You Got To Know Your Limits

Parents who think they are better than the coaching staff, take heed, please, for the betterment of your child's bowling.

I firmly believe that there are distinct stages in an athlete's development; and, I feel I know when to get involved and when to let others take over. At the beginning, and until they showed a keener interest in our sport of bowling, I taught my grandkids the basics and fundamentals. As they started to improve, I had to find them junior coaches and programs that fit into the stage of development they were in.

Every Saturday morning that I can, I am watching my grandkids in their junior bowling program. At those particular times, I am just "Grandpa Choc," cheering them on with encouragement and understanding. I let the voluntary, but plenty skillful, coaching staff work on their game. You see, while I grew up in junior bowling and then helped coach junior bowlers through the 1990's, by the time my kids moved into the "hungry-for-bowling knowledge" phase of their game, I had spent most of the time since the new millennium concentrating on coaching adults. In summary, I was more comfortable teaching adults than I was children.

In general, every individual coach can only take a student to a certain level. That is, "the success that that coach has actually experienced is the level that that coach can teach to." (If you have not bowled as a Pro, don't kid yourself into thinking you can teach them to perform like a Pro.) There are exceptions, of course, but, more often than not, there comes a time when a coach (or the student) must find another teacher who can take them to the next level of their game.

My "Choc-List" this week is for coaches who refuse to let their students move on:

1) Do not live vicariously through them. Just because you never got as good as they are, don't try to live your dreams through them.

2) Do not let your ego get in the way of their improvement. You have to believe that there are times when their game can improve in spite of having a different person coaching them.

3) Do not stand in the way of their progress. When you have brought them to the level that your capabilities are becoming over-extended, be honest with yourself. Let them go.

4) Do not think that only you can coach them. Regardless of your relationship with them, at some point in time, you must let another person take them over.

Perhaps in a few years, I can coach my grandkids once again, perhaps not; it all depends.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)