Coaching- Why not?

[tonx]

Looking at other, more successful sports, it seems even the very best are constantly receiving coaching to become all they can be. This isn't a trend in our sport.

From the State, National, and International stage, as well as the PBA pro's, all seem reluctant to spend their moolah on regular high performance coaching? Could you imagine if Tiger Woods or Roger Federer stopped working on their games with their coaches, and started training alone?

Even the local house 'hack' (for lack of a better example) could potentially be able to overcome tougher conditions with the RIGHT coaching, which in turn could result in less and less 'house-walls' being put out during league, and ultimately contributing to the wellbeing of our sport AS A SPORT.

Why is it, when bowlers reach the top, they feel advice from an outside source can't help them stay there?

Are my thoughts mis-guided, and are the best actually getting 'secret' coaching to help them stay there? If they are not, WHY NOT?

 

[weggy]

I can't speak for everyone here. But with me, I rather work alone at anything, not just in sports. I've tried coaching before at different times, and I just don't like having to make drastic changes just to suit a textbook delivery.

Just my thoughts

 

[bm2]

I just don't like having to make drastic changes just to suit a textbook delivery.
Just my thoughts

No coach worth his salt is going to enforce you to make drastic changes all at once, and we all know that a textbook delivery doesn't always make for a perfect shot .

 

[tonx]

No coach worth his salt is going to enforce you to make drastic changes all at once, and we all know that a textbook delivery doesn't always make for a perfect shot .

This is a really good point.

Even the most *contrasting-to-textbook* deliveries have good fundamentals, like solid finishing position, good follow through, good timing and rhythm.

Not only that, a great coach can also teach the best angles and lines to play to the pocket on different conditions, as well as help with ball surface and layout help. Who better to suggest your next ball purchase than someone who regularly helps your game?

Any other thoughts?

 

[Easy Tiger]

Any other thoughts?

Yes.

Now, on this topic, I've never had a fulltime personal coach as such, and certainly not since starting with my current style. I find while it can help to have someone there to bounce ideas off, having them trying to change your fundamental game can be very damaging.

 

[edfleminglanes]

H'mmmm it amaze me that bowlers have not reached the top of the tree are the very ones who make comments like "I don't need a Coach". What a load of crap...... There are a lot of good coaches out there and some specialise in certain areas and some are purely text book, however we all need a coach, its a matter of what your game needs to be coached at.
Timing
Good delivery
Good approach
Mental Game
Attitude

All part of the coaching process. Someone like Steve Arundel - hand release
Rob Zikman - Timing, Chris Mesagno - Mental Game, Wayne Chester - Attitude
Cheers

 

[Dean-Wrobel]

everybody needs a coach very true you cannot get far in this game by just going solo... at some stage in your bowling life you will need to get some advice and coaching to improve your overall game the little things that can be improved can help your game in large amounts of ways no coach will force you to change your style drastically and they certainly wont ruin your game if anything they will improve you as a bowler so you can reach new hights there only there to help you any advice they have will be useful even if u dont impliment it imediately its good to have that sort of infomation and knowledge in your mind...

cheers
Dean

 

[Easy Tiger]

H'mmmm it amaze me that bowlers have not reached the top of the tree are the very ones who make comments like "I don't need a Coach". What a load of crap...... There are a lot of good coaches out there and some specialise in certain areas and some are purely text book, however we all need a coach, its a matter of what your game needs to be coached at.
Timing
Good delivery
Good approach
Mental Game
Attitude
All part of the coaching process. Someone like Steve Arundel - hand release
Rob Zikman - Timing, Chris Mesagno - Mental Game, Wayne Chester - Attitude
Cheers

Depends what you want to achieve Joe. You can be competitive without being "the best", without a coach, and if that's where a player wants to be, that's their decision. I still believe "you don't have to have a coach to be successful", but it certainly helps. I don't want one right now, and that's my decision. It's not always about being "top of the tree"..

 

[tonx]

If 3 months with a coach was able to give you that one piece of magical advice that would take you from being competitive to being able to compete and beat the best, whether the result being better lane management, better shot direction or more versatility on tougher conditions, would you go for it?

Would you give yourself the best chance to be all the bowler you can be?

 

[Brenton_Davy]

I would not have achieved what I have in this sport had I not engaged the services of Andy McKay back in about 1980 with the express intention of becoming the best player I could be, whether or not that meant becoming the best player in the land, world, universe etc. The vital ingredient is finding a coach that can extract the maximum from your ability and Andy has managed to do this over the years.

