What Makes A Great Coach

9/6/21, 6:16 PM CrossFit | What Makes a Great Coach?
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What Makes a Great Coach?

By CrossFit Training & Education June 8, 2021
33
Found in: 210707, The Professional Coach
Exploring the coach’s journey beyond a credential.

Anyone who has experienced great coaching knows the interaction can feel
almost magical. Somehow, the coach knows exactly what to say and when to
say it. You feel challenged, supported, and confident in your coach’s ability to
help you achieve your goals. While great coaching can seem effortless, the
reality is many skills, attributes, experiences, and techniques came together to
create that coaching magic.
Coaching is about creating change. Great coaches produce great outcomes, in

part, through what they do with athletes in the gym: teaching movement,
identifying errors, cueing corrections, and pushing athletes to improve. These
basic components of creating change also are very often missing when you
watch a class run by a less competent coach.
However, the question of what makes a great coach runs deeper and is more
complex than the components above. Great coaches have many different skills
and attributes that work in concert to create outcomes beyond the
comprehension of the average coach. It is not any single thing they do but
rather everything they do. Great coaching can seem like magic, but that would
belie the observable, measurable, and repeatable process that leads to the
development of a great coach. It takes work and determination, but the journey
to great coaching is one anyone can undertake.
So, how do we begin?
KNOWLEDGE
https://www.crossfit.com/pro-coach/what-makes-a-great-coach 1/17
The starting point for the coach’s journey Jandira

Welcome is the acquisition of KNOWLEDGE. A
coach needs to understand the technical side of what the athlete is trying to
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achieve. A great coach knows what to do in any coaching situation.
For the beginner CrossFit coach, the knowledge journey should start with the
CrossFit Level 1 Course. This course provides a broad introduction to the
essential concepts required to teach CrossFit, but knowledge acquisition should
not stop there. The more expansive the coach’s understanding of strength and
conditioning in general and the human body specifically, the more effective
they will be at coaching and the more readily they will be able to bring the Level
1 content to life.
Beyond the Level 1, study should

extend further into topics such as
nutrition, anatomy, and
physiology. Developing coaches
also should pursue a greater
understanding of all aspects of the
CrossFit methodology. They should
build a broad understanding of
special populations, other training
methods, and sport-specific
applications so they can fully
understand various ways to apply
the methodology. Then, beyond
the specific realm of strength and
conditioning, coaches should
develop a general knowledge of psychology, medical literacy, and research. The
pursuit of knowledge needs to be voracious and never-ending.
Knowledge acquisition often is tangible and can take many forms: attending
courses, reading, undertaking higher-education studies, and interacting with
peers and colleagues. Insatiable curiosity and a commitment to lifelong learning
are two common traits of coaches who have both broad and deep knowledge.
Commit to daily reading and to challenging your mind in the same way we
expect athletes to challenge their bodies. A minimum starting point would be to
set aside 30 minutes every day for learning.
When gathering knowledge, the astute coach filters it through CrossFit’s

definition of fitness, absorbing what is useful and eschewing what veers too far
afield. Not all knowledge is directly applicable,

Welcome but it is all beneficial. It can
Jandira
support critical thought and a better understanding of the principles that make
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training athletes with the CrossFit methodology so effective.
APPLICATION
Knowledge creates the foundation and is essential for coaching, but it is not
alone sufficient to make the coach effective. If it were, the greatest gyms would
be run by Ph.Ds. To put knowledge into practice, the coach needs to be able to
apply knowledge in the right way and at the right time. This is the second area
of coach development: APPLICATION. A great coach has the ability to apply
their knowledge and skills for any athlete in any context.
The CrossFit Level 2 Certificate Course is a significant next step for the
developing coach because it focuses on the practical application of the
methodology. A key part of the Level 2 curriculum is examining the foundation
of effective coaching through the lens of a CrossFit group class setting.
An effective coach has well-developed skills across six key areas, often referred
to as “the six criteria.” To progress along the continuum from novice to expert, a
developing coach must learn and practice the skills and techniques required to
be competent in each of these six criteria. The Level 2 is an effective way to
accelerate the process because it is a feedback-rich environment where
coaches get the opportunity to practice in front of their peers. Importantly, they
get to immediately implement feedback, which promotes rapid learning.
The following is a summary of the six criteria taught in the Level 2 course.
TEACHING SEEING CORRECTING

