The Coaching Complex
I’ve always been one to ask questions, especially at practice. Regularly I challenge my coaches with, “Why are we doing this? What skills are we trying to improve?” Note, however, that these are not inquiries of a coach’s personal skill level or methods, but a way for me to maximize the benefit of a specific drill. If I know how a drill aims to improve a skill, then I can analyze my own playing to match what the drill demands. My favorite coaches are the ones who allow me to ask questions.
This summer I had the pleasure of playing on Swing Vote, a youth club ultimate Frisbee team from the DC area. Although we were able to claim our second straight national title in August, it was not always smooth sailing along the way:
At Swing Vote practice, when my pondering was answered with, “I’m the coach so you should just shut the fuck up and do what I say,” it was not my feelings that were hurt, but my impression of our new head coach, Dave and his coaching ability. Clearly my question had upset Dave, and his reaction seemed a bit immature. “Maybe he is angry because he can’t articulate the purpose of the drill, or maybe I asked a question he just didn’t know the answer to?,” I thought. After a season of coaching and getting to know Dave, I understand that he had reasoning behind that drill, but his reactions to my questions were unprofessional and off-putting.
Additionally, I had a bit of an attitude toward Dave; I did not believe he should be the one running our practices. After winning the national title in 2015 under head coach Ben Feng, I assumed Ben would be the one to return this summer, but that was not the case. The Washington Area Frisbee Club, our parent organization, did not want Ben to return to Swing Vote, which some players, myself included, saw as a removal of a strong coach for unjust reasons. In my eyes Dave was not filling the hole left by Ben’s departure.
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My phone buzzed: “New message in Swing Vote Group-Me”. A huge grin spread across my face as I read the first line of the unread message: “Ben Feng: Hi all. I'm ready to commit to Swing Vote 2016.” I was ecstatic. On the ride to the fields that night, I rejoiced with my teammates; our efforts to reinstate Ben had paid off.
The night of Ben’s return we faced off against Ant Madness in a friendly scrimmage to help prepare our team for nationals in August. Ant is an adult club team with a few former Swing Vote players, and they were the definite favorites that evening. With Ben on our side however, I believed that we had a fighting chance to take the victory.
Mid-way through the game with the score close, we were about to pull (analogous to a kickoff in football) to Ant’s offense. As we were picking our defensive matchups, Ben jogged out onto the field to join us in the huddle. He stood by, listening in to our conversation, and interjected with, “Anders, I want you on Gus this point.” Gus was a former teammate and premier thrower for Ant Madness. I had been asking my teammate Hunter to cover Gus so far in the game; I did not think I could effectively shut Gus down. However, Ben was adamant that I be the one to cover Gus for a point. The pull went up and we raced down the field to the offensive player we were tasked with covering, and as Gus cut horizontally across the field to receive a pass, I was able to catch up and make a diving “layout” block, batting the disc away, leading to a score for Swing Vote. As I received some high-fives and pats on the back for the defensive play, I realized that while that “D” went under my name on the stat sheet, one hundred percent of the credit had to go to Ben. Had he not made the matchup switch, I would not have forced the turnover and thrown the score.
Looking back, Ben’s matchup change was not purely tactical. I had played against and covered Gus many times over the last few years, including an intense state championship game, where I failed to limit Gus and he carried his high school team to victory. As a result, I didn’t believe in my ability to be an effective matchup for Gus, but Ben saw my hesitation, and his faith in my abilities gave me the mental boost needed to make the play.
A good coach is one who knows how give personal feedback to players and has the experience and skills to create a team strategy that plays to his team’s strengths and the opponent’s weaknesses. Before every point, Ben was out on the field, talking to our players, instructing them on how to increase offensive efficiency or defensive takeaways. This specific advice added direction to the team’s play as a whole and provided players with individualized suggestions leading to personal improvement. I accredit Ben and his involved coaching style to the elevation of my ultimate skills over the past two summers, as well as Swing Vote’s ability to bounce back from tough losses and thrive against challenging teams.
At nationals, we clashed in an intense game against Philadelphia Forge, a contender for the national title. The game went back and forth, each team taking the lead several times throughout. Unfortunately, a few offensive miscues from Swing Vote in the final points allowed Forge to seal the game, winning by one point, twelve to eleven. It was a close game, but Forge seemed to have the upper hand in athleticism and I knew that if we were to play them again, we’d need to make some adjustments to our defense to slow down the high-powered Forge offense. As luck would have it, we faced off against Forge in the semifinals. Although I always try to stay confident and optimistic, I knew that we were likely going into a battle. However, Ben brought out a new defensive strategy designed to get the disc away from the handlers and into weaker throwers’ hands. Armed with our new defense, Swing Vote was able to roll over Forge, taking a seven to two lead at halftime and sealing the victory thirteen to six. I think many Swing Vote players, including myself, were happily surprised by the effectiveness of Ben’s defensive changes, but in hindsight, I realize that Ben had a plan from the minute we lost to Forge in pool play.
In contrast to Ben, Dave failed to make crucial mid-game adjustments that augmented Swing Vote’s play on the spot. At practice, Dave occasionally made snarky remarks and did not steer his players back on course when we were distracted. Rarely was a Dave-led practice focused throughout the duration of our precious turf time, while Ben-led practices were guaranteed to be productive. However, Dave made a large impact on the logistics of the season; he helped secure practice space and organize the trip to Minnesota. While I greatly appreciate the time and effort he had to sacrifice to coach us this season, a Dave-led Swing Vote would have flopped at nationals, despite his ability to transport twenty-one teenagers to Blaine, Minnesota. Ben was the coach who led us to victory.
