Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlord
... There are times when the coach might be micromanaging something else and in those instances the driver must know both what to do in terms of the game and whatever strategy the alliance has decided on beforehand ... my coach told me to do something that was against the rules, or I felt could have ended up in me breaking the rules or breaking our gripper or any number of other things.
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Sounds like your coach had no business being coach. Perhaps that's fodder for a new thread - Coach Selection: A Discussion? (I know there are countless threads about "what makes a good coach" and "Mentor vs. Student" but the strategies and methods used, for example, in 2004 don't apply these days).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlord
... I've told my coach before, it's like, I am miles away from needing a coach to play the game - me and my friend are more than good enough to find and pick up a tube, you don't need to tell us that. What I need are time updates and strategy updates. If something changes, then that is something I will probably not know on my own.
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Sounds like you described the Analyst position, not the Coach position. Two key roles of an effective and successful coach are to serve as communicator between you and your alliance partners, and as an extra set of eyes for the driver. Since the coach is able to move around quite a bit, he or she
can find tubes you most likely can't see from your vantage point. He or she can see other robots at other parts of the field, determine their strategies, and give you proper instructions for navigating to the scoring pegs. Picking and placing tubes is a good skill, but it's less than half the
real game when played at a high level.
The coach-driver communication and trust is critical; I've never experienced a successful FRC driver that is "miles away from needing a coach to play the game."