Everyone goes through life looking at things in their own way. This is what we call perspective. A person may look at a situation and see it as an opportunity while another person looks at that same exact situation as a burden or obstacle.
“When you focus on the things you need . . . you’ll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don’t have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don’t have – and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose… But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person’s life”
This is a passage from a book that I have recently read, “The Noticer- Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective”. While the book is a great story and easy read I found myself taking a deeper look into how I do things as a coach. We, as coaches, have a completely different perspective on the game than our players, and most of the time our other coaches. So how can we take the time to use this to our advantage? How can more than one perspective on something benefit an individual or even an entire team? Today, I would like to go over the idea of perspective in a way you may have not used before!
FEEDBACK
The biggest thing that comes to mind when thinking about perspective in any gym that I coach in is feedback! Feedback is something that became very present in my playing career during college and is something that is stressed very highly with any team that I am a part of. There are a few types of feedback in sports, coach to player, player to player, coach to coach, and the one that I would like to dive into a little deeper player to coach.
Player to coach feedback, for the most part, is only present when a coach has a strong relationship with that player. This player may be around the program for a number of years and they are likely to be a captain. This relationship is great however a lot of the time the player and coach have similar perspectives on things. This makes the feedback to the coach something they usually see them self, so it acts more as a reassurance rather than a new outlook on things. I would challenge you the next time you are with your team to try and get some feedback from some players you do not have a strong relationship with. Here is what I mean…
As a coach I do a lot of private lesson work, or small group work when I am with my team. During the drill we will usually be working on a specific skill and I will be giving the most common feedback, coach to player. That is my job right? I could sit there and say what I see and correct or compliment that player for as long as time permits. But that is not good enough to me, I want to know their perspective on things to not only help them but to help ME! I ask them questions like- What do you feel? What are you thinking about? What are you seeing?
Many players at the start do not know what to say, but as I encourage the player to coach feedback more and more they begin to get comfortable. I begin to look at what that player is doing in their own perspective, as well as mine. This new comfort eventually carries over into competition. The trust and respect that I have as a coach towards my players allows me to ask what they see (most coaches know things look a lot different from the sidelines). We again take that multiple perspective outlook on things and use it to our advantage.
Of course getting to the point where you can use your players perspective in competition takes a lot of time, work, and trust. So, stick with the small things. During training or practice, ask them what they are feeling. After a mistake, ask what they saw or what they think they should have done. After a great play, ask them what felt good! Then take it a step further, ask your team what they liked about a drill, what they disliked? It may be tough to hear some criticism from your players but if you are truly invested in your team you will encourage their feedback!
Everyone has a different perspective on things, we are all unique in our own way! It is my firm belief that there is never a wrong perspective in the world, the only thing that can be wrong is denial that there is other perspectives out there! Embrace your players perspective, seek other coaches perspective, and continue to evolve YOUR PERSPECTIVE!
-Coach Windy
A Coach's Pursuit 