Recapping the coaching process

To maximize your coaching effectiveness and reach the different learning styles follow this process:

1. Tell the players what they are going to learn and the motivation for learning it – target audience: auditory and sequential learners
2. Have a coach or player demonstrate the activity and ask the players to break it down step by step – target audience: visual and sequential learners
3. Let the players perform the activity with constructive coaching fine tuning – target audience: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners
4. Recap the activity with why it is important and what are the steps in the process – target audience: all learning styles

Many times coaches implement steps 2 and 3 above, but skip step 1 and fail to follow up with step 4.

This four step process has produced positive effect for many outlier athletes. For example, one young athlete went from a bottom pick in a senior little league draft to a recognize first baseman after having a coach that consistently implemented this style of instruction.

During the draft for a fall baseball team, John (not his real name) was a bottom pick. John had played many years in the little league baseball organization and was widely regarded a "not an athlete, but loves the game" baseball player, so being the last pick was his standard place.

The fall baseball coach implemented this four step process to teach the team the fundamentals of baseball. John, being a sequential learner, needed a coach to explain the motivation and the mechanical steps to playing baseball. Since John was a big young man for his age but was not gifted with speed or a strong arm, first base seemed a logical choice assuming he could catch and stop errant throws. The coach explained the mechanics of first base and the motivation for stopping ground balls in the infield and from errant throws.

The results were amazing. In an early season game, John got his body in front of a ball that took a bad hop on the edge of the infield grass off his chest, collected himself, picked up the ball, and touched the first base to get the runner out and end the inning. Several head coaches in the audience took notice since this capability was perceived to be out of John’s reach. In the next inning, John left first base to put his body in front of an errant throw from third and hold the batter/runner on first base. Once again several coaches took notice. In the spring, for the first time, John was drafted in the middle rounds as a back up first baseman. Why did this happen? John’s fall coach recognized that John was a sequential learning that needed a motivation for an action and a step-by-step explanation of what was expected from him. Until this coach had John as a player, no coach had instructed him according to his dominant sequential learning style. When taught according to his learning style, John is an exceptional fast learner.

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