How will the Technology Age affect Coaching?

written by Bill Utsey, Director of Athletics, Greenville County Schools, Greenville SC

In our school district we are discussing the rapid changes in education we have experienced over the past fifteen years and what we can expect in the future. We recently watched the short video EPIC 2020 (http://epic2020.org/). This incredulous video gives convincing arguments that academia will no longer be the gatekeeper for education, colleges, and universities as we know them will no longer exist, and degrees will become irrelevant. Many more radically altering thoughts, concepts, and ideas are becoming the initiatives of huge paradigm shifts in education.

The main engine creating these radical thoughts and arguments and bringing them into reality is the internet and its ability to deliver high quality online learning experiences better than what can be had in a classroom or on a campus. The internet's ability for interactive communication in video, audio and the written word have dramatically altered our traditional concept of teaching, coaching and learning. These electronic delivery systems have vaulted us into what we now commonly refer to as "virtual" classrooms, experiments, and experiences.

The key to opening these doors is only limited to the teacher's and learner's desires, their ability to think and act creatively, and their determination to achieve desired results. Let me share a simple analogy from yesteryear. Beaufort High School (South Carolina) won thirteen state track and field championships in the 1960's and 70's. Quite an accomplishment for sure, but what is phenomenal is that this school had no track facilities. Their coach, Frank Small, simply used his imagination, innovative abilities and determination to teach and coach track and field events with no facilities to his avail.

Today, the Frank Small's of the world are at our fingertips - on our computers and in the palms of our hands. Not only can we coaches learn from the best instructors and coaches in the world, but we also can take our hand-held personal electronic devices right out onto the track and have our high jumper watch a video of his or her jump immediately afterwards and then compare it to a video with verbal instruction from the world’s best jump coach of how it should be done!

Just think! Ten or fifteen years ago virtual high schools did not exist nor was one able to complete a college degree totally online. Today these are both reality! What will we have at your disposal in the next ten to fifteen years? Maybe you are already incorporating online resources in your teaching and coaching. More power to you! The objective of this article is to have those who do not use these digital instructional resources see how these resources can - and more likely will - drive the future of sports and physical fitness coaching, teaching and learning.

Let's look at another analogy from a team standpoint. Today there are a number of video editing software programs available that offer a full, comprehensive ability to edit your team’s or player’s games, matches, or competitions. These programs are relatively affordable and give the coach a myriad of capabilities to include adding written notes on each play or frame of a previously videoed performance.

My experiences in observing football coaches in our school district using this editing software is that most coaches are still in the yesteryear frame of mind and only use the editing software to filter out offensive and defensive plays, grade them, and show them to their players en-mass pointing out errors and making verbal corrections. What the software offers is virtual coaching, play-by-play capabilities that allow the coach to critique each play with written or verbal notes and then communicating this to his players via the internet. The players can then use their own personal electronic device to see their errors within hours of the event in the comfort of their own homes. Yet most coaches do not go to this extent. They are still in the mode of showing it to their entire team at one time.

With these editing software programs, a coach in any sport can put together instructional videos with notes on any sport skill, technique, or strategy in advance of the beginning of practices. The coach can develop a virtual video library of the skills, techniques or strategies and plays his or her players need to learn and all the lead-up drills needed to master each. The players can now watch a full instructional lesson on what they are to learn on the field or court before they actually go out to practice. They then can look at it over and over again to make any corrections or to see how the skill or play is to be done the right way. All of this can be seen by the player on his or her personal electronic device anywhere, anytime.

Think of how virtual video instruction can be used to communicate off-season and pre-season conditioning programs to your players. Even within the weight room, the cutting-edge coach should have his iPad with him or her so that an athlete can be shown the correct technique immediately before and then after he or she lifts if this athlete is using incorrect form or technique. The iPad can video the athlete performing the lift, immediately review exactly where he or she is making the errors, and then be shown a video of a perfectly performed lift. It does not get any better than this!

Such use of video software and electronic communication does create more planning and more work for the coach on the front end. However, after one masters using these electronic tools and does the up-front work, it will quickly become routine and, in the end, will save time and effort overall.

All of the above addressed instruction for players. For coaches, personal professional development can now be had from a virtually unlimited volume of instructional tips from the best coaches in the world. The cutting-edge coach of today must be an information freak to the extreme and at the least a constant seeker of knowledge of his or her sport.

Today, one can easily access online courses, seminars, clinics, workout regimens, video demonstrations and drills, articles and research in all athletic endeavors. Coach Robbie Cole at Berea HS (Greenville, SC) is on the cutting edge in using technology. As their strength and conditioning coach he has put together training flyers with numerous hyperlinks to videos for the coaches of the various sports at Berea HS to use as their personal strength “clinic” or seminar. This link, Berea Softball Strength Training Demo will allow you to see for yourself how this innovative strength coach is using technology to deliver high quality instruction for his coaches and athletes. This online "lesson" for his softball coaches is full of information, easy to access and has video links with instruction given by the top experts in the field.

For the coach and teacher, a driven person can become certified as a coach in almost every sport field. The National Federation offers a full line of online coaching courses with certification (www.nfhslearn.com). These courses are professionally produced and are of a high quality. Certification in coaching is fast becoming the future requirement for all coaches. Any coach at any level can access varying levels of certification in almost all sports to include strength and conditioning from the NFHS Learning Center. From a liability standpoint, getting certified as a coach can only be looked at as a must, if not, a requirement. A number of states are already moving in the direction of requiring all coaches to be certified.

This article strongly suggests that if you are going to coach, getting certified by a professional agency associated with your sport should be your first step. Regardless, online resources are there for the asking. I have always been a great believer in the concept of "a picture is worth a thousand words." Showing a video of the proper technique of a typical sport skill can now be had by simply typing in the key words onto any search engine. Showing coaches or athletes specific lead-up drills and teaching progressions can be secured in the same manner. Below are some key words/phrases that I used recently. Use a phrase of your choosing onto your search engine and see for yourself the results!

• Proper technique for the parallel squat
• Training for high school 400 meter runners
• Training beginning high school distance runners
• Teaching the high school hurdler

To be honest, the volume of high quality information is so vast and so fast changing that it is hard to keep up with it. To be sure, it is there for the asking on whatever personal computer device you have at your disposal. All that you need today is desire, determination, and a willingness to pay the up-front price of time and effort to learn whatever it will take to teach your athletes to be the best they can be.

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