Philosophy in Coaching - Essay Example

? Philosophy in Coaching, Comparing Coaches Philosophy in coaching plays an effective role for coaches on the basis of which, tactical and technical skills along with knowledge are imparted to athletes. Coaches with the assistance of various skills such as effective communication and team management are able to train and improve the performance of athletes. In this regard, the approaches and principles of two basketball coaches that include Coach Wooden and Phil Jackson have been studied with the intention of determining the techniques that are used to improve and motivate players. In this regard, it has been viewed that the coaches adopt and implement certain similar and dissimilar techniques along with approaches in order to train employees and also to improve their skills. Philosophy in Coaching, Comparing Coaches Coaches are regarded as the teachers who are entitled with the task of teaching athletes and team members possessing different skill sets. Coaches will impart knowledge and training to athletes, which will make them to perform different activities effectively with greater teamwork. Additionally, coaches will make the athletes aware of the characteristics along with the values that are essential to develop as a successful athlete and individual. In this regard, there are different aspects of coaching philosophy on the basis of which coaches impart their knowledge along with skills to athletes. Coaches should possess different skills, competencies and self-esteem in this respect. Respectively, coaches with different skill sets will be facilitated with the opportunity of imparting athletes with tactical, technical along with life skills. Coaches are also required to possess effective leadership skills. Specially mentioning, there are other certain traits that include self-awareness, self-belief and self-disclosure, assisting coaches to become successful in performing their respective task efficiently (Martens, 1981). In this regard, the essay tends to describe the different aspects of Coach Phil Jackson and experiences along with traits required for the development of his competencies. Additionally, it emphasizes determining the knowledge and the skills imparted to athletes for maximizing their performances along with addressing the similarities and the distinctions between two coaches named Coach Wooden and Phil Jackson. Discussion Phil Jackson is recognized as one of the best coaches in the history of ‘National Basketball Association’ (NBA). He was born in the year 1945 and was engaged with different games such as football, basketball along with baseball in the days of his high school. During his graduation, he was selected to play basketball for the team North Dakota. In that game, he assisted his team to acquire third and fourth place in NCAA Division II Championship. After that, he played for several years as a substitute player in the team New York Knicks. He was an all-round player with intelligence and hardworking capabilities. He was not identified as a star basketball player in his career. In the year 1980, he retired and started his career as a basketball coach in lower-level leagues. It can be viewed that his career as a basketball coach took great heights and assisted Chicago Bulls in winning NBA titles for six times. Additionally, as a coach of Los Angeles Lakers, he assisted the team to win NBA titles for three consecutive years (A+E Television Networks, LLC, 2013). Phil Jackson has acquired adequate knowledge and traits from his parents, which eventually assisted him to face different uprising challenges in an effective way. Moreover, from his school days, he developed his spiritual aspects in order to develop confidence towards performing his diverse activities with better zeal and success. Furthermore, it has been apparently observed that in his career life as a basketball player, he developed team-oriented style at large. Additionally, he possessed certain in-built capabilities that include confidence, focused and self-possessed along with consistent attitude. In this respect, it can be affirmed that the aforementioned traits assisted in developing his personal coaching philosophy. Respectively, the coaching philosophy of Phil Jackson is based on certain principles such as developing objectives, building natural interrelation with the players, developing team spirit and managing stress among others (NBA Media Ventures, LLC, 2013). Phil Jackson has used different techniques in order to communicate and develop the spirituality of his athletes and teams. In this regard, he mainly focused on developing self-confidence amid the team athletes, so that they are able to play their role as leaders. He also developed a better relationship with athletes with pleasant attitude and intensity. His coaching philosophy is based on developing competitive attitude. In this context, the athletes are likely to develop competitive attitude amid them with the intention of performing various activities with better team spirit and effort. Respectively, he used to develop a personal association with people through open communication and compassionate attitude with the aim of having a better control and direction over athletes (Thompson, n.d.). Moreover, his coaching style is based on counterculture, which assisted the athletes to develop their spiritual dimension and behavior. In this regard, he used numerous intervention methodologies such as meditation and yoga, so that the athletes can develop their self-focus attitude in order to perform various activities effectively. Specially mentioning, he developed a model i.e. ‘the Triangle Offence’, which implies that the athletes are required to eliminate their self-objectives and perform as a team. The principle of selflessness and sacrifice was used by him, so that the athletes can play with better group efforts in the context of “winning” and “championships” (Turner, 2006). In order to determine the motivational approach and the techniques of Phil Jackson, it can be viewed that the coaching philosophy of this coach is primarily based upon a holistic approach, which signifies that in case of any issue, the team players should develop their own solutions. In this respect, the athletes must focus upon developing a friendly association with others, so that the issues are addressed along with mitigated successfully. The coach strongly believed that the holistic approach would eventually facilitate the athletes to reduce their dependency on him and assist them i to make their individual decisions effectively. In this regard, it can be apparently observed that the aforementioned techniques have assisted the athletes to perform proficiently