Here's a new thread ... NOT designed to be a flamer thread but one to recognize those coaches who have taken a team from a low level ranking (last season or this season) to one of elevated status. Some teams had rebuilding years b/c of the CCWC's and were left with 1st year paddlers who have proven themselves.

What, in your opinion (no shortage of those) makes a coach good?
What does a coach have to do to get 1st year paddlers to compete in the A, B, C divisions at say a regatta like GWN?

Fishing for compliments anyone?

is someone that can easily teach good, solid technique. He/she is able to convince an entire team to do the same catch, drive, and recovery. Unfortunately, a coach can not teach a few things that makes a good paddler: the desire to win, motivation to train, willingness to put in the hours and sacrifice other aspects of life. Those qualities have to already exist in the athlete ....

Which team would this be that took a bunch of 1st year paddlers to the A/B/C division in GWN?!

Heck I'd be really impressed, if they really are "1st year" paddlers, not a bunch of paddlers/rowers/kayakers who are trying dragonboating for the first time.

there are so many new teams in dragon boat these days ... how do you make it to the big leagues? What sort of cross training should you do?

Not to suggest that it's a panacea, but if you want to step up a notch you have to look at the quality of the paddlers that you're recruiting and retaining. Stupid to state the obvious, you say? Ya, probably. But then why don't more teams enforce rigorous fitness testing as part of their try-outs and ongoing training program?

I'm pretty impresssed with the Hydrophobics...they've been solid (yet humble!) in every race this year. They must have some strong leadership.

Hydro-who?

Hydrophobics = wanna be mofo's who paddle without shirts. I agree, fun loving group with strong gains this year. I believe some of them are part of Rip The Fondue as well.

what do you look for in a coach? Does a 'resume' of sorts actually make a difference? Is it all just word of mouth and recommendations?

...what's the avg rate for a coach?

A good question.
The answer though is that with enough training, any team should make
an impression after a few years.

However, the key to the answer is which crews have kept the same solid base
of paddlers and risen through the ranks without picking up outside paddelers in
order to do this.

I, for one, have been impressed with how well Shogun held it together and stayed strong despite their recent um.. turmoil.

I think it shows a lot a character.

Shogun has always been around, they just injected some energy last year. Barely kept it together this year. As someone said before, a member of Shogun coached Shockwave and they almost beat his team. How embarassing would that have been? So I'd keep Shogun off the map.

Well back to the main intended question, I believe that a good coach is someone who keeps their focus on ONE team. That is particularly important if you want the team to reach an elite level.
Allegience is important.

I use the crew of Toronto Area Dragons as an example. They were quite a competitive team back in the day and had the same age demographic (50s-60s) as today but because the coach was in charge of so many teams and was a paddler too, the focus on the team's development diminished and also resulted in the paddlers' commitment to the team. In fact, many of the former TAD paddlers are on the Senior national team. If a coach doesn't give a team their all, it sends the same message to its paddlers. So now TAD is definitely on the fall and must rebuild themselves through team dedication and consistent leadership.

They also shouldn't be a paddler...they should focus on coaching and that's that. People are busy individuals and balancing between coaching and paddling and work life can be quite a burden. With coaching as a priority, opportunities always arise to improve the team such as video analysis, paddle tests, and other things.

I believe it is possible to coach multiple teams and still coach elites. Both Matt's in Montreal have done a great job with Verdun and the Slayers as well as with other pretty top flight crews as well (BMO Mtl). Scott Ford coaches several crews as well as the Imperial Dragons. Blake did the same prior to that.

I think that in general, there usually is one team that is designated as the main team and the others are ranked accordingly. As such, if you want to reach the highest level you can, a crew should find a coach that will make them his/her #1 priority.

