Chapter 12·The Coaching Gap
Designed Alliance
The first conversation is not about their goals. It's about us.
RECEIVING THE FEEDBACK · THE SEQUENCE
The first five seconds decide whether the alliance is real.
To a player, a tomorrow that never comes is worse than a no.
THE PROMISE NOBODY SAYS OUT LOUD
Ask a coach what they expect from players: instant answer. Ask what players can expect from them: a pause. Decide it, then say it out loud. Both directions.
THE TWO-AND-TWO
Two things they're doing well. Two things that would move them. Not a promise about outcomes, a mechanism, and a mechanism survives a bad season.
NAME THE REAL CHANNEL
"My door is always open" is a metaphor with no address. Text me and I'll call you back. Ten minutes before Thursday practice. A time and a place.
At every level
Youth
One sentence, with the parent in the room: if this season stops being fun and you don't know why, you can tell me, and the first thing I do is listen.
Elite & College
Telling the coach the truth when the coach controls your scholarship is not brave. It is expensive. The design has to be more explicit, not less.
Pro
Nobody ever asks whether a coach and a player are compatible. The alliance is the closest thing you have to an answer.
“A rule gets enforced. An alliance gets revisited.”
One thing to try
Pick one player this week and give them the two-and-two: two things they are doing well, two things that would move them. Then honor it.
The Coaching Gap