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Tide_Fan

Coaching By Example

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I suspect this is a touchy topic, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last few days. I attended a football coaching clinic this past weekend (a mix of about 300 youth, high school, and college coaches). One of the sessions was taught by a local high school Offensive Line coach. This particular session was primarily for Youth coaches, and about 100 of us were in the session.

The coach presenting was at least 100 pounds overweight. He bent over to show a 3 point stance and nearly fell over when his “leg cramped.” He spoke a little about how he trains his players, and seemed proud that he “didn’t allow his guys to drink soda during the season.” The guy looked like a walking heart attack.

To be honest, I had a hard time listening to his advice on O-line coaching because , I think, subconsciously, I questioned his credibility. He coaches for one of the best private high schools in the state, so I have to assume he knows what he’s talking about. Still, it made me wonder:

Do youth coaches have a responsibility to lead by example when it comes to health and fitness?

There are certainly several examples of successful overweight coaches in the NFL (e.g. Andy Reid, Mike Holmgren), and I’m sure there are examples in college ball as well. But at that level, I don’t think the players look to the coach to lead by example when it comes to physical fitness.

I think we do have a responsibility to lead these kids by example. I’m not personally overweight (6’2”, 190 lbs), but I rarely work-out and know I need to improve my fitness. If I got anything out of that clinic session, it’s that I better be able to execute any of the drills I’m asking my kids to do without having to call 911. :)

I hope this topic doesn’t offend anyone. I know, as youth coaches, we all make huge time commitments and sacrifices to better the lives of kids.

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I think we do have a responsibility to lead these kids by example. I’m not personally overweight (6’2”, 190 lbs), but I rarely work-out and know I need to improve my fitness. If I got anything out of that clinic session, it’s that I better be able to execute any of the drills I’m asking my kids to do without having to call 911. :)

I hope this topic doesn’t offend anyone. I know, as youth coaches, we all make huge time commitments and sacrifices to better the lives of kids.

Just about every coaching course I've taken (admittedly mostly soccer), and at every level, the instructor has made the point several times that coaches need to make effort at physical fitness, even though they don't need to be able to run marathons or play their sport at a high level. I don't think you necessarily need to perform all the skills that you're getting your kids to learn, but you need to be able to describe them and get another player to demo them. But, a coach that spends some of his/her time on fitness, looks the part at practice and on game day, and is prepared, will be taken much more seriously than one who is wheezing after 8 steps and doesn't have his/her practice/game planned out.

A bonus to coaches participating in fitness, is that your players get to see that yes, games are a lot of fun, but in order to get better there will be a time as they get older when you have to do fitness work outside of practice on your own. I do triathlons (I'm not great at them - I just try to finish and not die), and I'm constantly talking with my players about how much time I put in at 0500 at the pool so that come race day I can do the whole race. Not that I expect 10 y/o's to run 3 miles a day, but letting them know that as they get older, the fitness side of the game becomes more their responsibility, especially in high school and beyond.

Personally, one of my goals as a coach is to get kids to love the sport to the extent that they play it on their own time and will enjoy physical activity so much that they'll do it for the rest of their lives. I'd like to have kids that are playing flag football in college and beyond, or playing indoor soccer in an over-40 league when they get older. I think when kids see a coach that enjoys playing the sport they're coaching, that enthusiasm is contagious.

One HUGE recommendation for those of you that are wound a bit tighter than others (like me). I try and make sure to always do a workout the morning of gameday (which is just about every Saturday & Sunday), for at least 30 minutes. A run, bike, swim, etc. Something that is tiring, but allows your body to shed some stress. It's worked wonders for me, especially in that I don't let the small things bother me as much during games (ref no-calls, parents, etc.).

PF

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I'm personally not in shape at all lol...But I can definitely show the kids all the drills that we need to do.I actually have torn my achilles tendon and i still have no problem doing the drills.This is something I always made sure about before the season started.I take it as how can the kids do something right if I cant even show them how I want it done.We usually even run with kid during sprints and our small conditioning that we do.We challenge them to see if they can beat us.I enjoy that part and the kids do also

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I agree that we as coaches should set an example for our players. I am slightly overweight, but since I started coaching, I have made an effort to stay in reasonable shape (I can run all the routes and demonstrate all the drills easily). Just this season I have made a bigger effort to get more healthy and work out every day.

