And they should always be treated as such.
“I talk to athletes every day and you know what I’ve learned?
Most of them don’t want to be talked to like they’re athletes
They want to be talked to like they’re people.
Sports are not who they are.
They are something that they do.
People first.
Athletes second.”
-Ray Zingler on X
“It’s a people/relationships business, you just happen to train athletes.”
If you make it in the industry long enough (most don’t), you’ll find that in each passing year, the above quote gets more and more true.
When you first start out as a coach, you’re all about looking the part, talking the part, and walking the part.
You’re all excited about showing everybody how much you know about exercise science and how your squat cues and “new” exercise variations are superior to everyone else’s.
Training, sports, “that commit” (and the picture you take with them after only training them 3 times) are all you care to talk about.
The problem with the above is that you don’t have the experience to understand that what you think it’s about, isn’t what it’s about.
Do you honestly think an athlete gives 3/10th’s of a f*ck about how much you know about Adenosine Triphosphate?
Do you think they care about the exercise you’re hopeful to get your jollies off to when you post them on Instagram that has them looking like a clown in a circus?
Do you think they don’t know when you’re using them and their image for your own personal gain?
Again, every young coach has an inflated perception of not only their skills, but also their value and what makes them feel “more important” than the next guy, is precisely what leads to their demise in the field.
It’s why 90% of them go from “their dream job” to selling insurance.
Just give it a year or two, and watch.
All the training acumen in the world is useless if you don’t know how to connect with athletes as people.
Just think about it logically for a second.
They have meetings/team obligations in the morning. They sit, bored out of their minds, in school all day, then they come to you before or after a practice.
Sport, structure, sport, structure, repeat.
Do you honestly think in their time away from sport/structure, they want to talk about sport/structure?
No.
They want to talk about life beyond the lines & 4 walls.
Do them a favor and humanize them.
Speak to Sarah, not the lacrosse player.
Talk to Ben, not the ball player.
People first, athletes second.