What my game looks like now is nothing like what it was when I first met Andy in 1979. In order to maximise my potential, he explained to me that several of my fundamentals had to change. Those changes were often slow and tedious in becoming ingrained and that is what you need to do if you want to make the absolute best of yourself. Something else he did was in some cases to throw away the "book" when it came to some established "correct" ways of bowling. A large part of the problem today is that there are many players being coached by what I call "Book Coaches". By that I mean, coaches that have little or no practical experience in the sport and rely solely on what comes in manuals and "How To Bowl" books. Bowling, along with any other sport can't be taught in a "One Size Fits All" style, which unfortunately is in many cases is exactly what is happening.

Further, i don't believe that a person can coach successfully without at least a rudinentary knowledge of ball drilling, where the coach can determine whether it is the player or the ball itself that is causing the problem. A coach must know about layouts, spans and pitches so he/she can make sure the ball fits and is suited to the conditions that it is being used on. If all these scenarios are in order, THEN there is a problem with the mecahnics and the coach can confidently work on fixing that.

In closing, I believe that it is possible to be successful without a good coach, but it is far more difficult. I personally would not have achieved anywhere nearthe success I have without the help of my coach. It has certainly worked for me.

You just need to make sure you get the right coach.

 

[JWhitty]

If 3 months with a coach was able to give you that one piece of magical advice...

Rocks when that's all it takes, Rob Zikman pushed me over a bit of a hurdle a few years back in just a few sessions.

On the question, the answer to why not for me is mostly money. Secondly it is interest. Money is self-evident, I'm not going to elaborate further on that, but for interest; I don't need to be the best, I'm quite happy to rock up to league and enjoy a good night, roll my 650 odd. I would rather be stuck at 215 and bowl with my league crowd than put the effort in just to bowl higher up the tree. Call it lazy if you will, but there are more important things to me than being a better bowler.

I'm not criticising people who do either, by the way. I go for a hit of golf occaisonally because I enjoy doing so, I'm never going to get lessons nor am I going to be Tiger, I just want to play, not be the best.

 

[fizz]

Even the local house 'hack' (for lack of a better example) could potentially be able to overcome tougher conditions with the RIGHT coaching, which in turn could result in less and less 'house-walls' being put out during league, and ultimately contributing to the wellbeing of our sport AS A SPORT

i think i can see were your going with this but i think what your trying to say is if only bowlers who have gotten coaching and done every thing to take thire game to the highest level, were the only people complaning about lane conditions instead of evey tom, dick and harry who have no idea about lane conditions or even how to adjust and have no intrest in learning then we wont see as many "house-walls" remember not evry thing can be learnt alone some things need to be taught but also some things can not be taught
(like exprience)

 

[Tenpin]

It is interesting to note the varying opinions on coaching. The choice of coach or no coach is an individual choice for the bowler. I myself engaged a coach 12 months ago as I recognised that I needed to get back on track with my game and decided that I wanted to bowl in tournaments. When I started with my coach I had a 149 average. I finished last year with an average of 176 in two leagues in two separate centres that have very different conditions. This included an 8 week period where I was bowling a 200 average. I bowled in the SPC last year and the SA Cup this year. Some might say what is a 176 ave bowler doing in national tournaments. My answer to this is that I did not go into these tournaments with the sole puropse of winning them as realistically a 176 ave is not high enough. But with the help of my coach I went into these tournaments with individual goals to achieve throughout the tournament. I achieved some of those goals whilst I did not achieve others. At the of those tournaments although I didn't achieve all my goals, achieving some of the goals was satisfying and I took a lot of information about my game and where I need to focus my training and coaching sessons in order to improve so I can improve my performance in future tournaments.
I believe that when a centre starts a "beginners" league they should have a coach who can teach the new bowlers the basics of bowling including etiquette. Over the past year goals that people had when they wanted some coaching ranged from improving their average from a 90 to a 120 to people who wanted to be able to perform at the high end of the sport. When seeking a coach it is important to know what you are wanting to achieve so the coach can set a program to help you achieve your goal/s, you must be prepared for the highs and lows and understand that habits do take time to change.