It is sad, but we do as a society judge people by their looks. Mark MAngino the HC at Kansas is a great example. He is a great coach, and I think if he wasn't so grossly overweight would be a HC at a premier Div. 1 school.

I don't agree with it, but it's there...

Pointy,

Your tip about relieving some stress through exercise on game day is a great one. This last season I often found myself wound so tight by gametime that I couldn't even think straight. Getting a good workout would really help (and dropping all caffeine that day too).

Thanks for the tip!!

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Some of the better youth coaches I see are very out of shape. My youngest brother played Pop Warner for a couple of guys who were both 100+ overweight and they were undefeated.

Here is something funny: I'm in pretty good shape, I work out and run regularly. I can do 5k's in under 23 minutes, not lightning but in decent shape. During the season I decided to challenge the kids during some of the sprints and endurance related drills I was making them do. It turns out it was a lot harder than it looked! I was breathing so heavily I wasn't able to talk much so I told them all to take a water break. After that I had a lot more respect for what I was challenging them to do.

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Some of the better youth coaches I see are very out of shape. My youngest brother played Pop Warner for a couple of guys who were both 100+ overweight and they were undefeated.

I don't think it HAS to hurt a coach being adverse to fitness, I just think public perception of a coach that is wheezing from walking is that he's not very athletic. But, you're right, many coaches don't look like they could play the sport if their life depends on it, but they might be pretty good coaches. I would counter that with saying part of being a coach is setting an example for kids to look up to by showing a lifetime commitment to excercise is the reason we get kids into sports.

Here is something funny: I'm in pretty good shape, I work out and run regularly. I can do 5k's in under 23 minutes, not lightning but in decent shape. During the season I decided to challenge the kids during some of the sprints and endurance related drills I was making them do. It turns out it was a lot harder than it looked! I was breathing so heavily I wasn't able to talk much so I told them all to take a water break. After that I had a lot more respect for what I was challenging them to do.

haha - that's a good story. I'm same way, but I needed a harsh lesson of running/biking/swimming for endurance does not equal full-out sprints. I don't know about you all, but everytime I walk by a field and here a fat parent yelling for their kid to "hustle out there" and "be aggressive" when it's 90degrees, I want to tell them to get off their butts and see if they can sprint the length of the field even 2x. Kids vs. parents used to be a "joke" when they were 8 y/o, but you don't get as many parent volunteers as they get 11-12 and up because the parents are sucking wind after 3 minutes!

PF

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Tide, this is a GREAT post!

First, I feel I am out of shape (for my standards). You, sir, have offended me. :-)

I grew up in an environment where physical fitness was of utmost importance. I played every sport imaginable. Football and tennis were my two main sports. My family was a big tennis family. I have an uncle that played in the ATP, and a cousin who played in the WTA. As much as I loved tennis (and still do) , I knew my frame (stalky) would not allow for it, so I focused on football---where they stuck me at Center.

Then, I graduated college, took an office job, and married a gourmet cook. Physical fitness is a very important role in our family (my wife and both kids are in incredible shape), but I like to eat too much. :-)

I don't preach physical fitness to my players. I am a rec coach and figure that responsibility falls directly on the parents (another topic by itself, I know).

I EXPECT my players to be incredibly physically fit. Although I am not now, I sure as heck was when I was back then, and have no doubt I would have run circles around all my players when I was that age (geez, I sound old)---and I let the players know that. Ha! With that---I have yet to have a fitness problem with any player.

Growing up, I had very little respect for any of my "fat" coaches---although I probably never thought about it until I was 13 or so. With that, I don't believe physical fitness affects a coach. My favorite coach of all time (Jimmy Johnson)was fat (although I respected the fact when he was younger he played college ball).

It's all about perception, which is true in every aspect of life, obviously. Perception, however, is a shallow concept and most thinking people go by actions of the people---especially those donating their time for their community as we coaches do.

The way I see it, if coaches were required to pass a physical fitness test, we'd have missed out on a lot of great coaches. It's not the right way to filter out coaches, in my opinion, but certainly being physically fit should be on the minds of all us 38+ year olds who've let themselves slip the past decade. :-(

Once again----nice post. This is a very interesting topic!

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