Become a coach - at what peril?

[King Custard]

I certainly don't want to put a downer on anybody wanting to become a coach, but since I first expressed an interest in doing so - I've heard almost countless times how it can Ruin your own shooting!
Coaching is a wonderful thing to do, and I'm fully behind anyone that will 'put in to the sport'...but..

Is (as I've heard) this " ruin your own shooting thing "an excuse given by some coaches - like 'Do as i say - not as I do'...an attempt to promote the idea that they can coach a lot better than they can shoot? I'm just throwing that up for conjecture really.

How much truth is there in that ' If you can't shoot - you can't teach' ?
Or - you can only teach as well as you can do?
Or- how much experience should you ideally have before trying to coach?

But most importantly - how do you ensure consistant progression in your own shooting, given that you want to give time to improving others?

I'd like to have a few opinions from those of you who coach before I take the plunge into coaching myself.

[Stylisht]

I shoot okay, and coach a couple of sports centre classes and one other archer.

As long as your mental game when you shoot is cemented well in your head, and you maintain the confidence and focus in your shot then it's fine. The only problem I have related to it is the tendancy to over-analyse, coaching myself through every shot, most of the time my scores go to pot when this happens - the cure for me is regaining my confidence and remembering that I can shoot.

Coaching has helped my form as well, looking at a shot that you've influenced on someone else I find helps me to understand the processes and movement better; so seeing symptoms in your own shooting becomes increasingly easier.

[flamingbladerider]

To become a Gnas coach, you dont have to be an archer. Their words, my argument with them. Their course teaches you what you have to teach them.

[geoffretired]

Coaching will not ruin your own archery IF you do the coaching outside your normal shooting times. If your coaching has to be done inside the times when you would normally be shooting, then that is a different situation.The more you coach; the less shooting you will get done. If you are still improving your archery and are working on new routines, for example,the lack of time will upset progress. If you have been shooting to a particular level for some time now, the reduction in shooting time may have very little effect.

[mk1]

The problems for a coach are: -

Giving up your own shooting time to teach others. I got round that by having a practise night or two to myself :-) when beginners classes were on. Not all Clubs have the luxury of extra nights being available, and at many Clubs coaches and helpers often can't shoot for the weeks classes are being run.

After the courses, then you have the improvers and giving out all the advice -often ignored . Again this interrups your own practise or eat up extra evenings.

It makes it hard for coaches to progress their own shooting, so they often don't get very good and then get criticised for it!

Coaches are often expected to be the fount of all knowledge - which is not impossible!! PhD in arrow selection and bow tuning anyone??

Having said all that it can be very rewarding watching someone improve or achieve a new skill and grow in confidence.

[madmac]

Im a firm believer if you cant shoot it you cant teach it . Dad is a GNAS coach but its still taught this is the way it must be done and thats it

[bkupris]

Originally Posted by mk1

The problems for a coach are: -

Giving up your own shooting time to teach others. I got round that by having a practise night or two to myself :-) when beginners classes were on. Not all Clubs have the luxury of extra nights being available, and at many Clubs coaches and helpers often can't shoot for the weeks classes are being run.

After the courses, then you have the improvers and giving out all the advice -often ignored . Again this interrups your own practise or eat up extra evenings.

It makes it hard for coaches to progress their own shooting, so they often don't get very good and then get criticised for it!

Coaches are often expected to be the fount of all knowledge - which is not impossible!! PhD in arrow selection and bow tuning anyone??

Having said all that it can be very rewarding watching someone improve or achieve a new skill and grow in confidence.

Totally agree with this, nothing else to add

[Duss]

I have been shooting for 18 months and also have become a coach. In my club we have many Level 1 coaches and one level 3 coach. The coaching is well organised so that all the coaches usually refer to the Level 3 coach. We usually have "on the spot" discussions with the archers themelves participating, giving feedback.

The extra activity required by coaching does not seem to have affected my own performance and progress. I keep shooting quite often and I also recognize that it is not easy. But here is the clincher : I also found that by telling others what to do in fact contributes to better my own understanding of archery.

Looking at and directing other shooters acts like a mirror. The whole process is very dynamic and progress is easily felt and seen. It also drives other coaches to comment and the whole process feeds the loop in a continuous improvement way.

[Kae]

I don't agree with the way the GNAS coaching course is organised, or how they have implemented it, or what they actually teach you.
This is not to belittle anyone else, but they are my personal opinions.


So, before I say anything, I am not a GNAS coach!

I do however spend a large proportion of my time coaching.

I think that in small clubs being a coach can be very difficult, as the lack of other coaches means that the onus to do everything relies heavily on you, and thus it can have a major impact on your shooting.
In larger clubs with more coaches, the ability to job share means that it doesn't.

Kae.

[Erika]

My coach shoots with me. Most coaching is teaching a technique and then sending them off to work on it. There's no need to spend every hour of the day watching them.

Jim tells me what to change. I change it. He tells me if it needs adjusting.

Same thing with my students. I tell them to change something and give them time to work it out.

Every now and then there is a need for an hour or two to work something out. Most of the time it is sufficient to shoot with them or watch them in your breaks.

NB I am not talking about beginners.