Website of the Week Award  3/11/05

The coach is wrong, right?
(Not necessarily!)

I had a coach write to me, concerned about his team's record.
It seems he had the horses,
but they couldn't pull the wagon straight to town.
They were zig-zagging all over the place.

He said, "I'm beginning to think that it's me. 
I asked, "Is it you or, is it the system?
 He replied, "I don't know, they're not following the system."
I blasted him, "You'll never know if you are the problem until the team follows the system that you've laid out for them.  Once they follow the  system, if that doesn't work, then change the system.  If you don't have the right system then either get one or get out of town."

People think it's the driver, (the coach).  It's not the driver,
Picture a dog sled team...
If his dogs aren't properly trained, as soon as one of those horses pulls in the wrong direction, all the other dogs have to work harder to keep that sled going in the right direction.  Sometimes, all you need is one guy to miss an assignment, not to backcheck or decide, he's gonna do it his way, and the whole system breaks down.

Here's what a local paper,
(that doesn't think much of youth hockey), printed...

Theo Fleury
on Former Rangers Coach John Muckler

"It's not his fault, it's us!  That's what we have to realize.
When we follow the game plan,
when we do what the coaches want us to do we get results.  We win.
It's when we don't do what he wants us to do that we get into trouble."

Players,   Here's the lesson...
The majority of the time, the coach is not the problem.  The first objective is, you've got to follow the system.  If it doesn't work, the coach should have an alternate plan.  But if you can't follow the system, he'll just keep working on it until you follow it.  The only way to prove a system doesn't work is by following it.  (And that means everybody, all the time.)  Then, at least the  coach can see that it's not working.

The next level...
Here's what's going to happen when you get to the next level, and you can't follow the system.
  At best, you'll watch alot (from the bench).
  At worst, you'll have to pay for a ticket to watch (from the stands).

Different coaches have different systems.  The player who learns and executes the system fits into the coach's plans much sooner  than those who insist on doing it their own way. 
So pay attention to the diagrams, ask if you don't understand and get with the
system.  You’ll see the difference.   

Roach

TopShel f