A great coach needs to be Great coaches can Beyond seeing movement
a great teacher. The differentiate between errors, great coaches have
hallmark of a great correct and incorrect the ability to bring about
teacher is that they can movement. They can see improvement in
distill a large body of what needs to be movement for all levels of
knowledge into essential improved in both static athletes. The CrossFit
concepts and then positions and dynamic coach needs an arsenal of
communicate key points phases of movement and cues and corrective drills.
in a manner that alsoWelcome

can discern between
Jandira Importantly, an effective
promotes learning. gross and subtle errors coach is relentless in
and improvements. driving improvementMENU
and
upholding standards of
movement.
GROUP MANAGEMENT PRESENCE AND ATTITUDE DEMONSTRATION

Managing the group Great coaches have the Great coaches can supply
within the class setting ability to make people a visual framework for
creates many challenges want to train with them. instruction by providing
for the coach. The great They express high levels of examples of good
ones make it appear care and empathy, and movement and
effortless. They can attend they have a passion for contrasting errors with
to every person as if they service that allows them correct mechanics. The
were the only one in the to easily and effectively foundation for this is a
class. The CrossFit coach connect with people. thorough awareness of
needs to be excellent at These less tangible skills one’s own movement. A
managing the logistics of can motivate athletes, coach does not need to be
running the class. make training enjoyable, a perfect mover, but they
and help the coach to should know where and
more effectively deliver how they fall short and be
corrections. able to seek out a better
visual example when
needed.
The coach who is well balanced across teaching, seeing, correcting, group
management, presence, attitude, and demonstration has a basic but effective
toolkit that will allow them to apply their knowledge. This should be considered
the minimum skill set needed to do the job. If the Level 1 is the introduction to
the methodology, the Level 2 should be considered the introduction to the
implementation of the methodology. Together, these two credentials provide a
solid foundation for the CrossFit coach — but this is still just the beginning.
Take the skills and drills taught

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in the Level 2 and practice them
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in increasingly challenging
situations. This can look like
progressing from coaching one
athlete to many. Seeking out on-
the-job training and mentoring
opportunities are other
important and effective ways to
put acquired knowledge into
practice.
No amount of book learning or

theory will support a coach’s
ability to apply what they know.
To become great at applying
knowledge, a coach must learn by doing and by receiving feedback. This is why
many feel the Level 2 is such a watershed experience: because it provides a
bridge from theory to practice. For many, it is also their first opportunity to
receive constructive feedback on the quality of their coaching.
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
Being well developed in the areas of knowledge and application means the
coach knows what to do and how to do it, but that does not guarantee
effectiveness. Many experts may still struggle to coach, especially if they lack
the ability to create and maintain meaningful relationships with their athletes.
Ultimately, great coaches create great relationships and positive training
environments that allow their athletes to thrive. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING is a
key area of coaching and can be one of the more elusive skills a coach must
develop; however, underestimating this skill’s importance will stifle a coach’s
success. Relationship skills enable the coach to manage people and handle the
problems that can occur in a dynamic setting like a CrossFit gym.
Coaches who are great at developing relationships tend to have highly

developed emotional intelligence and self-awareness. Their communication
skills are excellent, and they operate with a high degree of empathy and
connection. These coaches are typically surrounded by strong communities and
have gyms with positive culture, and this is no accident. Both have been
purposely created and nurtured by the coach.
How do you develop this skill? Welcome Jandira

