Know the WHY

Over the past year I have been blessed to include a variety of guest speakers in our Oklahoma State University Sports & Coaching Science program. Professional and amateur athletes, sports administrators, international coaches, professional trainers... the list goes on. It's been amazing to hear and learn from so many successful professionals in sport!
Recently, I was reminded by a guest speaker the importance of knowing WHY. The speaker, a director of a large rowing program, highlighted how imperative it was that coaches (and anyone working in the sports professions) knew exactly what they were doing but also WHY they were doing it. Why this training program? Why this nutrition? Why this rehab? The list could go on.


This is a valid point: how many coaches, if asked WHY, respond with examples such as...


"Because I'm coach."
"That's how my coach did it and he/she was very successful." "It's what I did when I was competing."
"I read it somewhere."


There are more. The point I'm making here is that we, as sports professionals, have a responsibility to continue learning and improving our craft to ensure that we have the most current knowledge and skills necessary to get the best from our athletes and clients. Anything less and we are failing to give our best.