[LeelandS]

Welcome to the Coaching Game! I'm going to preface this with coaching is one of the most emotionally and physically draining experiences I've ever encountered. It's a full time job during competitions, but it is extremely enjoyable and rewarding in the end. So I hope you enjoy your first competition as coach!

As far as preparing your team goes, drill them in real match settings as much as possible. My old team used to blare music throughout our practice area and have kids cheer and scream next to the field. Tip: On Friday and Saturday of competitions, things get really loud. You need to make sure your drivers can hear, and you can make yourself heard.

Drill them on things your team strategy will required. Trussing, passing, receiving passes, catching and scoring are all things you may want to try. If you don't have another team's robot available, have humans simulate their actions, like passing, trussing, receiving passes, etc. Just be careful!

Rule knowledge is important. I, personally, don't like to direct my drivers every action. I like to give them main strategic points (pass forward-right, receive back-left, set up to catch) as opposed to step by step instructions (turn 90 degrees clockwise and drive, keep going, keep going...), so it's important my driver knows what he can and cannot do to avoid fouls. Overall your drivers should know the big points to avoid costing your alliance the match for a dumb reason.

Memorizing strategies is where things start to get tricky. For this game especially, I think you need to know less specific strategies and more ways your robot can accomplish a task. When the three teams of an alliance meet, they all have common goals: To win, and to gain as much as they can to influence their seeding (i.e. assist points). Remember that. Each team will have their own ideas on how to accomplish this. This is a mutual discussion. You are all equal, don't let another team try to impose their strategy on you if you do not feel comfortable with it, and vice-versa. Discuss match roles with your partners based on who is the most capable for the position, and what strategy has the greatest chance of success against your specific opponents. Make sure you and your drive team (as well as all members of the other teams) understand the strategy. Tip: DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE STRATEGY. There are few greater ways to lose respect in the community then to deviate from a strategy and steal the spotlight, especially if you cost the alliance the match. Just stick to the strategy.

In-match, there is going to be a lot of inter-team communication. Make sure you know who is passing and who is receiving (have your partners shout "Team xxxx passing" and respond with "Team yyyy receiving", or something like that). Just make sure you keep good, audible communication in-match. Other than that, it's up to how practiced your drivers are. Make sure they stay focused on the match, and on what you are staying.

In eliminations, strategy does change some-what, because you and your alliance partners are focusing on long-term success, rather than just one match. It's really up to you how you want to handle it. I try to treat it like an even fielded discussion, but in the end, I leave it up to the alliance captain to decide. They picked their alliance, they earned the right to direct how we play. But that's just me. Other than that, the same holds true for the rest of the game.

Post-match is extremely important. If you win, celebrate with your team. If you lose, make sure to stay positive. It can get very difficult to keep team morale up if you're racking up losses, but it is important not to let your team get disheartened! Wins and losses are meaningless in everything except ranking. If you perform well, the good teams will recognize this in scouting. Play your all every match, and always discuss with your team on what they can do to improve next round. Never stop improving! You can always get better.

I hope this helps!
-Leeland