WrestlingGear.com Newsletter - Gable on Coaching and World Team Trial Photos - June 24, 2003
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2003 World Team Trial Finals Photos
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Visit the link on the below to check out action from the 2003 World Team Trials. See photos of Paulson, Dantzler, Gardener, Williams, Sanderson, Abas, Geuerrero, Kelly, McCoy, Bracken and more.
We will add more photos to the site as time permits. Check back soon to see photo's from the previous day's action.
The photos will be posted on www.illinoiswrestling.com but you can follow the link on the side. Let us know what you think of the photos. Other photo's are posted on the home page. University and Cadet Nationals Photos are posted...
Please foward this on to your friends and family. If you are not a member of our email list you can join by visiting http://www.wrestlinggear.com and enter our contest to win Shoes. Be sure to check off the things you are interested in.
If you did not receive an email from us announcing the photos were posted, be sure to update your preferences to add Freestyle and Greco Results.
Click Here to See Some Photos:
http://www.illinoiswrestling.com/photos/2003worldteamtrials/
"Coaching Wrestling Sucessfully" by Dan Gable
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In the first chapter I talked about how critical it is to determine what's important to you. Without a philosophy, and the goals and objectives that stem from it, you can't achieve much in wrestling. Once you know what you want to accomplish, you must be able to motivate others to strive for the same thing in order to make it happen. That's where communication comes in.
When I began my coaching career, I didn't come across well in the first few meetings with the wrestlers, which was a problem because first impressions are crucial. I didn't like to speak in front of groups. But as a coach, a big part of my job involved instructing and motivating my wrestling team. I had only two options: become a better communicator or get out of coaching. You know what I chose.
Improving Your Communication Skills
Communicating, like a lot of other skills, takes practice. Knowing the guidelines to good communication doesn't help if you aren't going to use them. When I began working on my communication skills, I did so in small groups that I felt comfortable with. I recommend this approach. You are less afraid of sounding awkward, so you feel more free to talk. You can therefore focus more on what you are saying and how it is being interpreted than on self-conscious thoughts.
Being Yourself
Learning from excellent communicators is a great idea, but copying them never works. There is no one type of personality for a wrestling coach (or a wrestler for that matter), yet wrestling does weed out those who try to be something they're not. In that way, wrestling is one of the most honest sports; there's no hiding.
A great benefit to being yourself is that it helps others to trust you. If a wrestler has a problem, he's more likely to come to you for help if he knows he's going to be dealt with honestly. Another benefit to being honest is that you won't get yourself caught in a lie. So shoot straight--you and your program will be better off if you do.
Gaining and Maintaining Respect
Your communications will have a much greater impact if others involved in the program respect you, but respect isn't automatically given to a coach. Just like wrestlers, coaches have to earn whatever respect they get. The best way to begin earning that respect is by being sincere; this real you will represent what you want to communicate to those inside and outside of the program.
Providing a Leading Example
Be a positive example for your athletes. If you want your wrestlers to be dedicated and disciplined, then you have to lead the way. Ideally you'll have athletes in your program who will provide a similar, positive model for their teammates. If not, then your example will have to do until you establish leaders on the team. Once you get some leaders, typically upperclassmen, their leadership often rubs off on some of the younger wrestlers, who in time develop into leaders themselves.
Keeping a Comfortable Distance
How close do you get to your wrestlers? You want them to trust you and to feel free to confide in you, but how much should you confide in them? There's a fine line between sharing a good, healthy relationship with your athletes and getting too close to them. Maintaining some distance has its advantages. The athletes won't expect any special favors or leniency when they let the program down, nor will they take you for granted, as they might if you are always in close contact with them.
Because of my individual accomplishments as a wrestler and my program's success, many wrestlers are almost in awe of me when they enter the program. That sense of awe may not last long, but the certain aura it creates helps me and my wrestlers from getting too involved in each other's personal lives.
Communicating With Assistant Coaches
Assistant coaches are very valuable to a wrestling program, if the head coach consults them and gives them the necessary authority. Assistants are good checkpoints who can confirm or raise questions about the approach the head coach is taking. If the head coach doesn't consult his assistants, then the coach defeats the purpose for having them.
Good communication will get everyone involved and enthused about their roles. At every wrestling practice, the coaching staff must be on the same page. Otherwise, your wrestlers will be getting a set of instructions from one coach and a different set of instructions from another coach. That's not good. Throughout each practice, the head coach makes adjustments based on the wrestlers' performance. Assistants should be asked for their input and support for such decisions.
Communicating With the Administration
Establishing a good relationship with administrators is important for any coach. If you can make the administration believe in you, then you can go about your business without constantly looking over your shoulder. If you need something, you'll find that administrators are much more likely to fulfill your request if you have developed good relations with them.
Coaches who have ongoing battles with the athletic director, principal, dean, and other members of the administration need to realize that the chain of command is necessary in any business, organization, or school. It's not about power; it's about efficient decision-making and division of labor. You want the administration to work with you, not against you, so don't try to undermine it.
Show the administration that your interest in your athletes goes beyond their wrestling performance. If you emphasize academics and proper conduct, that will be reflected by everyone in your program and will surely get administrators' attention.
Communicating With the Media
Wrestling has not fully utilized the media. We coaches must do more to promote our great sport. I don't mean designing glitzy media packages or doing something bizarre to get attention. Instead, I mean working at it through effective and tireless communication. You have to make covering your program convenient and pleasurable.
Encourage the members of the media to contact you directly, but don't wait for them to come to you. Phone in stories and results related to competitions. You might also point out to the media certain "human interest" stories involving members of your team. Make sure that the kids get the ink, not the coaching staff.
Communicating With Fans
Booster and support groups are important to the success of any wrestling program. Wrestlers' parents, students and their parents, community members, and other wrestling enthusiasts will back your program, if you give them a reason to. Take time to develop relationships with key people who can serve as leaders of support groups.
For example, after every home meet I speak to a select group at a social gathering. During that time, I give them special insight and reactions to the competition. Instead of having to read my responses in the paper the next day, these supporters get to hear it that night directly from the source. This gesture solidifies the support that this important group of people gives to the program.
The student body is a very special support group. If you capture this group's spirit and energy, the administration will never overlook the importance of your program. With all of the distractions and attractions available to kids today, however, getting students to attend meets is not easy. You might ask assistant coaches for help in working with leaders of the student body. Together they can come up with some creative ideas for drawing more students to your events.
Communicating With the Wrestling Community
Because of all the work you have to do with your own program, it's easy to put on the blinders and miss what is going on in the world beyond your wrestling room. Don't let that happen. Wrestling coaches and state and national wrestling organizations have much information to share. Make time to network with these individuals and groups--they can provide valuable insight and support.
Also, stay in touch with the sport's national governing body, USA Wrestling. It has a coaching education program that can benefit your professional development and provide opportunities to coach teams in regional, national, and international events.
From Coaching Wrestling Successfully by Dan Gable. Copyright 1999 by Dan Gable. Excerpted by permission of Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL.
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