Padma was all excited as she had just learnt the difference between coaching and training. Before anyone could say anything, she burst out, “Training is all about transferring knowledge while coaching is enhancing knowledge”. Prabha and Kingo were excited as they also did not know the difference. Kaushik knew it all and said that is the reason you have coaches for sports. People have the basic skill and need to enhance their knowledge.
The discussion then went to how should one get coaching on Bridge. Everyone agreed that having a coach for the team was a good idea. However, they could not conclude who will be the right coach for the team. They decided that they will outline the qualities in a good coach. Kaushik started by saying that the key quality in a coach must be that all of us respect him as a coach and listen to him. If we keep arguing with our coach and say you know more than the coach, it will not work.”
Padma said that we must have a coach who will use some kind of metrics so that we can identify our area of weakness – each of us may have different areas of strength and weakness – say bidding, declarer play or defence. Prabha wanted a coach who is approachable. No point in having someone with whom we cannot have a friendly chat about our issues. No point in finding an auditor who will keep finding faults in our play – we need a consultant who will work with us and help us to improve.
Kingo always had a different point of view. His view point is that we must have a paid coach rather than a friendly Bridge player. If he is paid, he will take interest and coach us well. If there is nothing to motivate the coach, there will be no focus on the activity. Kaushik agreed with Kingo on the payment issue but said the coach must have mix of technical knowledge, good communication skills and must motivate with positive strokes ad not just be fault finder.
Everyone was in agreement that the team needed a coach and having outlined the skills required in the coach, they started looking for a coach. There were a couple of other points that they agreed upon – they should not expect overnight miracles and it will have to be a long-term engagement. They also agreed that the coach must have enough spare time to for coaching and we must all agree and adhere to a fixed practice schedule. They finally found a coach in two weeks and are now waiting to see if their game improves or not.
Tailpiece: Goofy was listening intently and remarked that the coach should be strict and must be frank in giving feedback. If he doesn’t bark, no improvement will take place.