Rob,

In lue of your examples, it makes sense as well. It's all about knowing what your priorities and goals are. If the coach is willing to put his all into it, then it shouldn't matter how many teams they are coaching.
But that leads to the question of how much is too much. A coach should know himself well enough to know if he/she can handle the load. Especially when other things are going on in their life. Sometimes a coach will be too ambitious and try to shoulder a huge load. How then, do you know if the team that you're paddling for, is his/her #1 priority? Actions speak louder than words and you may not know it until mid-way through the season and then it's too late to switch teams. That's why I was touching on coaching only one team, because then you know for sure that he only has ONE priority.

"is someone that can easily teach good, solid technique. He/she is able to convince an entire team to do the same catch, drive, and recovery. Unfortunately, a coach can not teach a few things that makes a good paddler: the desire to win, motivation to train, willingness to put in the hours and sacrifice other aspects of life. Those qualities have to already exist in the athlete .... "

I disagree. A good coach will be more than just technique teacher. A good coach will be a great motivator and a great teacher.
The desire to win, motivation to train, willingness to put in the hours and make sacrifices can all be brought out in anyone by a great coach. More importantly, a great coach will teach more than just how to paddle, he will inspire, he will teach his paddlers how to learn.

If you want exclusivity, you have to compensate for it appropriately. You may not be able to convince someone to coach only one team if they need 3 or more gigs to pay the bills. Are you willing to pay double, or triple for his/her undivided attention? Probably not. So find a coach who doesn't want to coach more than one team in the first place, pay above the typical hourly rate, and negotitate a performance contract with them.

Some teams are willing to have a coach who spends very little time on them individually, the kind of coach who just regurgitates the same practice plan over and over and over again with the 3-4 teams they coach. Like I said, you get what you pay for. Those poor teams don't know enough to know what they're missing.

Every time I hear a coach go buy spouting the same old same old Tutty-isms or Blake-isms (without really understanding it), I cringe.

So in a way I'm with you, individual attention rocks, but you have to be willing to pay for it.

Our coach has in the past coached several teams, however we never felt that we were
not his number #1 priority during that race or event. Maybe it was the way he inspired
us, or provided the right level of motivation to enable us to perform at our highest
level.

what at Blake-isms and Tutty-isms?

I'd say Rob on the Piranhas deserves some recognition based on the listed critria. I've hopped in his boat a few times and his coacing style is refreshingly different from any coach I have seen or paddled with and I have paddled for 6 yrs.

Very technicall and almost anal, asks for feedback all the time and explains theory with examples. Perhaps most important of all the guys enthusiastic and it gets infectious.

I guess you didn't sit in row 10 and have your head thrusted.

He obviously DID sit in seat 10, didn't you read what he wrote?

Very technicall and almost anal

I've paddled both with Rob and against him, and I have utmost respect for him as a human being. I've never been coached by him, but I can say that he will be a great coach. Right now he's good. In a few years he will be a great coach.
Some of the other people mentioned in this thread are considered good coaches when all they've done was be in the right spot at the right time and lucked into a good group of athletes.

Under your criteria I'd ut Rob in the great coaches list. He's brought the Piranhas up to the top level not once but twice after huge turnover. He also coaches UC which over the years have been the best university team that knocks on the b-division door.

Other coaches who have made something out of (relatively) nothing are:
Mac Hickox - prior to him, seniors were a joke.
Adrian taylor - brought hammerheads back to prominance 2 yrs ago

Mac - yes, he's done a great job with Senior Paddlers.
Taylor - they've been around for years, and haven't done really anything special

Young coach in Calgary named Mary Edgar coached half a dozen or so teams that all improved about 20 sec. or more in one season. Best team was A division in Calgary.

Food for thought.

Good/great athletes do not want a mediocre coach.

...and the national team does not have a mediocre coach, so we are ok.

How many clubs?
How many coaches?

...and the national team does not have a mediocre coach, so we are ok.
________________________________________________________

Ummm, my point exactly. We don't.

We don't have mediocre National coaches or we do ?
Which teams ?

Dragon Boat racing coaches get paid? Where are all your e-mails originating from? Not from Australia, eh?