Four keys to being a great player-coach

“How do I become an effective coach?”

This was the question I asked myself when I took on the head coach position at Saracens Amateur RFC in September 2019.

With the prospect of a season on the sideline due to ACL and MCL reconstruction, I quickly found the challenges of coaching both exciting and frustrating, with the burning internal desire to get back on the pitch.

The Covid-19 pandemic further delayed a return to playing contact rugby, but as the 2021-22 season loomed, I was filled with excitement and promise as I embarked on a first season as a player-coach.

It most certainly taught me a lot...

ONE: You may not have gone to Harvard – but surround yourself with people that did 

With a coaching team consisting of two player-coaches (while I also juggled the newly created director of rugby role), an assistant coach and a manager, we set out with the very clear goal to get promoted. 

A one-point loss in the second game of the season created a sense of anxiety, both in myself and the squad. How could we even consider promotion when losing so early in the season to a team we didn’t consider a promotion rival?

I felt somewhat overwhelmed and knew I needed to change the way I was working. I reflected and adapted my coaching approach, session design and feedback strategy to better develop players’ ability to cope with adversity by focusing on process goals (that’s another article in itself) and began to plan for the 2022-23 season.  

The success we have since experienced so far this season is no doubt a result of that one-point loss, a defeat that underpinned the creation of the coaching team that ’went’ to Harvard.

Good quality coaches are worth their weight in gold in grassroots rugby. By recruiting two new senior coaches, giving an injured player a senior coaching role, appointing a permanent head coach of the U17/18 Colts and recruiting a new senior physiotherapist, we are currently reaping the rewards of ambitious recruitment and building a coaching team that embodies authenticity, belonging and growth.

TOP TIP: Build a coaching team that will support and believe in the approach, whilst freeing you up to train and play to the best of your ability. 

TWO: Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement

As I have grown up, I have always relished responsibility and that has often manifested itself in attempting to do everything myself.

It has taken time in both my coaching and teaching to relinquish control and allow those around me to support, thrive and be trusted in their areas of responsibility.

Having too much control can lead to rigidity, compliance and a lack of creativity whereas giving autonomy builds trust, ownership over roles and a significantly more efficient team. This is what allows me to be an effective player-coach: collaboration and trust in those around me.

Autonomy makes happy people. Happy people make effective coaches and players, and effective coaches and players will engage more.

In turn, increasing engagement levels lead to greater enjoyment of sessions. Players are more receptive to challenge, and are then more likely to feel a sense of flow in every session (another lengthy pedagogical discussion).

Players and coaches respond positively to this autonomous learning environment, and engagement generates buy-in to the overall culture.

Buy-in to the culture through autonomy positively translates onto the pitch as it builds resilience to adversity and problem-solving individuals who feel empowered and able to adapt their game based on different situations.

TOP TIP: Give coaches creativity and autonomy over session design while still having consistent routines for both players and coaches.