Many resources are available,
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including courses, books, and
programs, but the starting point is
to be aware that relationship
building is an active process that
requires the coach to look for
opportunities to connect with
athletes. Paying attention to how
you interact with people and
noticing how others react to you is
a key part of the developmental
process. Relationship building
requires you to see the athlete as a
whole person and respect the role
training plays in the broader canvas of their life.
Identify a great coach and watch carefully as they interact with their athletes.
Imagine nothing is an accident and try to imitate or incorporate what they do
into your toolkit. Copying great role models is an effective way to develop
relationship skills, especially at the beginning.
In the coaching journey, this is perhaps the area that is most self-directed, and
it requires the coach to take an honest look in the mirror and to seek feedback
from other coaches or mentors wherever possible. Do people enjoy being
around you? Do you seek to understand what your athletes are thinking and
feeling? Do you consider the needs of others? Do you understand the context
for other people’s behavior? Why do some athletes respond to your coaching
cues but others ignore you? Do you understand what is happening in your
athletes’ lives outside the gym? This may be an area where you need to seek
out a trusted adviser and get honest feedback on where your relationship
strengths and weaknesses lie. This can be ego-challenging work, but it is
important and pays dividends.
A great coach uses relationship skills very deliberately to connect with people in
a meaningful and enduring way. The best coaches are able to read subtle
differences in personality, motivation, and emotions to fine-tune the training
experience and customize it to the individual.
LEADERSHIP
The final piece of the puzzle is LEADERSHIP. Leadership includes a broad

Welcome Jandira
collection of skills and abilities that allow the coach to create a vision, set an
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appropriate strategy, and apply influence where and when it matters. Great
leaders have a growth mindset, seeing obstacles as challenges and learning
experiences. They have a high degree of credibility and understand the process
of mentoring. People are attracted to them because of their professionalism
and service mindset.
Developing leadership skills should

be a process that runs in parallel
with developing the other areas of
coaching. As is the case with
relationship skills, coaches can tap
into a large body of knowledge
that includes courses and books,
but ideally, this area should be
developed through mentoring and
on-the-job training.
Leadership is the attribute that

gets the athlete to do the work
they need to do. Getting people to
consistently comply with the
program is a major challenge and
probably the single-most significant factor driving the athlete’s success. You
can’t coach the athlete who doesn’t show up, you can’t lead the athlete who
won’t follow you, and progress will be undermined if athletes aren’t trying.
Leaders can exert influence over all these factors that contribute to an athlete’s
success.
Leadership is also about managing the dynamics and interactions of the group
over time and motivating people to want the things they need most to
progress. The reality of coaching is that people are often volatile, and many
elements need to be managed to prevent athletes from drifting away from the
program and group. Great leadership keeps the group cohesive and athletes
purposefully working toward their goals.
EXPERIENCE - THE GLUE THAT BINDS IT TOGETHER

Being well developed in all four areas of coaching creates a framework for great
coaching, but the sum is greater than the parts, and to leverage these skills,
coaches need to practice dynamically

Welcome blending them together in response to
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different situations. The ability to skillfully blend these skills develops only
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through EXPERIENCE.
Knowledge, application, relationship building, and leadership can be developed

as isolated skill sets, but a coach needs experience to glue the pieces together
and bring them to life. Ultimately, great coaches are forged through experience,
and the more challenging the experiences the better. Without adequate
experience, the coach is just a hodgepodge of tricks.
But here is the catch: Not all experience is equal. It is not just time in the
trenches that binds and develops skills. The time spent gaining experience
must be made purposeful by actively applying skills and striving to be better.
The most developmental experience is that which is gained right on the
threshold of your coaching ability.
Every time a coach tries to apply what they know in a real-world setting, and
importantly, pays attention to the result, they are moving one step further
along the coach development continuum, one step closer to greatness. This is
no small point. Experience is the only way to operationalize the four areas of
coach development. Ultimately, to get better at coaching, you have to coach.
A great coach is constantly paying attention to and learning from their coaching
experiences.
Welcome Jandira
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THE COACH DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

We can define what makes a great coach and how to become one — combine
knowledge, application, relationship building, and leadership with experience
and you have the recipe for great coaching. Significantly, the potential to be
great exists for all those who sign on to the coach development process and
apply themselves the same way great athletes apply themselves to training. The
coach development process can be summarized as follows and should continue
ad infinitum throughout a coach’s career.
Welcome Jandira
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THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD!