This summer I had the pleasure of playing on Swing Vote, a youth club ultimate Frisbee team from the DC area. Although we were able to claim our second straight national title in August, it was not always smooth sailing along the way:
I’ve always been one to ask questions, especially at practice. Regularly I challenge my coaches with, “Why are we doing this? What skills are we trying to improve?” Note, however, that these are not inquiries of a coach’s personal skill level or methods, but a way for me to maximize the benefit of a specific drill. If I know how a drill aims to improve a skill, then I can analyze my own playing to match what the drill demands. My favorite coaches are the ones who allow me to ask questions.
This summer I had the pleasure of playing on Swing Vote, a youth club ultimate Frisbee team from the DC area. Although we were able to claim our second straight national title in August, it was not always smooth sailing along the way:
At Swing Vote practice, when my pondering was answered with, “I’m the coach so you should just shut the fuck up and do what I say,” it was not my feelings that were hurt, but my impression of our new head coach, Dave and his coaching ability. Clearly my question had upset Dave, and his reaction seemed a bit immature. “Maybe he is angry because he can’t articulate the purpose of the drill, or maybe I asked a question he just didn’t know the answer to?,” I thought. After a season of coaching and getting to know Dave, I understand that he had reasoning behind that drill, but his reactions to my questions failed to inform me of his intentionswere unprofessional and off-putting.
Additionally, I had a bit of an attitude toward Dave; I did not believe he should be the one running our practices. After winning the national title in 2015 under head coach Ben Feng, I assumed Ben would be the one to return this summer, but that was not the case. The Washington Area Frisbee Club, our parent organization, did not want Ben to return to Swing Vote, which some players, myself included, saw as a removal of a strong coach for unjust reasons. In my eyes Dave was not filling the hole left by Ben’s departure.
____________
My phone buzzed: “New message in Swing Vote Group-Me”. A huge grin spread across my face as I read the first line of the unread message: “Ben Feng: Hi all. I'm ready to commit to Swing Vote 2016.” I was ecstatic. On the ride to the fields that night, I rejoiced with my teammates; our efforts to reinstate Ben had paid off.
The night of Ben’s return we faced off against Ant Madness in a friendly scrimmage to help prepare our team for nationals in August. Ant is an adult club team with a few former Swing Vote players, and they were the definite favorites that evening. With Ben on our side however, I believed that we had a fighting chance to take the victory.
Mid-way through the game with the score close, we were about to pull (analogous to a kickoff in football) to Ant’s offense. As we were picking our defensive matchups, Ben jogged out onto the field to join us in the huddle. He stood by, listening in to our conversation, and interjected with, “Anders, I want you on Gus this point.” Gus was a former teammate and premier thrower for Ant Madness. I had been asking my teammate Hunter to cover Gus so far in the game; I did not think I could effectively shut Gus down. However, Ben was adamant that I be the one to cover Gus for a point. The pull went up and we raced down the field to the offensive player we were tasked with covering, and as Gus cut horizontally across the field to receive a pass, I was able to catch up and make a diving “layout” block, batting the disc away, leading to a score for Swing Vote. As I received some high-fives and pats on the back for the defensive play, I realized that while that “D” went under my name on the stat sheet, one hundred percent of the credit had to go to Ben. Had he not made the matchup switch, I would not have forced the turnover and thrown the score.
Looking back, Ben’s matchup change was not purely tactical. I had played against and covered Gus many times over the last few years, including an intense state championship game, where I failed to limit Gus and he carried his high school team to victory. As a result, I didn’t believe in my ability to be an effective matchup for Gus, but Ben saw my hesitation, and his faith in my abilities gave me the mental boost needed to make the play.
A good coach is one who knows how give personal feedback to players and has the experience and skills to create a team strategy that plays to his team’s strengths and the opponent’s weaknesses. Before every point, Ben was out on the field, talking to our players, instructing them on how to increase offensive efficiency or defensive takeaways. This specific advice added direction to the team’s play as a whole and provided players with individualized suggestions leading to personal improvement. I accredit Ben and his involved coaching style to the elevation of my ultimate skills over the past two summers, as well as Swing Vote’s ability to bounce back from tough losses and thrive against challenging teams.
At nationals, we clashed in an intense game against Philadelphia Forge, a contender for the national title. The game went back and forth, each team taking the lead several times throughout. Unfortunately, a few offensive miscues from Swing Vote in the final points allowed Forge to seal the game, winning by one point, twelve to eleven. It was a close game, but Forge seemed to have the upper hand in athleticism and I knew that if we were to play them again, we’d need to make some adjustments to our defense to slow down the high-powered Forge offense. As luck would have it, we faced off against Forge in the semifinals. Although I always try to stay confident and optimistic, I knew that we were likely going into a battle. However, Ben brought out a new defensive strategy designed to get the disc away from the handlers and into weaker throwers’ hands. Armed with our new defense, Swing Vote was able to roll over Forge, taking a seven to two lead at halftime and sealing the victory thirteen to six. I think many Swing Vote players, including myself, were happily surprised by the effectiveness of Ben’s defensive changes, but in hindsight, I realize that Ben had a plan from the minute we lost to Forge in pool play.
In contrast to Ben, Dave failed to make crucial mid-game adjustments that augmented Swing Vote’s play on the spot. At practice, Dave occasionally made snarky remarks and did not steer his players back on course when we were distracted. Rarely was a Dave-led practice focused throughout the duration of our precious turf time, while Ben-led practices were guaranteed to be productive. However, Dave made a large impact on the logistics of the season; he helped secure practice space and organize the trip to Minnesota. While I greatly appreciate the time and effort he had to sacrifice to coach us this season, a Dave-led Swing Vote would have flopped at nationals, despite his ability to transport twenty-one teenagers to Blaine, Minnesota. Ben was the coach who led us to victory.
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