Should you have a coaching philosophy?

As a coach, be it technical, tactical or a performance coach, you will often be asked ‘What is your coaching philosophy?’ To be honest I am not a fan of this question. Whenever I hear this, I always think of what Buddy Morris, Head of Strength & Conditioning at the Arizona Cardinals said:

‘Philosophies are for philosophers’

I couldn’t agree more with this statement.

We work in an industry where the marker is constantly moving, the athletes are evolving and the sport is forever changing. To stick to one coaching philosophy would be a disservice to your team and athletes. We must remember that no two athletes are the same; each athlete will learn in different ways be it visual, auditory, reading or kinaesthetic. Each athlete will have different personality traits such as being introverted, extroverted, etc. Athletes also respond to different stimuli. Just because one programme or method worked for one athlete does not mean it will automatically work for others.

Sport is forever changing and staying in one discipline is never a guarantee. If we look at rugby for example and take a look at some of the backs in the game nowadays, very often some of the biggest players on the field now are backs, whereas if we go back 10 years this wouldn’t be the case. The demands and physicality of rugby has evolved over the years, therefore as coaches we need to stay up to date with these changes to ensure the athletes are able to handle the demands of the game. This applies to all sports; high performance is pretty much in every professional/Olympic sport these days therefore staying up to date with demands and changes in these sports are crucial.

As coaches we are never really guaranteed a job for life with one team, let alone one sport, therefore it’s imperative we do not stick to one philosophy of coaching. That’s one of the things I noticed hugely going from coaching professional rugby players in the UK to coaching Olympic athletes in China, if I coached how I did back in the UK here in China it just wouldn’t work, the athletes are different, the sport is different, the culture is different.

In my opinion as coaches we must be chameleons, we need to be able to blend into the environment we are in. Yes, it’s important to follow what you believe in as a coach but there needs to be room to change within these beliefs based on the sport, athlete and environment.

As Keir Wenham-Flatt previously said, ‘Every coach’s philosophy should be nothing more or less than to make their athlete be a PhD in every area of his or her sport’. That’s it, we should be doing whatever it takes to make sure our team/ athlete is the best they can possibly be in his or her sport, if your philosophy isn’t doing that and you aren’t changing then what is the purpose of you being there?

Thank you for reading,

JD