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The contrast between traditional sports coaching and coaching the skills to step outside machine-mindedness

Writer: jon thornejon thorne

Updated: Oct 8, 2024



Aiming for the highest standards alone isn't enough when competing against peers with comparable skill levels. This is why performance is also the resilience to discover alternatives. 

  • Sports Coaching focuses on guiding players to develop their individual skills in order to achieve peak performance at high speeds while flawlessly executing their roles within a system. Essentially, it’s about coaches and players using machine-mindedness to construct a well-oiled machine of sporting excellence.

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  • Resilience Coaching is about breaking the spell of machine-mindedness. It involves guiding players away from closing the space between skill components and stopping them from enhancing the synchronization of their movements for quicker and more precise execution. Essentially, this means encouraging them to slow down and incorporate more spacing and timing within their skill components. It's about helping players understand that while one step in a specific direction may lead to a positive outcome, it doesn’t necessarily ensure that following steps in the same direction will produce similar results. The goal is to make players comfortable with taking actions that might not directly lead to higher performance standards. As a result, players begin to show up in the right place at the right time for each other, appreciating one another beyond their individual roles within a system. They come to enjoy the unexpected outcomes of their actions, relishing the zigzag movements and nonlinear leaps in their capabilities, wow moments. They thrive in a vibrant ecosystem characterized by shared humanity and collective Wowness, all achieved by stepping away from machine-mindedness.


When players are operating in machine-mindedness...


  • In scrimmages, players remain inactive until they receive the ball, at which point they attempt to take individual action. If they're unable to make a play, they pass the ball to allow someone else the opportunity.

  • In league games, players patiently wait for their turn to fulfill their role within the team's overall strategy.

  • When the machine malfunctions, they tend to persist in executing their plans. Alternatively, they might give up, become overly aggressive, or frequently disengage from the process.

  • Individuals in academic institutions preparing for a professional career may begin to believe that fulfilling their role within a system guarantees them a substantial salary.


When players have stepped out of machine-mindedness...


  • They relish the zigzag movements and nonlinear leaps in their capabilities, wow moments. They are comfortable taking actions that might not directly lead to higher performance standards because they are confident their teammates will show up in the right place at the right time to provide plan B.


See you on a court soon


Cheers, Jon





 
 
 

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©2025 by Jon Thorne - founder of SkillsofWow.org

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