaches.

What's interesting, is how the midfield position seems to be more prominent than others. I suppose it's not a surprise, though.

I would expect it to be a given that success as an athlete in a sport does not make one automatically a good coach. However, depending on the sport, I'd say that a certain amount of actual sport experience is beneficial. Continuing the football angle, I can see a head coach having not played football professionally. But a wrestling coach wouldn't have wrestled herself? Sounds far more far fetched to me. I suppose individual skill coaches in football would also benefit from the player aspect, like a goalkeeping coach having been a goalkeeper.

 

[Steve Freides]

Great Player Make Poor Coaches

This paints with too broad a brush, IMO.

To be fair, I've known terrible coaches who were great athletes, AND terrible coaches who were terrible athletes.

I think every possible combination is out there, including great coaches who were great athletes.

I don't remember where I read it, but there is a saying that the best coaches are frustrated mediocre former athletes who had to try harder and train smarter to even have a chance.

In this I'd want to define "mediocre" - a mediocre baseball player who made it to the majors but didn't have a stellar career there is still far above being a mediocre athlete.

-S-

 

[watchnerd]

This paints with too broad a brush, IMO.


I think every possible combination is out there, including great coaches who were great athletes.


In this I'd want to define "mediocre" - a mediocre baseball player who made it to the majors but didn't have a stellar career there is still far above being a mediocre athlete.

-S-

Or Div 1, didn't make it to NFL.

 

[bluejeff]

I don't remember where I read it, but there is a saying that the best coaches are frustrated mediocre former athletes who had to try harder and train smarter to even have a chance.

I've heard that idea before somewhere too. To a degree, it mirrors what I've seen. Most of the best biomechanical info I've ever learned came from people who weren't "specimens," so to speak.

I wrote and rewrote a post a couple times before realizing that I'm not sure what the point of the original post is. That pro athletes should not coach just based on this? Imagine playing a sport for decades, wanting to pass something on, and then everyone telling you, "sorry, great athletes make bad coaches." If someone produces results, great. If not, it will be apparent.

I can't speak to team sports (not at all my wheelhouse) but in personal training, etc, if you aren't getting the results you're after, either a) your trainer needs to improve their communication skills, b) you aren't complying and adhering to their "prescriptions" or c) a combination of both.

A good trainer:
-doesn't apply a one-size-fits-all method
-applies individualized technique to their clients
-motivates their clients in a healthy way
-isn't afraid to say "I don't know." They know their limits and aren't afraid to refer to people better qualified when it comes to it.
-is open about the last point. They don't claim that their way is the best ever.

 

[Steve Freides]

I'm not sure what the point of the original post is.

"Great Players Make Poor Coaches" ought to be "Great Players Don't Necessarily Make Great Coaches" - that's the problem with the original post, IMO.

-S-

 

[watchnerd]

I've heard that idea before somewhere too. To a degree, it mirrors what I've seen. Most of the best biomechanical info I've ever learned came from people who weren't "specimens," so to speak.

???

Biomechanics is a scientific discipline.

Why would it map to having a good physique at all?

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

This paints with too broad a brush, IMO.

As I noted there are some exceptions. However, they are minimal.

Based on the research information provided, generally great player don't make good coaches.

Do you homework and come to you own conclustion.

 

[watchnerd]

As I noted there are some exceptions. However, they are minimal.

Based on the research information provided, generally great player don't make good coaches.

Do you homework and come to you own conclustion.

And great coaches can only get so far with less-than-stellar athletes.

When I played D1 college football, Bill Wash had just recently left the 'dynasty years' of coaching the San Francisco 49ers through several Super Bowl wins and brought his playbook to the university.

After a few months he told us:

"You kids may be the smartest football players I've ever worked with. You know the whole playbook better than many of the pros.

The problem is, you can't pull the plays off."

 

[Boris Bachmann]

And great coaches can only get so far with less-than-stellar athletes.

When I played D1 college football, Bill Wash had just recently left the 'dynasty years' of coaching the San Francisco 49ers through several Super Bowl wins and brought his playbook to the university.

After a few months he told us:

"You kids may be the smartest football players I've ever worked with. You know the whole playbook better than many of the pros.

The problem is, you can't pull the plays off."

Again, to be fair, the right athletes can make even the worst coach look pretty solid. (and of course, if it needs to be said, the reverse is also true)