On many afternoons when Pattie and I go for a swim we watch a swim instructor working with beginners. He has to be the world’s worst coach. Nothing but negative comments. I have never seen him demonstrate anything. He just stands there in the water and yells.
“No no, what did I tell you?”
“Where is your head?”
“Why are your arms going all over the place?”
There is no better example of how to talk to athletes than Bobby McGee, the famous running coach. Here are two short videos in which he coaches a pair of runners on how to do some running drills. Pay attention to how positive he is. Quick to make corrections, but never mean or angry.
While I was gathering videos for this post I came across this instructional video, in which Bobby does an excellent job of explaining how triathletes should run. Most importantly, the role of the tendons in storing and releasing energy. This is of utmost importance to endurance athletes. This is not as clear of an example in how to work with athletes, but even here you get a sense of his positive style
