As a coach myself, one of my goals is to be fired eventually. I believe that I need to turn my athletes into coaches themselves. I do not mean in the multilevel marketing sense but in the sense that they know the whys and what’s and how’s of training and know their body so well that they can create their own program, modify it as needed, and be able to roll and respond to issues as they arise without difficulties.
I envolve my athletes in the coaching process as much as possible. There is no black box of coaching. I explain the purpose behind each workout, ask them to be engaged in the process and provide feedback themselves and even make suggestions based on what they have learned. Quite a few of my athletes have turned to me and said that they no longer need me and when they say that I am thrilled. I step back, monitor their progress and provide occasional feedback if they need it, but otherwise I sit back and am a proud coach.
For some, this does not work. They prefer me to do everything and don’t really care about the why. They have busy lives and hire me to do the work of creating a successful program so that they don’t have t worry about it. All good. I still envolve them in the process so that they know the ins and outs, but they prefer (or don’t trust themselves) not to create their own programs