The process takes work
and commitment, and it
is certainly no easy road.
But it works and is the
secret behind masterful
coaching.
Like all things in life that

are worth doing, the
journey to becoming a
great coach is itself the
reward. There is also no
downside. Every step
along the path makes
your coaching life better,
more enjoyable, and
much more effective.
Great coaches are not magicians, and they are not born that way. Rather, they
are forged through learning, practice, and experience. They become great
because they strive to be great. At the deepest level, the coach’s ability to
change others for the better is directly correlated with their ability to change
themselves first.
Comments on What Makes a Great Coach?
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33 Comments
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Genna Speed
August 11th, 2021 at 9:01 am
Commented on: What Makes a Great Coach?
I would love to see these offerings with a PDF link, if possible. I'd love to add them to my
study binder!
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Adriano Teles
August 12th, 2021 at 7:44 pm
If you mean transform this page into a PDF, just hit print and choose PDF as the printer
output and voilà, you have it 💪!
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Matthieu Dubreucq
July 18th, 2021 at 9:07 pm
Great insight on what the best coaches of our community do. Always remember you can
improve. There is no magic in the process, just hard work at refining our craft witch
creates magic in the results of your clients.
(edited)
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Orestis Papapetrou
July 14th, 2021 at 7:54 am
Thank you for the great article . Crossfit is awesome sport.

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Grace Patenaude
July 6th, 2021 at 10:02 pm
Thank you for this great article! Welcome Jandira

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Felix Laeufle
July 2nd, 2021 at 7:05 am
This is amazing! Thanks a lot.

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Renato Almeida
June 22nd, 2021 at 12:07 pm
Top
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Daniel Jackiw
June 15th, 2021 at 2:44 am
Brilliant article, thanks Matt!

(edited)
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Michael Casey
June 14th, 2021 at 3:30 pm
Inspiring! Let the journey begin.

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Sebastien Rigo
June 10th, 2021 at 11:16 pm
Thanks for sharing this great article !

Could you recommend books/articles about relationship building ?
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Matthew Swift
June 11th, 2021 at 3:14 am
Hi Sebastien,
There are MANY! Here are 4 that have had a big impact on me ...
• "How to Win Friends & Influence People" - Dale Carnegie
• "Tricky People" - Andrew Fuller
• "The four mindsets" - Anna-Lucia Mackay
• "The power of connection" Rik Rushton
Enjoy!
Cheers, Welcome Jandira

Matt
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David Christensen
June 10th, 2021 at 11:43 am
Appreciations for activating key coaching elements. I am revalidating my credentials after

a few years away from coaching. This article jacks me up!
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Sigrun Kjartansdottir
June 10th, 2021 at 8:00 am
Thank you so much for this, loved it 😍

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Kay Charalambous
June 10th, 2021 at 6:56 am
Thank you! Really makes a difference to my development as a new coach when I read
such articles. Love it! :)
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Chris Sinagoga
June 9th, 2021 at 9:27 pm
"Identify a great coach and watch carefully as they interact with their athletes. Imagine
nothing is an accident and try to imitate or incorporate what they do into your toolkit."
^^This, for sure. And it's also important for athletes to do this also - whether that's for
CrossFit movements or sports in general. Recently we've been putting a lot of emphasis
on less of me talking and, "Hey guys, watch Dillon... okay, spend 30 seconds trying to
mimic that."
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Rafael Guaraldo
This article is a masterpiece!