and face the challenges along with the competitions effectively. Furthermore, these techniques and approaches that adopted along with executed by Phil Jackson have assisted various talented individuals including Dennis Rodman, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’ Neal in developing their career by following appropriate ethical values along with principles. The aforementioned athletes have been facilitated with the opportunity of succeeding and achieving more in their career and personal life (Turner, 2006). Phil Jackson has been coaching different teams in his professional career as a coach. He commenced his coaching career from the year 1987 as an assistant coach for the team Chicago Bulls. Later on, during the year 1989, he became the head coach of the team. In the year 1999, he was the coach of the team Los Angeles Lakers. In this context, it can be identified that he is involved in coaching teams and individuals associated with basketball (A+E Television Networks, LLC, 2013). In this regard, it can be recognized that as a coach, Phil Jackson has been able to develop different skill sets, knowledge and experience about the way individuals should be managed. Additionally, he developed his traits and competencies that supported him to lead a more organized and a coordinated life in future. He also seemed to adopt different new approaches and policies in motivating along with enhancing the performances of athletes by a greater degree. Moreover, his approaches aided the athletes in improving their career and personal life with better confidence, adaptability and consistence in their activities. Accordingly, the qualities and the professionalism of Phil Jackson have motivated different coaches in adopting his approaches for the development of behavior, self-awareness and selflessness in life in order to become successful (A+E Television Networks, LLC, 2013). Coach Wooden, as a basketball coach possessed certain effective teaching capabilities. The main philosophy of Coach Wooden can be viewed to develop a better affiliation with the athletes for the purpose of motivating and inspiring them towards performing their respective activities He was a coach in collegiate level with a track record of 667 wins and 161 lose, which signifies a win percentage of 81 percent. He retired in the year 1975. He adopted different strategies on the basis of which players are required to be trained and motivated (Nater & Gallimore, 2006). The principles and approaches of Coach Wooden and Phil Jackson have some identical elements on the basis of which athletes or players are trained and motivated. The most common coaching philosophy between the aforementioned two coaches is to develop a positive relationship amid athletes, so that they are able to communicate amid themselves in an effective manner. Moreover, development of a better student-teacher relationship has facilitated in understanding the problems and needs of the players. In this regard, better exchange of information has provided the opportunity of mitigating issues in an appropriate manner. The two coaches also believed on the idea of treating others with respect along with fairness. Contextually, the coaches with the idea of respect and fairness succeeded to develop overall team performance with better team spirit and effort. The other imperative similarity particularly in the coaching philosophy of these two coaches can be viewed as that both imparted the knowledge and the strategies that the players must take into concern in identifying various problems and adopting effective measures to overcome various issues (Nater & Gallimore, 2006; Turner, 2006). However, there are certain dissimilarities between the coaches in accordance with the application of their respective strategies. It can be viewed in this regard that Coach Wooden has developed and implemented strategies on the basis of which athletes will be able to develop and improve their individual skills along with talents. On the other hand, Phil Jackson has implemented the strategies of developing the performance of athletes in terms of playing as a team with selflessness. Moreover, Phil Jackson has adopted different approaches such as meditation along with yoga with the objective of developing confidence amid athletes. Mediation and yoga have also facilitated in developing better problem solving capabilities and focused towards attaining their group objectives. On the other hand, Coach Wooden has developed the strategy i.e. ‘the Pyramid of Success’, which implies that players on the accomplishment of their short-term goals is likely to develop a sense of self-achievement and act as a motivational factor. In contrast, Phil Jackson has trained athletes with the idea of discarding their self-objectives and concentrating towards accomplishing team objectives in order to win championships (Nater & Gallimore, 2006; Turner, 2006). So, these are the various similarities and the dissimilarities that can be found between Coach Wooden and Phil Jackson in relation to their coaching philosophy. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be comprehended that coaching philosophy play a decisive role especially for the coaches on the basis of which athletes are imparted with effective training and greater knowledge. In this regard, coaches are required to possess different skill sets in order to improve tactical along with technical skills of athletes, so that they are able to bestow their best performance. It can be viewed that Phil Jackson and Coach Wooden are renowned basketball coaches in their times. Both the coaches have certain similarities and dissimilarities in their approaches along with principles in the context of their coaching philosophy. Contextually, both the coaches with their respective similar along with dissimilar approaches have developed the skills and motivation of athletes to perform better. References A+E Television Networks, LLC. (2013). Phil Jackson biography. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/phil-jackson-224897 Martens, R. (1981). Successful coaching. United States of America: Human Kinetics. Nater, S., & Gallimore, R. (2006). You haven't taught until they have learned: John Wooden's teaching principles and practices. United States of America: Fitness Information Technology. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. (2013). Phil Jackson. Retrieved from http://www.nba.com/coachfile/phil_jackson/ Thompson, J. (n.d.). Phil Jackson: role model coach. Retrieved from http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0013/3909/Phil_Jackson-Role_Model.pdf Turner, D. (2006). Phil Jackson: zen and the counterculture coach. University of Hertfordshire. Read More