What does it mean to be coachable?

The latest high school season ended a month ago. After taking time off I am just now beginning to analyze our performance.  I have found it prudent to allow time for the emotions of the season to pass and also for myself to become rejuvenated from the grind.  How do I know when to begin again the process?  When I start yearning to be actively coaching again, it is time.

As I have reflected upon the season just passed, the theme that has emerged is "coach-ability."  This might seem a straight forward subject, but it is not. For example, is a player uncoachable or has the coach failed to find the best way to coach a player?

The hallmark of my teams has always been defense. They have always featured stout if not stifling defense that fuels a fast paced balanced counter-attacking offensive style. Not this past season.  We allowed 2.12 goals per game which is abysmal by my standards. The most important question to be asked is, why?

In analyzing the goals we allowed certain trends become apparent.  First, our backs were overly aggressive at times - they often dove in or stabbed at the ball instead of containing the attacker. This was something we addressed in training on a regular basis to little avail.  Secondly we were caught very flat or lacking defensive support on a far too regular basis - death to a zonal defense.  Again, this is something that was addressed on a regular if not daily basis in training.

So, now the question becomes, were the players uncoachable or did the coaching fail to reach the players?  I know from experience my coaching methodology has worked in the past. Was my approach with this group of individuals off or were they simply uncoachable?

Mistakes are welcomed if we learn from them.  And this is where we begin to uncover where the problem lay this past season.  Repeated mistakes become bad habits and we repeated the same mistakes in our back line on a regular basis.  No matter the approach in training the mistakes remained the same and constant. We simply could not overcome established bad habits.

I submit there are varying degrees of coachability

Not coachable: The know it all. Not receptive to instruction. Listens only to his own voice.

Selectively coachable: Does what is asked but only when it is self-serving. Mostly does whatever he wants.

Reluctantly coachable: Goes through the motions but doesn't fully embrace coaching. Reluctantly committed.

Coachable: Does everything asked of him. Surrenders self to the TEAM.  Trusts and empowers coaching.

When our performance is looked at in the context of the above scale, it becomes abundantly clear why we struggled defensively this past season. Team Culture was and will continue to be a frequent topic of conversation. In some ways, this past team was extremely selfish. That might sound harsh, so, in simpler terms, we had players whose excellence was defined by their arms and legs more so than by their heads and hearts. And let there be no doubt about it, this was apparent whenever we encountered adversity this season.

Now in my third decade of coaching I have seen my fair share of players who refused to take coaching, rejected instruction and eschewed the earned experience of those who would help them. Mostly I have seen the game pass these players by or seen them languish in mediocrity due to their arrogance, anger, subversion or low self-esteem. I have also seen plenty of players make transformative changes in their approach to the game that lead to TEAM success and earned them the individual accolades they had so desperately sought on their own.

How does a coach overcome a players inability or reluctance to take coaching?

I can identify "problem players" at the moment when I intervene with advice, instruction or criticism. It is at that moment when the athlete makes a choice between responding positively or reacting negatively that determines his destiny as a player. This can also be said of a team as a whole. Unless a coach can somehow influence a change from negative to positive in the player and or team

Can coachability be developed?

I have had some past success with this. Discovering a players motivation to learn and improve - what buttons to push to energize the players learning process is a key.  The individuals goals as a player are another.  What does the player wish to achieve and can he be convinced the coach holds the best interests of the player in mind as well? Which leads us to the player / coach relationship. This is where I failed with some individuals and therefore for the team this past season.

To be honest, the culture shift we implemented in the program this season was drastic and there was a certain (and expected) level of backlash against new rules and standards. The demand of players that they be subservient to TEAM instead of self was difficult for some to grasp let alone adhere to. Our disciplinary issues mostly fell into this realm.

In the Mel Gibson movie "The Patriot" the militia are an undisciplined lot who break ranks and flee in retreat at the first sign of adversity. They must learn to trust one another and band together tactically to become greater than the sum of their individual parts before they can turn the tide of battle in their favor and rout the British.  It took time, but they eventually found their way.

So, yes, coachability can be developed. Learning to trust one another is the foundation that must be established. Making self subservient to TEAM is a major step. The simple proposition that an individual will sacrifice his own selfish desires, needs, wants for the good of the TEAM is what must be brought forth. This can best be accomplished through building relationships that help the student athlete buy in to the TEAM philosophy.  This is what occurs in the movie "Remember the Titans" where a diverse group of high school athletes overcome social differences and selfishness to become a TEAM far greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Coachability is a state of mind. It is about having the internal strength to trust teammates and coaching to achieve more together than the individual can achieve on his own. The transformation that must sometimes occur is about learning to willingly allow one's self to be subservient to the TEAM's whole. Developing an understanding that excellence is defined by head and heart even more so than by legs and arms must occur. When these things are allowed to blossom and grow transformative change from selfishness to selflessness can occur. That's when I have seen an uncoachable player turn into a coachable player.