Let the cobblers do the cobbling
Take home message
KNOW YOUR ROLE.
For Coaches
At times, you are the cobbler. Sometimes the lackey. It is ok to be a really good lackey.
For Athletes
Your role might be a supportive role. Not everyone has to put the ball in the net.
This is a favourite saying from one of my coaches (he has many). It is our way of working together. It is not him telling me to stay out of his way. Quite the opposite. He is very collaborative. In this analogy, my role is to collect the glue, replacement soles and other tools and bring them to the work station for the cobbler to do the cobbling. To let them do what only they can do and what they are good at.
It is about knowing what is and is not your role. For example, my role with hockey goal keepers is quite limited. The rationale that their key involvement is measured in seconds, leads to the belief that strength and power are critical. Well, they are. But in the desire to get very specific with movement patterns and exercises in the gym that look like goal keeping, I can very easily mess them up. See, in some respects, it is easy to keep the ball out of the net. Once. But if you don’t save it properly, you set yourself up for another shot and potential goal. Therefore, a key element of goal stopping is technical - to be able to save and clear the ball from danger, not just save it. And should it not be cleared well, be in a position to make another save (and not floundering on your back like a turtle). If I try to be specific (and start to put the shoe together so to speak), I could mess up the whole thing. My job is to help deliver a strong, robust, fit and fast athlete, and let someone else put it together.
For hockey field players, yes they need to be agile. But their agility can be determined by their arms, which are holding a stick, trying to control a ball. You can see the grey between skill and S&C here. I might know the player needs better footwork, but actually, it is not their feet, but the way they position the ball that clutters them. If the skills coach can help with that technique, then their footwork may improve. I come in where the ball is in the perfect spot and their feet are ‘in concrete’. That’s when the coach lets me do the cobbling.
Part of my role is to know who is the cobbler and who is the lackey, and there is nothing wrong being the lackey. The lackey has a very important role to help serve the cobbler (ie. coach) to put the pieces together. It is important to know where your skill set helps and where it hinders.
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Thanks again. BA.