3 Types of Athletes; How We Coach Them
I’ve noticed a very disheartening trend in the professional sporting industry over the last few years. Professional Teams are “firing” athletes who don’t immediately do everything the coach or team asks or requires — the ones who “aren’t willing to do the right things all the time or work hard for the results they want.”
To me, that’s just lazy and cynical: are clubs and coaches really supposed to work only with the easy athletes, the ones who need the least help, while refusing to help the ones who need a little more guidance?
As coaches we can do much better than that. By reading this manual you obviously hold yourself to a much higher standard.
Don’t quit on your athletes when times get challenging — help them, guide them and get the best out of them!
I always remind coaches to never simply dismiss athletes as “unmotivated” or “lazy.” Every single athlete can improve their football skills; get fitter, stronger and faster some just a little more assistance than others.
The question is: how do you it?
Elite coaches recognize different personality types require markedly different coaching strategies. Smart coaches modify their coaching methodology in order to help ALL of the athletes’ different personality types.
I’ve developed, 3 categories for each different personality type, each one requiring a different coaching strategy:
Athlete #1: Low compliance. Struggles to follow the program.
Athlete #2: High compliance, low results. Follows the program, gets below-expected results.
Athlete #3: High compliance, high results. Follows the program, gets above-expected results.
Each of these types of athletes has specific needs and has the ability to make dramatic change. Learn the coaching methods for each group and you will experience success with EVERY athlete that you coach.
Athlete #1: Low Compliance
Struggles to take the action you advise.Roughly 40% of all Athletes. The further you progress up the coaching pole or the more elite athletes you coach the smaller this number gets. Goal: Boost compliance.Strategy: Make it too easy.
I define a low compliance athlete as a player that performs less than 80% of the habits and training I prescribe — and as a result, get poor results.
Of course, this is the type of athlete that many people suggest you get rid of.
Many coaches write off the Low Compliance athlete as unmotivated, but with some help changing habits, this type of athlete can see amazing results.
I’ve found that the Low Compliance athlete needs the following:
1. A clear understanding of why change is important to them. I never assume that getting drafted or winning, premiership or playing with their mates is important to the athlete; instead, I ASK them. “On a scale of 1-10, how important is this to you?” If it’s anything less than a 9, we begin by helping the athlete find their own sense of purpose and meaning in their pursuit of a sporting goal — otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before they quit.
2. Confidence in their ability to do what’s asked of them. This is the cause of so many issues for athletes — they’re just not confident they can actually do what the coach is asking. And many coaches, out of haste or ignorance, forget to ask! My experience is that unless an athlete is nearly 100% confident that they can follow a plan, they’ll never begin due to fear of failure.
3. Clear operating instructions to avoid ambiguity. We make no assumptions that our athletes will understand what we’re asking them to do. “Take a protein shake” may sound simple, but what brand? How much? When do I take it? With meals or on an empty stomach? Before or after training? Any ambiguity in your advice will lower confidence, and in turn, reduce compliance.
4. Simple, high value habits they can feel successful in doing. Coaches often assume that their advice is easier to follow than it actually is, and become judgmental of athletes who can’t follow it. In fact, behaviour change is extremely difficult. Advice as simple as “Eat a healthy breakfast before the game” can really mean a dozen changes to an athletes’ life, from how they shop to what time they wake up in the morning.
Be cautious when giving advice, because it’s far easier than most coaches realize to give advice that is essentially impossible to follow.
The solution? Make it easier — too easy, in fact. Advise only the smallest possible behaviour change that will yield a noticeable and significant physical result.
So how do you do all of this at once?
The Confidence Method:
1. Suggest a daily habit to be followed for 2 weeks. E.g., “Each day, you’ll make yourself a healthy breakfast of your choosing from the Athletic Nutrition Cook Book.”
2. Ask the athlete to tell you how confident they are that they can do it. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you that you can do that every day for the next two weeks?”
3. If they’re at least 90% confident, go with it. If they answer either “9” or “10”, have them start practicing that habit, and check back in a week to see how they’re doing.
4. If they’re less than 90% confident, suggest an easier habit and try again. If they answer “8” or below, simplify the habit or come up with an easier one. E.g., “How about performing flexibility drills each morning?” or, “How about performing hot and cold contrast showers for recovery?” Keep going until you get a response of “9” or “10” on the confidence scale. When you get it right, athletes typically respond, “Hmm, well, obviously I can do that.” And that’s the exact response I’m looking for.
5. Once you’ve found your habit, give the athlete permission to ignore everything else. The athlete needs to know that this one habit is all that matters. They can skip everything else they’ve read about training, nutrition, recovery and everything else they think they “ought” to do. But once they commit, this habit has to be done every day.
