Coach K is an example of a Progress Coach
What we find when it comes to most coaches of youth basketball, is that they generally fall into one of two camps. We have defined these two camps as PROCESS and OUTCOME.
The PROCESS coach comes from the “everyone gets a trophy” world of making sure that no one’s feelings are hurt especially if one child excels over another. They overemphasize the need for pure fun and try to level the playing field well past the early stages of development. These are the coaches who may mean well but lack a fundamental understanding of what makes sports special – the opportunity to compete and achieve to your full potential.
The OUTCOME coach comes from a “what’s in it for me and my ego” point of view, no matter what price to kids and parents it may cost. These are the guys yelling on the sidelines driving everyone crazy at tournaments, the ones who are only in it for the money or who make big promises and never come through. They fail to understand that what parents want most is to see their kids get better and what kids want most is to experience the joy of mastering the game.
Our ideal model for a coach is called a PROGRESS coach. A progress coach cares equally about process and outcome but never gets to an extreme with either. They care about the system AND the player. They use the process to get the outcome they want and that is progress.
Over the next week or so we will share more of what it means to be a PROGRESS coach.