 

[Swine]

Hi
If you are a Elite Athletes( eg ) Swimming, AFL, Rugby ,Soccer they do have there own personal and Team coaches, If they are in the National Teams they have them to, And do talk to each other so yes you do need coach to guide you though your training schedule

 

[mannah]

After several years of bowling with basic coaching (in a large group), improving slowly and gaining experience, I have now decided to acquire the services of a personal coach and after just 3 weeks have I found out so much I did not know. My coach has explained to me the basic techniques and was surprised I did not already know and why the adjustments are being made. I feel I have a much greater understanding of how to bowl. Now the challenge is to put these into action and become the best bowler I can and want to be. At the moment my average has dropped while learning these new methods but when I do get it right it feels good and has great results. Now for the consistency!!!!

 

[Ben A]

everybody needs a coach very true you cannot get far in this game by just going solo... at some stage in your bowling life you will need to get some advice and coaching to improve your overall game the little things that can be improved can help your game in large amounts of ways no coach will force you to change your style drastically and they certainly wont ruin your game if anything they will improve you as a bowler so you can reach new hights there only there to help you any advice they have will be useful even if u dont impliment it imediately its good to have that sort of infomation and knowledge in your mind...
cheers
Dean

Longest sentence ever...
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The only time that I have had a coach would be when I was just starting up (some 15 years ago). I no longer have a coach, nor that I want one. I do not like having someone telling me that I am bowling incorrectly as I can usually figure out what I am doing wrong. The only coach that I need in order for me to bowl well is that of moral support. If I didn't have atleast one person supporting me when I bowl than I believe I wouldn't be bowling as high of an average than what I am bowling.

However, I believe if one was to set out to achieve a higher status in any sport than a coach should be needed. Personally, I would only ask my coach to assist me in areas that I feel I need to improve in, (not areas that the coach feels needs to be improved).

In order to have a coach, you need to want the coach to coach you. If you are not prepared to listen to what the coach has to say then you are wasting the coach's time. In the same return, if the coach is not prepared to coach you on the aspects that you want to be coached, then the coach is wasting your time (and maybe money).

 

[Denver Sporting]

In order to have a coach, you need to want the coach to coach you. If you are not prepared to listen to what the coach has to say then you are wasting the coach's time. In the same return, if the coach is not prepared to coach you on the aspects that you want to be coached, then the coach is wasting your time

True, to an extent......

Often, the player is not aware of errors in their game that a competent experienced coach can pick out. Many players think they know their own games, when in reality, the vast majority do not. Even the pros go to their coaches and ball reps during the official practice sessions on the pro tour for assistance (not allowed to be coached during competition) because it is another set of eyes and a different perspective. So the 2nd half of that quote is a little narow minded. Its no good going to a coach and telling him what you want to learn. That sounds like "I know whats best for my game!" and most times the player does not.

 

[Mrs P]

everybody needs a coach very true you cannot get far in this game by just going solo... at some stage in your bowling life you will need to get some advice and coaching to improve your overall game the little things that can be improved can help your game in large amounts of ways no coach will force you to change your style drastically and they certainly wont ruin your game if anything they will improve you as a bowler so you can reach new hights there only there to help you any advice they have will be useful even if u dont impliment it imediately its good to have that sort of infomation and knowledge in your mind...
cheers
Dean

Where are your full stops and capital letters?
Sorry. This post was extremely difficult to read.

 

[June Voukolos]

This is an interesting subject and good messages to be received by some of the coaches in our network. Over the last 3-4 years the TBA High Performance Coaches have been working in different research areas and our coach education now takes a more individualistic view when coaches are working with athletes. Not everyone wants to represent Australia but a lot can be gained by bowlers to have coaching instruction whether it be on lanes, in a classroom or moral support at an event. The days are long gone when a coach trys to coach text book style, there are many different styles of bowler and the newly educated Level 2 or High Performance Coach can adapt their coaching style to assist all players, making recommendations for improvement. The Coach education in this country has long evolved. With the enhancement of coaching with video analysis, players and coaches can now work together to make improvements. Athlete and Coach are a partnership and a good ball technician should also be a part of the support group. There is no doubt there are still a lot of "old style" coaches in this country and we welcome them to be re educated so that they can embrace today's game with the support of other coaches and mentors. An honest coach will tell you they do not know everything and not a day goes by that they cannot learn something new about our sport in one area or another.
Try working with a coach you may be surprised.

 

[Dean-Wrobel]

ohhhh cry me a river "icequeen" im sorry you havent yet learnt to read! i was simply writing down wat i was thinking, your comment was compleatly not relivant to the topic.

coaches = YES
you will always learn somthing that will improve your overall game.

Cheers
Dean