Part Three: Coaches: What do you need? (Third of a Three-Part Series)

I’ve talked about the instructional staff in general and instructors, specifically, so far. Now it’s time to cover coaches.

Coaches are different than instructors. Even if your coaches are instructors as well, in their role as a coach the outcome is different. A coach is not there to teach a student how to perform a technique; the coach is there to help the student perform their techniques better.

Better is kind of a nebulous term so let me clarify with respect to judo. Judo teaches students how to use physics effectively to vanquish a partner through a variety of techniques. Competitive judo requires less breadth and more depth with regard to the amount of judo a competitor knows. The competitor must have a family of techniques that works together smoothly and the competitor must be able to apply these techniques at will with speed and power.

The coach of any judo student, whether the student is a competitor or not, aids the student in developing smoothness, speed, and power using a variety of drills and supplemental skill development tools. In a novice student, this may include concentrating on repetitions for basic skills development or movement drills to encourage application against a moving partner. Advanced student should have chained drills that flow from the seven components of a technique (Approach, Grip, Set-up, Entry/Attack, Execution, Combination, and Transition to Ne-waza).

SIDE NOTE: I actively discourage novice students from competing in most tournaments because I want my students to be prepared for the variety of negative aspects that come from trying to win at all costs that can occur in some tournaments. I actively encourage novice students to compete in tournaments/divisions that are designed for novice students.

So, with all that said, what should a dojo owner look for in a prospective coach?

I look for a few things in a coach. Obviously, you want reliability and other basic elements of a dedicated employee. Above that, however, I look for someone who has a competitive bent and works well with students. I want someone who understands that people are different and working with each person is a unique exercise. As for judo skills, I push people to take courses in coaching no matter who gives the course. I especially encourage USJA coaching courses. I also won’t let anyone who’s not a certified brown belt or above (USJA, USJF, USA Judo) coach judo for me.

Now, those are the basic qualifiers. Is that it? Absolutely not, unfortunately some of the other elements are less tangible for me to describe right now. I like to get an idea of the person who wants to coach. Mostly, like any employment situation, my concern is how well they fit with the environment of my dojo. Does their personality complement the personality of the dojo or will discord arise. A dojo should be harmonious; clashes create discord and that brings the whole thing down.

Why do I emphasize certified brown belts or above? The simple reason for that qualifier is because the students who get their coaching compete. Their coach needs to be able to sit matside (even if they don’t actively coach during a match). If the coach is barred from sitting matside because they aren’t credentialed, the competitor is disserved. I’m not going to go into whether the Big Three are right, wrong, not the only place to learn judo, or whatever in this post because it’s a subject for a different place.

Remember the goal of the coach is the refinement and enhancement of performance not the instruction of new skills. The coach’s success shows by improved results not by new skills. That means that a coach should monitor, track, and analyze performance results over the course of a competitor’s career. Data gathering is a necessary component for the coach!

Part one: Instructional Staff

Part two: Instructors: Buy or Build?

Let me know what you think of this idea, post in the comments below or e-mail! Don’t forget to like the Roswell and New Mexico Military Institute Judo Clubs on Facebook!

Drilling and Sequencing

This year has been a very busy year for me with judo. I recently made Third Degree Black Belt and earned certification as a National Level Coach, both of which through the United States Judo Association. I'm also teaching a lot of judo at New Mexico Military Institute and my own Roswell Judo Club. It's been very busy.

I noticed, after looking at what people are visiting most on my blog, that a bunch of people want information on how to develop lessons or plan classes. I think that's absolutely great! I'll put some more ideas up on that next week, but this week let's talk about drilling and sequencing.

Almost everybody I've known who teaches judo or jiujitsu knows what drills are. Quite a few know how to teach drills. Unfortunately not many people use drills as effectively as they could. I can hear it now, "I've been teaching or using drills for years, what do you mean I'm not using them effectively?"

I'm not saying that you're doing it wrong, I'm just trying to show how I use drills and that's through sequencing. Gerald Lafon (where I heard the term first) and several others call it shaping. Two basic styles of sequencing are forward and backward. The idea behind sequencing is to drill a group of logically linked techniques so you can practice like you'll perform.

Let me give you an example, last weekend at the NMMI Judo Club we started the weekend by drilling both the Figure-4 and Half-Nelson turnovers continuing into yoko shiho gatame. That's a pretty basic drill, but it limits the practical application because we don't look at any counters or continuations. The turtle position is fairly common which makes this attack something to know if you have to attack the turtle, but what if you are the one in the turtle, to quote the television show "Alice" and its cook, Mel, "The best defense is a good offense!" With that in mind we added a morote gari as an attack from the turtle, but, because a morote gari tends to have tori end up in guard, we continued with a basic guard pass and transition to side control.  Maybe you've noticed that, so far, the techniques ended in a side control position. There's a reason for that! 

I don't really believe in escaping in a tournament/competition setting because, once you escape and the referee stands you up, you've given your opponent another chance to win the match! I believe in getting out of a technique by transitioning to another position, preferably one where you're on top and in control.

Now, for the reason for the finish in side control: I learned a fairly simple escape/transition to a triangle from side control when I was at Gary Goltz's club in September! Once we learned how to perform and did a few isolated drills on the transition, we started linking the various turtle attacks (from both the top position and the bottom position) all the way through the transition from side control to the triangle to the tap.

If you drill and don't sequence, you are missing out on a big way to improve your and your students' performance. If you can't figure a good sequence out, I'll be happy to offer some suggestions, just drop me a message!

I have a few ideas about a way to give students references better than the standard videos or books. Unfortunately I lack sufficient talent to craft those references. If you know anyone that's good at computer animations and likes judo, would you let them know about this opportunity!