Where Do You Draw The Line?

Legendary coaches Geno Auriemma and Anson Dorrance talk about two of the most competitive and complete players that they have coached and some of the secret sauce that made them great.  Both athletes could be pushed as hard as they need to be pushed and they both wanted to be told 'there is another level.'

Not everybody can be pushed as hard as Diana Taurasi and Michelle Akers; not everybody wants to be 'that' great.  But as coaches and as leaders, it is our job to find that line for each team and each individual and push our athletes past that line.  As Anson Dorrance said in closing, 'Usually if they don't achieve their potential, you were too soft on them.'  

There's a big price to be paid if you want to play with the best

Playing at Connecticut is nice, but there's a lot more that goes into it than just showing up in Storrs, putting your uniform on, and then running out of the tunnel in front of 16,000 people.  There is a big price to be paid for that and not every kid that watches on television understands what that price is until they get there.  And some kids are prepared to pay it, and some kids are not.

You have to know each kid and know how far you can push a kid, and it's not necessarily how far that they say that they can go.  Sometimes athletes think they want to be the best or they say that they want to be the best, but they might not really want to do all that it takes to be the best.

Some People (or Horses) Don't Know How to Train Slow

When the racehorse Secretariat was training between the Preakness and the Belmont, common training wisdom said to rest and pace the horse during this stretch of training so that they don't get too tired. But Secretariat only knew one way to train - fast.  Secretariat didn't run slow and didn't jog.  He only knew how to sprint and to work hard.  Everyone thought they were crazy for pushing the horse so hard, but Secretariat ended up winning the Belmont by 31 lengths.

You have to know who you are dealing with and how far you can push the team and each individual player.  Some teams you are unfair to because you are trying to get something (more) out of them that they can't give you.  Part of a coach's job is to find out how far they can push an athlete and push them a little farther.

You Have to Be There to Keep Them Encouraged

Some kids you can ask to do anything and none of it will be too much. That is how they become the best at something.  No matter how hard their coach pushes them when an athlete knows in their heart that they have what it takes to be the best, they will never be discouraged [to the point of quitting] - they will only take it as a challenge.  

But even the best get discouraged sometimes because even as great as they are or as great they think they are, there is going to come to a point in time where they will need you to reinforce in them that what they are doing is the right thing and that they are on the right track.  That is what they need from you.  They can probably be great without you, but they need you when they start to get discouraged because they want to be great so bad that when they are not there they get discouraged and you have to remind them.

What Do The Greats Want to Hear

When Anson Dorrance was coaching soccer great Michelle Akers, they would have player conferences before international matches to try to build a players confidence.  Michelle never wanted nor needed her confidence built.  All that she would want pre-game was constructive criticism of areas of her game that she could improve in.  There weren't any weaknesses in her game, so Dorrance would invent and create flaws in her game.  He loved coaching her because she got better, and better, and better because she was always looking for ways to improve her game.    She corrected every aspect of her game that had any sign of weakness and became the most complete player that he had ever seen.  All she wanted was information on things to work on to get better.

The best ones to coach are the ones who want to be told that there is another level, and the challenge as a coach is, 'Can you take this kid to his or her potential?'  'Where is that line going to be drawn?  'Where are you going to draw it?'  'Where are you going to take this kid' is the question that you have to ask yourself.  Usually, if they don't achieve their potential, you were too soft on them.  You have to challenge them enough.  The amazing thing about the human spirit is the heights that it can sore too.   There are going to be periods when they are going to lack confidence, but the critical elements to the great ones are that they are never going to lack self-belief.  So you ride that self-belief as long as you can.