YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS

Early in my career, I thought being a good coach meant always having the answer. As a graduate assistant, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect.

Don't mess up.  Don't miss any details.  Know the answer before someone asks.  Think three steps ahead.

If something went wrong, I felt like I should have seen it coming, or that if I were better, nothing would’ve happened.  I took it all very personally.

Don’t get me wrong, some of that pressure was useful.

It taught me to prepare.  It taught me to pay attention to details and anticipate problems instead of always reacting to them.

I still value those habits today.  But looking back, I also realized I was expecting something from myself that wasn't realistic.

I was the most inexperienced I would ever be in my entire career, while expecting myself to perform like I wasn't.

YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE INEXPERIENCED

Whenever I talk to younger coaches, I always make sure to tell them something that I probably needed to hear more often when I was in their position:

"You're going to mess up, and you should expect to."

Not because the details don't matter or the standard should be lower for younger coaches.  But because you’re learning.

You're going to say the wrong thing.  You're going to miss something in a program.  You'll organize a group poorly.  You're going to give a cue that doesn't work.  You're going to forget something you thought you'd remember.

And yes, you will look back at programs you wrote two years ago and wonder, “What was I thinking???”

That's part of becoming a coach.

At that point in your career, you simply haven't accumulated enough experience to know how to handle every situation you're going to encounter.

You don't know what you don't know yet.

EXPERIENCE CREATES THE ABILITY TO THINK AHEAD

Thinking three steps ahead is important. I've learned that the ability to do that comes largely from experience.

Experienced coaches can anticipate certain problems because they've already seen versions of them before.

You know which questions a sport coach is going to ask because you've had the conversation before.  You recognize that a movement isn't working before the entire session gets derailed because you've coached thousands of reps.  You remember the small logistical detail because you've forgotten it once before.

What eventually looks like foresight often started as a mistake and that's one of the benefits of experience.

A young coach hasn't had the opportunity to build that library yet.

THE GOAL ISN'T TO AVOID EVERY MISTAKE

The goal is to learn from each misstep. 

There's a big difference between making a mistake because you're learning and continuing to make the same mistake because you refuse to learn.

If you're late once, learn from it.  If your setup doesn't work, figure out why.  If you communicate something poorly, think about how you could have said it differently.  If another coach corrects you, listen.  If you don't know the answer, don't pretend that you do.

Own it.

Fix what you can and carry the lesson into the next opportunity.  Over time, some of those silly mistakes start disappearing.  It’s not because you suddenly became perfect; it’s because experience helped clean them up.

"I DON'T KNOW" IS AN ANSWER

As a young coach, saying "I don't know" can feel like exposing yourself.

You're surrounded by people with more experience and you're trying to prove that you belong.

An athlete asks you a question. 

A sport coach asks why something is happening.

Another S&C coach brings up something you've never encountered.

You feel like you should have an answer.  So there's a temptation to give one. 

But guessing doesn't make you more credible.

Sometimes the best answer you can give is:

"I don't know, but I'll figure it out."

Then go searching.

Ask someone who knows more than you.  Read.  Research.  Talk to another coach.  Collaborate with another department that you feel like may have better insight.

And then follow up.

Not knowing something doesn't damage your credibility nearly as much as pretending to know something you don't.

KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW

There is another side to this.

You shouldn't use "I don't know" as a reason not to develop your expertise.  You should prepare, ask questions, seek out good mentors, understand the WHY behind your programming, and communicate efficiently and effectively.

The goal isn't to become comfortable knowing less.  The goal is to become comfortable being honest about the limits of what you know.

You can have expertise without pretending to be an expert in everything.

ASKING FOR HELP IS PART OF THE JOB

There is a ton of overlap in strength and conditioning.  We pull from:

o   Sports medicine

o   Nutrition

o   Psychology

o   Sport science

o   Skill development

o   Leadership

We should understand enough about the entire performance model in order to communicate and collaborate effectively.

But that doesn't mean every problem belongs to us.  Knowing when to involve someone with greater expertise is part of being a good professional.

Sometimes leadership means providing the answer, and sometimes it means knowing who is better suited to provide the answer.

You don't lose credibility by asking for help.  You can lose credibility by stepping outside your expertise and pretending you don't need it.

DON'T LET THE FEAR OF BEING WRONG KEEP YOU FROM COACHING

There's also a danger in trying to be perfect.

You can become hesitant.  Start to overthink every decision.  You wait until you're completely certain before speaking up.  You avoid taking responsibility because responsibility creates the possibility of getting something wrong.

But young coaches need reps too.

You need to coach.  You need to keep writing programs.  You need to lead groups.  You need to have difficult conversations.  You need opportunities where things don't go exactly as planned.

That's how you develop the judgment you're already trying so hard to have.

You can't gain experience without first being inexperienced.

THE COACH I NEEDED THEN

When I think back to myself as a graduate assistant, I don't wish I cared less.

I'm glad I wanted to get things right.  That I tried to think ahead.  That details mattered to me.

Those expectations helped shape the coach I eventually became.

What I would change is the expectation that growth should happen without mistakes.

That's why I tell young coaches now:

You're going to mess up.  You're going to make some silly mistakes.  You're occasionally going to walk away thinking, “I can’t believe I did that.”

Learn from it.  Clean it up.  And then, keep coaching.

Five years from now, you'll see things you can't see today.  Ten years from now, you'll handle situations differently than you did after five years of experience.

That's not evidence that you weren't good enough before.  That’s because experience has been one of the best teachers you’ve ever had.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

We spend a lot of our early careers trying to prove that we belong.

We want to have the answer, make the right decision, say the right thing, never seem unprepared.

Preparation, details and expertise all matter.  But none of us entered this profession as a finished product.  And none of us should ever become one.

There will always be another situation you haven't encountered.  A new question you can't immediately answer.  A different mistake that teaches you something new.  The goal isn't to eliminate those moments.  It's to become the kind of professional who knows what to do with them.

A SIMPLE STARTING POINT

The next time you don't know something, resist the urge to immediately have an answer.

Say:

"I don't know, but I'll figure it out."

Then make sure you do.

And the next time you make a mistake:

o   Own it

o   Learn from it

o   Clean it up

o   Move forward

You don't have to have all the answers.

-Coach Metz

Great coaching doesn’t mean having all the answers. It requires the humility to keep learning, the confidence to ask questions and the willingness to grow through mistakes and experience.

If you’re an athletic department seeking structured, intentional support without the financial burden of hiring full-time staff, AXIS S&C offers contracted systems built around long-term sustainability.