Race-training in a positive way

I was coaching on board a racing yacht at the weekend – a Mumm 30 for those that know about these things. My client – an owner-driver in this very competitive class – had identified that he could start well is there was a gap to go into, but if there were lots of boats around, then he tended to shy away . So the aim of the time spent afloat was to focus in-depth on the boat-positioning skills needed for the start of a race. I was the on-board-the yacht coach, and my old friend Jim Saltonstall was the coach-in-a-RIB (motorboat) videoing it all from off the boat.

Everyone enjoyed having the two coaches with contrasting but complementary styles there. My client made huge strides, ably assisted by his very willing crew, who worked hard when it would have been all too easy to switch off attention. So often in sports coaching its about taking people to the extremes they fear in the safe environment of a training session in order to develop confidence and flexibility in their reactions for the more normal operations of the sport. My client discovered he had less to worry about than he thought, he developed some techniques to help him to retain control of the boat and that he could trust his crew to help him get out of trouble.

I have been working hard to discipline my coaching style to work off the positives for some time now – and I find time and time again it just works. It never fails to impress me how people seem to be able to shift long-standing less helpful behaviours by keeping the atmosphere up-beat when working on some hard-edged and tricky stuff. This is not a soft, comfortable approach – quite the contrary. I’m finding an atmosphere of respect is generated in which solid work can be done, and consequently, people make greater progress than before.