The New Coaching

In a constantly evolving world, coaching must adapt to the new expectations of athletes and amateur sports enthusiasts. The coach is no longer just that austere figure who doles out reprimands or praise. In its 3.0 version, the coach is interested in and trained in new techniques for progression and communication to help cyclists, runners, and triathletes give their best.

By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: pxfuel.com, pixabay.com

Some time ago, while discussing with a former sales director of a large company, he told me: “The coaching profession has become outdated.” Was this a simple jab, knowing that I’m full of sports analogies in my professional pedagogical model, or was it a way of saying aloud what many think silently? With 3bikes.fr, we decided to develop a topic on this fabulous profession of coaching…

It’s important to know that coaching as we understand it today arrived in France in the early 2000s. Until then, we mainly spoke of a trainer who used their free time to go to the stadium or the side of a road to help out an association or club. They weren’t always certified. And then, a time came when it was necessary to ensure succession, first because athletes’ expectations had evolved. Coaching practices have now progressed significantly. Therefore, I don’t think coaching is outdated, but that it must adapt to the new operating modes of sports organizations and especially to the new needs expressed by all these new athletes themselves if it doesn’t want to be considered an obsolete practice.

The Evolution

I am convinced that it is the coach’s posture, skills, and tools that are being challenged by these new needs. This includes the ability to embrace transformations in leadership and transformations in the coachee’s relationship to their goals, whether they are about recognition or achievement. Thus, it is more the manner or process by which we will support coachees that will evolve. Gone are the three weekly 2-hour sessions. Certainly, these remain very useful for some, but a large number of coached individuals or coaches wish to use more precise, operational, and pragmatic coaching. A kind of “Anglo-Saxon” coaching that allows working on more specific subjects such as strengthening, proprioception, coordination, neurological stimulation, and the recruitment of often unexplored pathways. The era of accumulating kilometers at all costs is over! The evolution is personalization and micro-coaching, both in terms of time and effectiveness.

A New Coaching Approach

The new coach constantly adapts their support methods to the coachee’s aspirations and needs. In situ coaching is a good example of this. Just as a coach of a team sport doesn’t just prepare for the competition but is also present on D-day, we believe it’s important for a coach to see their athlete evolve in their context and thus support them directly in the situation. We also strongly believe in the renovation of coaching practices through the arrival of new facilitation methods such as Design Thinking, collective intelligence… These methods are very successful because they are fun, effective, and transport the athlete into friendly environments. It is by enriching itself with this type of method that coaching can be refreshed. The goal is to explore less serious, more metaphorical coaching methods. Coaching in France is often focused on deep and reflective transformation. However, we are convinced that in addition to being a means of radically transforming one’s way of being and thinking, coaching can also be a more punctual form of support, while remaining an invigorating, pleasant, and fun experience.

What Effectiveness?

The transformation of modern coaching is also linked to a sociological transformation of the “Y culture” in which we are immersed. The “Y culture” emphasizes the search for meaning, experience, fun, and continuous learning. Today, coaches must align themselves with these fundamental notions and constantly ask themselves: “Does what I offer allow the athlete to have a real development experience?”

Training New Coaches

Beyond the BE or state diploma of the chosen sport, too many coaches still content themselves with using the same tools they learned to use in training to obtain their diploma or certification, and insufficiently question the way they perceive sport and how to train their protégés. They use the same standards that date back to the 80s or earlier. I’m not saying that these theories are no longer valid, but they need to be challenged and looked beyond. Coaches need to ask themselves: “Where else can I get trained? In neuroscience, in Design thinking, in positive psychology?”

Humanism

Gone is Soviet-style training, and in come punchy and, above all, enthusiastic coaches… The practice of coaching as it was learned some time ago is too “low-position,” too neutral, advocating an absence of smiles, as disembodied as possible. My conviction is the opposite of this. I think people need human warmth, conviviality… STOP to the religion of the coach who doesn’t give energy. Coaches need to be challenged more on these posture issues. It’s a profession that is increasingly similar to that of a psychologist.

My Recommendation

For my last recommendation for coaches who want to play a decisive role in the development of their athletes, I would say to take advantage of their feedback and act accordingly. If you always do the same thing, you will always get the same result. This is not from me, it was Einstein who said: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity.” Too many athletes complain about constantly being approached by independent, sometimes self-proclaimed coaches. Charlatans? Like all the talents they support, coaches need to train and evolve constantly. I will conclude by saying that coaching is not outdated, but if old-school coaching is dead, then long live coaching 3.0!

=> SEE ALSO : All our Coaching articles