Blog / The 5 Cs Of Being A Great Coach

October 8, 2014 Paul Crompton

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It can be said that talented players are born, but great players are coached. Elite players unquestionably have that X-factor when competing, but that raw talent has to be nurtured, techniques honed, a winning, professional attitude developed.

Being a coach is more than being a talent spotter, he/she will be able to inspire their players in the 5 Cs of coaching:

*Competence
*Confidence
*Character
*Build Connections
*Have a Creative approach to their leadership style

At the top level every great player or team will have an equally great coach; men and women behind the scenes who can recognise raw talent while inspiring individual players to give their best performances.

A good coach will know the strengths and weaknesses of every one of their players, have a detailed analysis of all their opponents, in-depth knowledge of training techniques, be a psychologist as well as a father figure.

However, great coaches are more than just tactical masterminds: they will make cricketers more professional in their approach to the game, bring out the natural aggression of a tennis player, or give inspirational half-time football talks.

They will draw out a player's strengths by putting an arm around their shoulder, spotting and rectifying flaws in their technique or just making them 'fall in love' with the game again.

Inspirational quotes from great leaders

I think the most important thing about coaching is that you have to have a sense of confidence about what you're doing. You have to be a salesman, and you have to get your players, particularly your leaders, to believe in what you're trying to accomplish on the basketball floor.

Phil Jackson, 1996, NBA Coach of the Year Award, and won 11 NBA titles as head head coach

I'm going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation but the second ones don't fly. They're the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over - so it's teamwork.

Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager and winner of 38 domestic and European titles

Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister who led England through WWII

We need to strive to improve in the same way as our players. It is something we take very seriously. We are constantly evaluating ourselves. Are we being effective and efficient? Are we helping these guys to be better athletes?

Andy Flower, talking about his coaching style, quoted in The Weekend Australian

Victory is in having done your best. If you've done your best, you've won.

Bill Bowerman, U.S.A. track and field, former University of Oregon coach and co-founder of Nike

What difference a year makes

Tennis player Marin Cilic clinched his first title little more than a year after changing coaches. After lifting the 2014 U.S. Open Championship Trophy he thanked his coach for helping him fall in love with tennis again.

His coach, fellow countryman Goran Ivanisevic, added more shots to his repertoire and changed his on court character to be more aggressive after spotting, then drawing out, the Croatian's natural strengths.

However, just as importantly he inflated his player's self-belief and confidence so he began to start thinking like a champion. The result, his first major tour victory.

Goran Ivanišević talks about Marin Čilić at Indian Wells BNP Paribas 2014

The tactic of man management

Alex Ferguson, arguably the greatest club manager of all time, was a great tactician and understood the game inside out.

However, he was known for more than his astute tactical play, and it takes more than just a deep knowledge of your sport to become a great coach. You have to make connections with your players, and make them want to give 100 percent for you and the team every time they cross that white line.

Ferguson is infamous for his 'hairdryer' half-time talks, and there's no doubt it brought the best out of his players because it brought results. In fact it brought 38 trophies in his 27 years at the club. But the fiery Scotsman also reportedly became a father figure to a fresh faced David Beckham when he first joined Manchester United, and went as far as giving his defender Jonny Evans marriage advice.

Sir Alex Ferguson talks about an attitude for success

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

In 2009 England cricket was in a bad way. Following the 2005 Ashes victory there had been two captains and a feeling of a team in disarray, then in 2009 the ECB appointed Andrew Flower as the head coach. He went on to take the national side to number one in the ICC test rankings.

He wanted his players to work hard and use cool, rational thought during matches, insisted they learnt about the history of the game, as well as training hard and eating healthily.

His attention to detail was legendary and the innovative and creative application of science, especially towards players' fitness and preparation, went much further than his predecessors.

A similar change in head coach saw Australia, who arrived in England in 2013 under a black cloud, put up more of a fight than anyone had predicted. Six months later Darren Lehman's squad welcomed England down under and the Aussies were a different team. Darren Lehman had shown his coaching competence by 'winning' back the dressing room and they duly thrashed England 5-0 in the 2013/14 series. He had reinstalled their 'ticker' as they say in Australia.

Andy Flower (ECB): Coaching athletes for high pressure situations

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