For some of you this won’t have to be a ‘thought experiment’.
For some of you, you might not be able to pretend on this subject.
But what if for a period of time, call it a half an hour… You could hold this thought in your mind and explore the possibilities.
Ready?
There are no ‘best practices’ in coaching.
Breathe and let the anger pass…
There are no ‘best practices’ in coaching.
Exposure therapy. Less negative response.
There are no ‘best practices’ in coaching.
We good?
I know in my world that coaching isn’t science. For me it’s art. Period.
It was science in my first go around and I was a stiff, professional with a metric fuck ton of self-importance based on how much of the ‘science’ I knew.
And it went horribly sideways for our team, and for myself.
Now when I walk into the rink, I think in terms of creativity:
What are the players accustomed to and how can I break their ‘attractor state’ in a way they’ll remember and prefer it this way?
How can I communicate this idea creatively, not like a stiff coach who knows more than them
In what way can I change the order of operations at practice today to increase engagement/interest?
How can I market my message outside of the box here?
What assumptions of ‘how to coach’ can I leave at the door?
If there aren’t ‘best practices’ in our field, that frees you up to not do it like Coach K, Urban Meyer, Jon Cooper, Jose Mourinho, or any other coach who has a book to read out there.
Have you asked your heart what feels right to you? How do you want to approach gameday?
How you might not believe in incessantly practice planning?
Is pre-scouting something you could live without?
Do you need to run a practice today, or could you play team handball and that would be ‘more productive’ than getting on the ice?
Things don’t have to be binary.
It doesn’t have to be practice or off-day. There are infinite possibilities in between.
Start experimenting with what feels like you.
If there aren’t best practices, there’s no need to copy.