Coaching Issue: My team is bad this year....

Every practice have them do 20 x 400

Good Chef create ingredients

Bad Chef blame ingredients

Good idea, I will make new kids for me team.

1) Start recruiting for next year

2) Coach 'em up - you might not turn them into champions, but maybe your coaching genius can make them midpack guys

GoodKids..SlowTeam wrote:

Coaches how do you deal with having a very sub par team? I have been coaching about 15 years and this is by far my slowest team. I really like my kids and still love coaching, but the meets are kind of painful to watch when all my kids are in the back of the pack....

I with you. I'm having one of those years as well. Hard to watch.

GoodKids..SlowTeam wrote:

Coaches how do you deal with having a very sub par team? I have been coaching about 15 years and this is by far my slowest team. I really like my kids and still love coaching, but the meets are kind of painful to watch when all my kids are in the back of the pack....

I think you can see this as a year where you don't worry about championships at all and just focus on the kids' enjoyment and improvement. In some ways, isn't that a relief? Just keep being a great coach and celebrate the strides each runner makes throughout the season. Next year, you may get a freshman with a ton of talent whose dad wants to be his only coach--and you'll have a whole other bag of headaches. For now, the pressure is off, and you get to (1) get back to basics by refreshing yourself on the kinds of workouts that help develop speed in kids who aren't showing much of it and (2) just enjoy the meets as pure physical experience, rather than as tactical "every-point-matters" struggles. Hope it's a good season for you and the kids!

I'm going through the same situation except I'm an athlete not a Coach, last year our boys placed 5th at state, the year before 3rd. This year we'll be lucky to make it to state, or at least that's what it looks like at the moment. For now I would be patient, the runners on your team who really do want to be part of a good team are most likely working their tails off, for example I'm doing 55-70 MPW weekly til I taper. Right now I'm not even near the middle of the varsity pack but I'm working my ass off to turn it around. It's very likely a few of your athletes are as well, give them time. If they want to be good they will when it counts. If not, well their is always next season.

Similar Situation as you wrote:

I'm going through the same situation except I'm an athlete not a Coach, last year our boys placed 5th at state, the year before 3rd. This year we'll be lucky to make it to state, or at least that's what it looks like at the moment. For now I would be patient, the runners on your team who really do want to be part of a good team are most likely working their tails off, for example I'm doing 55-70 MPW weekly til I taper. Right now I'm not even near the middle of the varsity pack but I'm working my ass off to turn it around. It's very likely a few of your athletes are as well, give them time. If they want to be good they will when it counts. If not, well their is always next season.

Heyfam were making it to state bro what are you talking about

If you’re a college coach it’s your own fault for not recruiting better. If you’re a high school coach it’s your own fault for not developing your underclassmen better.

Either way it’s your fault.

What about first year coaches who inherit a bad program?

Of course we will because me, you, albino, and sub 10 min 5k will carry the team. But it doesn't look like we will make it to state atm.

Get off your lazy butt and recruit.

It's oh-so tough to stomach! I coach at a small school & we only have about 20 kids on our team. One kid choosing not to come out can derail the entire season.

I hate when we have to go against much larger schools too. It's tough enough to lose to your peers, but when you go against a much larger school, it's even tougher to bear.

(I always hear about teams of 90-100+ kids & often wonder what it would be like to have such depth. With quantity comes quality in our sport?)

I often thought I wouldn't care about wins & loses...until I started to lose.

Here's what you can do:

1.) avoid invitationals

2.) focus on the long term development of the athlete

3.) make it fun for those on the team (maybe they can recruit & bring friends to the team next season).

4.) up your recruitment game for next year

GoodKids..SlowTeam wrote:

Coaches how do you deal with having a very sub par team? I have been coaching about 15 years and this is by far my slowest team. I really like my kids and still love coaching, but the meets are kind of painful to watch when all my kids are in the back of the pack....

You're not really a coach. You're a shill for the site to get hits. No "normal" coach would come on here and post such thrash. Grow up!

GoodKids..SlowTeam wrote:

Coaches how do you deal with having a very sub par team? I have been coaching about 15 years and this is by far my slowest team. I really like my kids and still love coaching, but the meets are kind of painful to watch when all my kids are in the back of the pack....

Just start small. Identify what goals the group has, and try to align your goals with theirs. They'll get better if you're patient.

Meh, it’s really hard to specify training for 100+ kids. With a small group you can help each runner in their personal development. Yes, with 100 kids you have a much higher chance of getting a genetic freak or two, but that’s not really coaching.

Hmmmm, you seem to fall into the trap of looking at the scoreboard for proof.

Is each kid giving his/her best effort?

Are the kids enjoying themselves?

Are they improving?

Look up transformational coaching and also the growth mindset.

Keep coaching them and you never know what might happen in a year or so with the younger ones.

Build culture.

Coach - presuming that you coach a public school team, and you're not Valley or FM or GO - who for Valley at least have families MOVING to the school district to run with -, you'll have periods of kids who under perform relative to other schools. That's life.

What you should consider is focusing on time drop per kid, not place. Buy the tapes from the AMA series in Bolder back in the winter.

The kids, and you, cannot control the kids they're running against. But per other posts, you can not attend invitationals. Then the best you can do is YOU focus on time drop per kid. If they're not dropping, it's on you.

GoodKids..SlowTeam wrote:

Coaches how do you deal with having a very sub par team? I have been coaching about 15 years and this is by far my slowest team. I really like my kids and still love coaching, but the meets are kind of painful to watch when all my kids are in the back of the pack....

Let the King of coaching coach them! JS will speed them up . One of the very best online coaches in the world.