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"The Coach as Teacher"
By Dennis Gendron & K. Stenlund,
from Coaching Hockey Sucessfully

Coaching and teaching are synonymous. A coach must have a solid fundamental repertoire of teaching skills and know how and when to apply each. The purpose of teaching is to promote learning, and in hockey, learning can be defined as a change in behavior on the part of individual players that affects the culture of the team. An effective coach is someone who can motivate players to exhibit desired behaviors, with the team becoming the ultimate beneficiary. However, we all know that some teachers are more successful than others at achieving these outcomes. How can we as coaches give ourselves the greatest possible opportunity to become effective teachers? The answer can be traced to any coach’s understanding and abilities within the broad areas of preparation, delivery, and assessment. Let’s take a look at some “tricks of the trade” that will greatly affect these three areas in a positive way.

Preparation
As with successful teaching, successful coaching requires thoughtful preparation. The concept of preparation consists of many detailed areas including: time spent thinking about desired outcomes; what will be presented to your players; how this content will be presented; how it should be drilled; how the eventual outcomes will be analyzed; and most important, how the coach believes it will be received. Sometimes the best lesson plans fail to achieve the desired results because the players’ ability to receive the information and execute efficiently is not accurately evaluated.

Careful planning and consideration of probable player reactions do not guarantee that a lesson will succeed. Unforeseen circumstances may result in failed teaching/learning situations. You should not be embarrassed about a lesson gone awry. Coaches are allowed to make mistakes too. Mistakes can be minimized, however, and are less likely to reoccur when you have carefully attended to your preparation.

Delivery
Preparation and delivery are equally affected through this first example. As with many coaches, after you have designed your practice for the day, you probably look at your piece of paper and think to yourself, “There it is . . . the Rembrandt of all practice sessions!” It is, in your humble opinion, the ultimate practice plan, something that you have diligently sculpted for the satisfaction of your coaching staff and players alike. Now is the time to “set the table,” as you attempt to provide clear information for the work that follows. Before attempting to instruct, you must be certain that you have the complete attention of all your players. This simple, commonsense principle is often lost to the less experienced coach. When you have the full attention of the group or individual, the teaching/learning dynamic can begin. A key point here is to never allow players or assistant coaches to continue conversations once you’ve demanded attention. Understand that this is vital to your ability to teach effectively. At practice, a simple gimmick that can be used to ensure your players are attentive is to make them take a knee. Demand that they look you in the eye whether you are on the ice, in a dressing room, or at a meeting area. This teaching concept is an absolute must if you intend to create a learning environment within your team.

Learning Over Time
A difficult lesson for many teachers and coaches to grasp and accept is that learning takes time—often more time than you might care to take. We understand the skill sets, concepts, and tactics we teach. It can be difficult to accept that a concept or skill, which seems so simple for us to understand and execute can be so difficult for players to comprehend. As coaches, we want our players to understand and execute immediately. Unfortunately, sometimes learning is simply “lost in time,” and a coach must learn to be patient. If the players don’t learn immediately, it does not mean you are an ineffective coach, nor are you an unsuccessful coach if you don’t immediately learn the multitude of skills required to coach successfully.

Learning Through Different Styles
Each individual on your team has a unique learn-ing style and learning curve. Some players may be able to learn by simply listening to an explanation. My experience has been that most successful coaches eventually become skilled auditory learners. This means that you can listen to a verbal explanation of a drill, for example, and then visualize how it is supposed to look upon execution. Many of the individuals on your team may lack this ability. Some may require a chalkboard session. As with auditory learning, a degree of visualization skill is required to transform the lines, letters, and arrows into a clear mental picture of how it will occur on the ice.

Other players may require a physical demonstration to understand a teaching point. This could be a walk-through of your team’s system of play in selected situations or a demonstration of a skill technique. For example, assume you have to demonstrate how a defenseman walks toward the middle of the ice along the offensive blue line with the puck during a power play situation. The easiest way for your players to understand this skill is to watch you perform it accompanied by an explanation of why the skill is important. If you or your assistant coach cannot demonstrate this because your own skill level is inadequate, utilize a skilled player or an instructional videotape. If you cannot find the desired skill properly demonstrated on an instructional tape, try taping a college or professional game from television and finding the desired skill to show your players.

To accommodate the many different learning styles, you as coach must be prepared to incorporate various teaching styles. This way, you will discover what works best for developing each topic and what works best for each individual. Depending on the complexity of what is being taught, it is possible that any approach will work for almost any player. If you vary your style of presentation, you reduce the likelihood of creating a boring environment. How do you vary your presentation methods? At times, the coach simply talks to the team about desired outcomes. Sometimes it means an on-ice demonstration. At other times, it may mean a chalkboard session or a review of performance using videotape. It might include bringing in a famous athlete to speak to the team or having a sport psychologist make a presentation to drive home important mental aspects of playing the game well.

Lastly, remember that all questions are valid questions! The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked. Model this attitude for your players so that, over time, they will become comfortable with asking you for advice or general information. If you ridicule players for seeking understanding, they will shut off the two-way dynamic that is critical for effective learning. This is a form of respect the teacher/coach must have with all students/athletes. Although some questions may appear to be a waste of time because the answers seem obvious, realize that it may be obvious to everyone except the person asking the question and that their self-esteem may be on the line.

Assessment
Another important concept for successful teaching is recognizing when unpredictable opportunities arise for the teaching/learning dynamic. These opportunities represent what is often referred to as a teaching or coaching “moment.” For example, you may have been talking to your team about the importance of not retaliating when opponents use their sticks on your players. During a game, right in front of your bench where all your players have a clear view, an opponent slashes one of your players. Your player doesn’t retaliate. At that precise moment, you would be wise to point this out to the team while praising the individual who did not retaliate. Make the player a hero in the eyes of the other team members. Reinforcement through teachable moments has the potential to be a very powerful teaching tool as you attempt to mold attitudes on your bench! Emerson once wrote, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” and I tend to agree, at least within the context of sport. No matter what you are teaching, you had better show your players that you are interested and excited about what you are preaching and delivering. If you are enthusiastic about the material, your players are more likely to be enthusiastic about learning it. In addition, you should be the number-one believer in the material you present. If you appear uncertain about the value of your lesson plan, this will surely be evident to your players, and the results probably won’t be positive.

This section of the chapter has reflected on the coach as a teacher. Remember that teaching is the single most important coaching skill and represents the true essence of coaching. If your teaching skills are solid, it will compensate for inefficiencies in other areas of your coaching repertoire. Without solid teaching mechanics, your potential for becoming an effective and successful coach is greatly diminished.

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*This excerpt is from the book "Coaching Hockey Successfully" by Dennis F. Gendron, K. Vern Stenlund and is used by the permission of Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., http://www.humankinetics.com
**To reprint this excerpt with permission from Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc., please contact the publicity department at 1-800-747-4457 or publicity@hkusa.com. © 2006 Human Kinetics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.