Are you for gun control or against it?
Are you a coach that uses random training or block training?
Do you believe in the ecological dynamics or information processing form of coaching?
It's either or. Our national debate has become binary: yes or no? Right or left? Republican or Democrat? Pro or Anti?
Except, is this how life really is?
For fundraisers, it IS their world. The more divide, the more vitriol, the more anger they can concoct, the more money flows into their coffers.
But the rest of the country isn't so polarized. Many people are in the middle- the gray. Some like some of one side's arguments and some of the other side's arguments. For the money grab, pundits from both sides will pull hard to get these folks to choose a side. But many of us understand that these arguments have complexities and can't be decided by three paragraphs on a leaflet or a customized website with a "donate here" button attached.
The same is true for coaching. Our profession is NOT black and white!
Embrace the gray!
Random or blocked training. Why can't you use both? While our game is random and it's beneficial to train the way your game is played, can't block training help with some skill work, or help with certain athletes? Why do we have to draw a line down our gym and choose sides?
Currently, the Ecological Dynamics approach to Coaching is getting a lot of interest, discussion and argument. It is fundamentally opposite of the way most coaches were taught to coach AND the way they currently teach. Heels are dug in, the line is the sand a growing chasm every day.
But the reality is, there is a lot to look at here. Giving our athletes more autonomy is a proven scientific trope for happier and more engaged athletes. This works better with the way our brains learn. It is 100% the only way to teach? Maybe not, but as a coach, aren't we supposed to find the best ways to reach and teach our young athletes? If dipping from both ponds is a better learning environment, why would you dismiss it just because it's "new" or it doesn't align with your current teaching/coaching style?
Leonard Cohen once wrote, "There are cracks in everything, that's how the light gets in!" We have no interest in debating politics here. We are looking at coaching and asking you, as a coach, to constantly keep learning. Embrace humility, learn from others, take the good you see and jettison the bad that is unreliable and not working in your trainings.
Binary coaching may have worked well 30-40 years ago, when options for sports and athletes was limited. But today, every athlete has 10 options for their time, dozens of sports dot the landscape and coaches are often the greatest conduit to success and failure for impressionable youth.
Embrace the gray!
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