What is a coach?

“Coach”

What does it mean to be a coach?

What is the value of a coach?

When should one seek out a coach, and for what?

The answer to all of the above questions is: it depends.

Welcome to the world of coaching, where everything is situational, individual, and contextual.
For many, there are no hard and fast answers to the above questions. Coaching can look very different
from person to person, even when using the same coach—services, depth of engagement, interaction,
and coaching styles can all vary, and it’s important that the athlete understands what he or she will be
getting by hiring on a coach, regardless of area of expertise (programming, technique, nutrition, etc.).
While “it depends” is often the answer to many of the questions that are common within the
world of strength training, personal training, nutrition, mobility, etc., let’s try to explore what a coach is,
and isn’t, in a little more detail.

So, what is a coach? A coach is a guide, mentor, facilitator, educator, and accountability partner
all rolled into one handy package of a human being. Perhaps the best analogy for a coach would be that
of a bridge—a coach acts as a bridge that spans the gap between where an athlete currently is and
where he or she wants to be. The coach acts as a the thoroughfare upon which the athlete travels, with
the “gap” being anything from programming knowledge, technique proficiency, nutritional wherewithal,
or any other performance based metric/category. A good coach will cover/provide more than one of
these services/categories, however, a great coach will recognize where he or she is lacking, and will assist
with seeking additional help or resources to meet the demands of the athlete. In other words, a good
coach might know a lot, but a great coach will know what he or she doesn’t know and will help the
athlete find someone who does know. A coach is someone who lays the path for the athlete to
walk—the coach cannot do the work for the athlete, but can help guide the athlete in the right direction
or set them upon the most efficient route toward success. A coach is someone to whom the athlete can
turn with questions or concerns, and good coaches will seek to develop strong working relationships
with their athletes in order to deliver the most effective package and product possible.

There are many more things that define a coach, and this article could wax poetic about the
nature of a coach indefinitely, but let’s explore some other facets of the coach.

What does it mean to be a coach? Being a coach means that someone has placed their trust in
your hands, and you are responsible for guiding them along the most appropriate path toward success.
As stated above, a coach cannot do the work for the athlete, but can, and should, be responsible for
paving the way for the athlete to travel. It means that someone has invested their time and money into
you, and that you need to honor that by delivering the best package and product possible. Being a coach
means that you are in a position of authority—your word, while not law or gospel, carries weight and
gravity, and should be measured and meted out appropriately and judiciously. Being a coach means that
you get to watch someone’s successes and failures, and share in their joys and frustrations. Being a
coach means putting the well-being and success of your athletes above and before your own designs and
desires—meaning that, as a coach, you may have a specific way you like to program, or certain
movements you believe in, and while having those things is important, what’s more important is that
you take into consideration what is best for the athlete, regardless of your personal preferences. What
works for one athlete might not work for the next, so slowing down to take stock of individual
circumstances is key to being a successful and impactful coach. Finally, being a coach means that you
have to get to know your athletes as people and as humans—you don’t have to be friends, often its best
that coaches and athletes are not friends as this can complicate the coaching process and dynamic,
however, knowing what makes your athletes tick and what motivates them is vital in developing a
well-functioning coach-athlete relationship.

What is the value of a coach? This, again, is answered by, “it depends.” The value a coach can
bring to one athlete’s life is different from that of the next, so value is often individual and subjective.
However, there are, perhaps, a few things that can be considered universal regarding a coach’s value.
Coaching is for many, a luxury expense, meaning that it is not vital to everyday survival, such as gas, food,
rent, and other similar expenses might be, so investing in a coach means investing in oneself. Hiring a
coach means that someone has moved into a stage of his or her life where he or she is aware of the need
for additional guidance and assistance, and has become aware of the fact that his or her individual
knowledge base is, at least for the time being, inappropriate or insufficient to help address and meet the
demands and needs of the training environment. While coaching is a financial investment to be sure, a
good coach will be worth more than the fee—this doesn’t mean that a coach will, or should, go above
and beyond the call of duty regarding providing services, however, what it does mean is that a good
coach will be worth far more than simply what the cost of hiring him or her—he or she should not only
provide guidance, but help the athlete learn and grow and develop in his or her own right. A good coach
should be a teacher, not just someone who puts words and numbers into a spreadsheet and sends it out
every week.

A coach is many things, and the same coach could be a different “thing” or resource to different
people. At the end of the day, coaching is simply providing guidance and direction for someone who
might not know the way just yet. It’s not about being super intense all the time, or highlighting athlete
success as one’s own—it’s about investing in another human being to help raise him or her up to where
he or she wants to be. Coaching is about putting someone else first, about taking the time to learn about
someone else, about knowing what buttons to push and what dials to turn to get the most out of an
athlete. Coaching is, ultimately, about people, and any good coach will treat his or her people right.