A Coachable Moment

"Coach Boeheim Lays Out a Plan" by MattBritt00

A coachable moment...This is a phrase Keith used in our first practical tutorial and he continues to use it throughout the semester. It is a phrase that has really stuck with me.

What does it mean? I believe it is referring to optimal period of time to covey information to athletes. Opportunities arise during both training and games, it may be during a time out or after a skill has been poorly executed in training. While the skill or play is still fresh in an athletes mind is the perfect opportunity to provide feedback to them.

Working children over the past few years I see what this phrase is referring to and witnessed it on many occasions I guess I just never put a name to this particular period of time nor realised how crucial it was for athlete development. A coach has a very important role in nurturing athletes particularly young athletes to become the best they can be and athletes have faith in their coaches that they will strive to provide the best opportunities for an athlete to excel. So why than would a coach not take advantage of such an opportunity when an athlete is at a heightened state to understand the information, retain it and then practice again.

I believe one of the most important attributes of any coach is to be able to identify these kind of moments and use them to their full advantage to provide the athlete with the best opportunity to master the activity.