Just wanted to take some time to put down a few tips that would have been really helpful for me when I was starting out. I was fortunate to have knowledgeable coaches in college and was able to establish a great knowledge base during my athletic career. I became a student of my sport and this allowed me to hit the ground running as a coach as well. Some of you may not have been college athletes or may not have had the chance to get exposed to a lot of coaching information, training theories, etc. It is easy to get overwhelmed. Whether you have a large knowledge base or not, if you follow the three tips below it can make getting started much easier.

1. Create a Plan
As a new coach, I think formulating a year and/or season plan is vital. Take some time to sit down and think about how you want your season to progress. Doing this in the off-season over the course of a few days or weeks allows you carefully craft your training, when you are in a relaxed and thoughtful state of mind. I highly recommend putting something on paper as well. Throughout a season there are certainly going to be multiple times when an athlete or the whole team has to deviate from this plan but having it as a point of reference can be extremely helpful. It can also serve to help you make the necessary adjustments to next season's training plan. Without a written plan, it is easy to make adjustment after adjustment until, all of a sudden, you are 180 degrees from where you want to be going with your team!

As you gain experience, more and more of the planning takes place in your head and you may find you don't want to take the time to put it all down on paper. I understand completely. As I have gained experience, I have certainly gotten better at knowing when and what we need to be doing on any given day or week of a season, but I also like to refer to my year plan from time to time to make sure we are within the framework of what I envisioned at the beginning of the year. There has been a point in every season where I have questioned what we are doing as a group. Without a plan to refer back to, it would be easy to abandon a great training plan at the first sign of doubt. My plans have allowed me to work through those periods and fortunately, my athletes have benefited every year.

2. Ask Why?
Why do you do what you do as a coach? What is your philosophy? These are some great questions to ask yourself and reflect on all the time. From a practical standpoint, ask yourself why you are asking your athletes to run a specific workout or do a specific exercise or drill. When I am writing my workouts, every aspect has to pass the "Why?" test. If I can't come up with a reason why we are doing something, we don't do it. It should be that simple. And answering, "because I thought it looked cool" isn't a sufficient answer. If you see a high-level coach doing a drill but don't have a clue why they do that with their athletes, don't do it! Just because you saw a great coach doing something doesn't mean you should do it. Stick to things you know and are able to explain, even if they are simple. 

3. Keep it Simple
Simplicity is extremely effective in coaching. If you have ever been an athlete you understand this. When you've got a bunch of things going on in your head you usually get overwhelmed and can't do any of them! Give your athletes brief and simple coaching cues and allow them to focus on one or two things at time. The biggest mistake beginner coaches make is "over-coaching." A lot of the time it is the result of truly wanting to help the athlete, but occasionally it's because a coach's ego gets in the way. New coaches are often eager to share all their knowledge, and end up dumping it all out on athletes at one time. Allow athletes to process information and improve one or two skills at a time rather than bombarding them out of the gate.

This applies to your training as well. Complexity forces athletes to slow down. Keep exercises simple enough so that they can be aggressive and attack them at full speed, especially with beginners. There is a time and place for complexity but again if you don't know when or why, leave it alone.

I wanted to post the survey I have been using with my athletes this season. It covers physical & mental stress, well-being, sleep, etc. One key when using something like this is to ensure you are taking the survey as close as possible to the same time each week, so you can get as consistent data as possible. It has been really valuable for me to identify areas that my athletes as a group struggle and to monitor athletes on an individual basis as well.

 You can download a PDF of the survey at the link at the bottom of this post.