Why it works:
Instead of following orders, the athlete is co-creating their own new behaviour. Instead of dictating to an athlete what they must do, I guide them and encourage them to choose for themselves. Ultimately, all change has to come from within and is more empowering for an athlete when they feel they have the power and have made the decision.
The chosen habits are confidence-inspiring, realistic — and most of all, attainable. Athletes get easy-to-follow daily habits perfectly suited to their own lives and abilities, which drastically improves compliance.
By simplifying and clarifying the habit, you can help your athletes feel bigger than the challenge ahead.
And as their confidence increases, their compliance and rate of change (fat loss, sports performance, flexibility, and resilience) will increase as well. Then you can challenge them with incrementally bigger habits, and the results continually increase.
Athlete #2: High Compliance, Low Results
Takes the prescribed action, doesn’t get the expected result.Roughly 30% of all athletes.Goal: Measurable progress.Strategy: Experiment with new (and somewhat more challenging) habits
A High Compliance, Low Results athlete follows the program but isn’t getting optimal results.
I define a high compliance athlete does more than 80% of the habits and training I prescribe but falls below my sport performance testing targets. With athletes working on increasing muscle mass, I look for an increase of 0.5kgs muscle per week.
[One caveat: increases in lean muscle mass aren’t always linear, and progress may be made in fits and starts. But on average, over time, the above numbers are what I aim for.]
Now, this type of athlete can be just as frustrating as the first group, but for a different reason: they seem to be doing all the “right things,” but the results just aren’t coming. But let’s not “fire” these athletes yet either. They, too, can be helped.
The goal with this type of athlete is to have them increase muscle at or above the target rate of muscle growth, which will increase confidence and motivation. I use two approaches to help boost their progress.
First, I help them achieve a slightly higher compliance rate. Simply going from 80 to 90 percent compliance often makes all the difference in this type of athlete.
Second, I individualize their program. And this is where all your training as a coach can really shine through. Here’s where you tweak the training program, introduce more advanced nutrition concepts, or start incorporating more advanced sport science training modalities.
Athlete #3: High Compliance, High Results
Takes the prescribed action, gets the expected result.Roughly 30% of all athletes.Goal: Prevent burnout and build sustainable habits.Strategy: Give praise, permission to be imperfect and cautious attention.
A High Compliance, High Results athlete follow the program with greater than 80% compliance and that are meeting or exceeding the target rate of sports performance testing improvements or body composition change.
At my Gold Coast Training Facility the target rate of muscle mass is 0.5kgs muscle mass or a 2.5-5% improvement in strength and performance each week.
Results above this level are great — athletes are doing the program, and getting the results they want. However, they still need cautious attention.
When we’re getting results like this I recommend two things: congratulating the athlete and a new challenge.
For the “congratulations” portion, offer praise and recognition. “It’s obvious how much you want this, John — your dedication and results have been amazing so far. Nice work. Let’s keep it up.”
Sometimes I may present them with a gift certificate to a healthy restaurant, or give them a book I think they’d enjoy. I will sometimes put their name up on a progress board at the gym. In the end, the method doesn’t usually matter — the fact that I recognize their hard work and progress, either privately or publicly, does.
As for the challenge, consider giving them a similar but new and more challenging habit to follow. That’s assuming, of course, that they’re still “9” or “10” on the confidence scale. And as time goes on, choose habits that build lifelong success strategies and allow for imperfection.
I mentioned giving this type of person “cautious” attention because sometimes the athletes who start out strongest do so by throwing themselves completely at their goal. That’s OK, but only if they’re also developing strategies they can follow when they’re unable to devote 100% of their life time to it. And, it’s virtually impossible to do the “all training discipline thing, 100% of the time.
So keep a close eye on your superstars, because burnout is always a risk with them. As coaches we’re in a perfect position to help out if it arises, and if we watch closely, we can often prevent it in the first place.
I can’t tell you how many times other coaches have told me, “Mate, I’m so jealous! You have the best athletes. If I could get athletes like you have, I’d love my job as well.”
But I start out with the same mix of athletes that every other coach starts with. The difference is this: I know that each type of athlete can improve and become High Compliance, High Results Athletes. I start with a belief that every athlete can become the “perfect athlete,” and I’m constantly testing new strategies to make it happen.
The key is the ability to identity what type of athlete they currently are, how I can help them, and what specific steps I can take to get them to that next level?
That is the job of the elite coach — and with a little effort; it’s a skill you can learn.
All the best,
Joey Hayes
References:
Berardi J, Precision Nutrition Certification Level 1.
Hayes, J. Psychology of Winning