It is a coach’s responsibility to lead, guide, and create change in a person that is conducive towards their goals. Coaches must also adapt their coaching techniques to cater to the needs of the individual / group, using specific drills that will create positive change and learning experiences. In saying that, there is a fine line where you can be too overbearing as a coach or not present enough. It is important to find the right balance between being present, supportive, and teaching what needs to be taught. And, then there are times where you must also step back as a coach in order to not “over coach” or be too intrusive in the individual’s training to the point where you are being disruptive.
When an athlete is in the early stages of learning or learning a new skill, that is an important time to be present as a coach. Providing positive feedback, making corrections and giving understanding to the individual is paramount to making progress. You can almost think of this scenario as someone learning to drive for the first time. You wouldn’t let a first time driver head off down the road by themselves with no guidance. You would sit with them, show them the process beforehand and then stay with them and make changes as they drive and learn. The same thinking applies to coaching in almost all sports or skills.
Another important time to step in as a coach is when someone is performing unsafely or incorrectly to the point where it could put themselves or others in danger. At all costs injury or harm to others must be minimized. There will always be a risk of injury when partaking in physical activity (some activities more so than others) but it is our goal as coaches to make an environment that is as safe as possible at all times.
On the flip side, if an individual is highly competent to the point where they can self correct, are in the midst of an intense workout that requires full focus, or is performing an exercise that they are confident with, it would be more conducive to not step in and coach. Stopping someone mid workout can ruin their flow or even completely change the stimulus of the workout. It can also create frustration and impatience in the individual as they are already competent and do not need correction. An individual that has a high level of understanding around their sport or skill being performed, will learn more from making mistakes and self correcting, than from being stopped constantly and coached.
There is also a time to step back and let the individual or group work on mental toughness/being self-sufficient without having to rely on external feedback or encouragement. If the task is of a low level and is more of a mental push, it is a good idea to step back and let the individual grow their mental capacity and learn to be self-sufficient in times of hardship. Stepping in and coaching can be distracting and you are taking away their opportunity to learn about themselves and what they are capable of internally.
