Learning Agile - Thing One, Thing Two, Thing Three & Thing Four

This is part 1 of 5
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Growing up I enjoyed playing sports. I played little league baseball as well as basketball, tennis, golf and volleyball. In those sports I had very different experiences learning each one and looking back I see how those experiences apply to the world of agile coaching.

I played baseball when I was young, so the experience was mostly about learning the rules, playing as a member of a team and most importantly having fun. Basketball was where we began learning about competing and discovering our desire to win. The coaches focused on individual and team fundamentals, with an eye towards winning games and making it to the playoffs.

Tennis and golf I initially learned on my own, because I enjoyed watching both. My brother-in-law and I played together and he would informally coach me, but I mostly learned by trial and error. However, as time went on I continued to play tennis more than golf and made my high school tennis. Now I had a "real" coach with real practices, district championships, and state championships. Our team made it to state, but in Florida there a lot of good players and we didn't fare so well once we got to state. Still the experience was great - we did win district.

Initially volleyball was much like tennis for me. I learned on my own, later joining up with a sanctioned club level team. What changed here is this was the first time I moved from just being a player to a player-coach on a competitive team. I had coached young kids, but this was the first time coaching to win.

From these sports experiences and others there are four things I find are always needed when coaching a person or team from novice to practitioner and beyond. These may not be all that is needed, but they're always part of what is needed.

I remember asking my high school tennis coach what it would take to become a great tennis player. He said, "It takes three things. Practice, practice, practice." I'll bet a lot of coaches give the same answer. His answer is true, but incomplete. So that's thing one.

Not only did I need practice, I needed a coach to guide me, teach me, correct me, & encourage me. I needed a knowledgeable observer who could help me become a better player. That's thing two.

In volleyball we would run a distraction drill. Two people would be in position on one side of the court to receive serves. Right in front of them on the same side of the net as the people about to receive the serve was our distract-er. A player would serve the ball and the distract-er was free to do just about anything to disrupt the players ability to receive the serve and successfully pass the ball. We were working on maintaining our focus no matter what was there distracting us. Thing three.

A final component is time for reflection. This is the time I would look back over what I had been doing, how it's gone so far, and what I need to do differently to reach my goals. Thing four.

Thing one, thing two, thing three and thing four:

1. Practice, Practice, Practice
2. A great coach
3. Focused Attention
4. Reflection

The next blogs will continue with thoughts about each of these.