Drew, what does Force look like in coaching and can you distill it down?
Here it goes, Dear Reader…
See, many coaches have valid reasons to project insecurity and yearn for more control over their players by limiting them to ‘their system’…
They don’t want to see this out there(click to watch):
Why do you think this dictum is real? If as a coach I can’t teach it means I don’t want to see it.
Are you waiting with bated breath?
The Force Coach restricts freedom so that it is never outside of his means to teach something.
The In-Powered Coach wants you to invent things he’s never seen before.
The Force Coach boxes you into his ‘field of competency’ (which isn’t very big)
The In-Powered Coach throws all the boxes away so that you are unlimited.
The Force Coach is limited when this happens…
I agree with Jon, but I’m going to push this a step further…
It comes down to not being able to teach the ‘how’. Not unwilling. Actually unable.
There’s a principle we will discuss in our upcoming In-Powered 101 Course that states:
You cannot share what you do not have
If you need 20 dollars cash this second and I don’t have it physically in my pocket, I can’t give it to you.
If a coach is saying, ‘work harder’ as a default response to a more nuanced issue, he doesn’t have the 20 dollars to give you by analogy.
He can’t teach what he doesn’t have the skill to teach.
The soundbite, ‘just get pucks out more’ or ‘work harder’ is a cope for a skill deficiency on the coach’s end. He’s hoping you’ll shut up and go away. He’s busy trying to ‘win’, he doesn’t have time for that teaching stuff…
Their incompetence in a skill you need you are then blamed for and guilted into feeling less than by their projection. The coach feels ‘attacked’ because deep down he knows he can’t ‘teach’ so feeling threatened he attacks you back and makes you feel guilty for ‘not getting pucks out’ or ‘insert whatever you’re being benched for’.
Understand this:
Where you are limited, you limit others
A Mental Model To-Go
Consider the Son Razor:
Assume if a coach can only talk about his ‘winning’ system, he has no capacity to develop ‘you’
Here’s a dad who seems crazy but ‘gets it’ and a lot more context:
Listen to this audio for more on the Son Razor
For more Power vs. Force in coaching, consider checking out the course.
Assists to:
Joel Cressman and Jon Lounsbury
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