Who is the best coach you have? This is a great question because during our careers we come across different people that have a lasting effect on us. As a player I vividly remember which coaches made the biggest difference to me. While some were better than others I know every coach I ever had had a positive effect on me in some way. Sure at the time I didn’t see the lesson but as time went on I was able to understand what the lesson was about.

Let me give you an example. This will sound like the old “Back in my day” as it was so long ago but I will tell the story anyway. In 1984 I quit basketball for Australian Rules football. I had the pleasure of being recruited to the Kangaroos in the AFL. Things didn’t work at for me and I returned home. Basically I missed my first love basketball and I was unable to put my best foot forward. Anyway to cut a long story short, I returned home to play for my local club and had an indifferent season. Our club made the finals and while I had played only a couple of games in the seniors. My form in the B was quite good at the time so I was elevated into the senior team for the most important game that season, a knockout semi final.

Here is where I get to my point. Just before we ran onto the field one of the coaches came up to me and screamed in my face “This is your last chance!!!” Now I will say there were a few expletives in used as well, now at the time I thought bugger you I will prove you wrong. Fortunately I went out and played very well. Now let me tell you I was only 18 at the time. It took me a few years to understand what this coach was doing. But as time went on I realised he was just challenging me to perform in a high-pressure situation. My performance was exactly what he was after. In time that same coach has told me I reacted how he thought I would and that is why he did it.

Does this story make him the best coach I have had? No is my answer. He is just one of many that had a positive effect on me as an athlete. I believe the best coach is your self. I could have reacted in a number of ways to this but I took a negative and turned it into a positive, a very sound lesson for me throughout my career. This is even more so now that I am a coach because I now receive more criticism than ever and from a number of different angles.

The reason I say you will be your best coach is because you spend twenty-four hours a day with your self. A coach only has a few hours a week or a few hours a day if you are a professional. So what do you do the rest of time when you are not with your coach? This is the time that matters. For example, the Hawks are in their off season at the moment and I have very little contact with any of the players. I often wonder what the players are doing to prepare for next season while they are not under my watchful eye. I say this because when I got back from Australia before last season I found that the players hadn’t done the work and were not in any type of condition to play the way the Hawks play the game. It was evident the hard work had not been done. Thus the players had let themselves down and I had let them down by not monitoring it enough.

This is often the difference between great and good. The great have the best coach constantly working and challenging them, which of course is them selves. Where as the good need an extrinsic voice to motivate and coach them. While I agree we all need a little extrinsic help at times, just remember next time you are wondering who your best coach is or has been remember it is you!

With energy

Shawn Dennis