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Alejandro Reyes
Welcome
Was a great piece of reading, I remembered myJandira
L1, L2 and all the group classes and
coaching experiences that I have had through the years. Thanks!!! MENU
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Alexander Mercieca
Yes! This article is right on point! Really enjoyed it.

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Josh Melendez
June 9th, 2021 at 9:43 am
Blown away by this article! So much to pull from this! Thank you for writing this for us.
Reply Share Print
Michael Schaal
Wow! The breadth and depth of this article has certainly provided an amazing stimulus
for continual learning!
Thanks, Matt Swift for an inspiring piece!

Reply Share Print
Tassia Parreira
Thank you!! Just it, so fantastic!

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Tassia Parreira
Thank you! Just it.

Reply Share Print
Liang Kong
It is a kind of exceptional article that you immediately would love to put into your favorite
document for repetitive reading every once in a while.
l h
Reply Share Print

Welcome Jandira
Federico Rossi Mori
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This article should NOT be open access, is full of amazing concepts and as always
explained in a perfect way. We should pay to read this and who disagree is not worth
what's written on it.
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Robert Miller
This model really puts things in the proper perspective. Love this return to instructor
education.
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Todd Widman
Exceptional article, thank you!

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Carmen Rewi
Very timely for me as a new coach. Thank you

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Sam Cathcart
Great article! Thank you for sharing.

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James Gardner
I love what you guys are doing! This article was excellent.
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Nathan Jenkins
Very excited to see the announcement of the new

Welcome Professional Coach publication. What a
Jandira
great article to kick things off. Great job Matt!
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Ben Bergeron
One of the best articles I have ever read on coaching. Well done Matt!
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Teddie Fullerton
Fantastic Article! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Reply Share Print
Luis Felipe Lopes

Yeeeeees, this is it!
Share Print
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9/6/21, 6:16 PM CrossFit | What Makes a Great Coach?

What Makes a Great Coach?

Found in: 210707, The Professional Coach

Exploring the coach’s journey beyond a credential.

Coaching is about creating change. Great coaches produce great outcomes, in

So, how do we begin?

The starting point for the coach’s journey Jandira

Beyond the Level 1, study should

When gathering knowledge, the astute coach filters it through CrossFit’s

afield. Not all knowledge is directly applicable,

TEACHING SEEING CORRECTING

in a manner that alsoWelcome

GROUP MANAGEMENT PRESENCE AND ATTITUDE DEMONSTRATION

Take the skills and drills taught

No amount of book learning or

Coaches who are great at developing relationships tend to have highly

How do you develop this skill? Welcome Jandira

The final piece of the puzzle is LEADERSHIP. Leadership includes a broad

Developing leadership skills should

Leadership is the attribute that

EXPERIENCE - THE GLUE THAT BINDS IT TOGETHER

coaches need to practice dynamically

Knowledge, application, relationship building, and leadership can be developed

THE COACH DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

THE JOURNEY IS THE REWARD!

Like all things in life that

Reply Share Print

Thank you for the great article . Crossfit is awesome sport.

Thank you for this great article! Welcome Jandira

This is amazing! Thanks a lot.

Brilliant article, thanks Matt!

Reply Share Print

Inspiring! Let the journey begin.

Thanks for sharing this great article !

Cheers, Welcome Jandira

Appreciations for activating key coaching elements. I am revalidating my credentials after

Thank you so much for this, loved it 😍

This article is a masterpiece!

Reply Share Print

Yes! This article is right on point! Really enjoyed it.

Thanks, Matt Swift for an inspiring piece!

Thank you!! Just it, so fantastic!

Thank you! Just it.

Reply Share Print

Exceptional article, thank you!

Very timely for me as a new coach. Thank you

Great article! Thank you for sharing.

Very excited to see the announcement of the new

Fantastic Article! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Luis Felipe Lopes

Yeeeeees, this is it!

FAQ Preferred Provider Courses Local News

2021 CrossFit Games

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