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Originally Posted by Henry_222
I am waiting for Karthik to hop on this one, I remember him from one of the minis last year as one of the best coaches I have seen, which says a lot.
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Thanks, Henry. That means a lot from someone who has driven as much as you have. Here's my list, which duplicates many of the things Andy has already said. (I use the male pronoun for simplicity, but remember, there are some amazing female coaches)
1. The coach must not get zoned into his own robot. It's the coaches job to keep the driver's appraised of the whole field. If the coach focuses on his robot, he will not be able to make the right decisions.
2. The coach must be respected. He's the field general. The driver's need to trust the coach and take his word as gospel. It's the driver's job to focus on the robot. Hence, they will not be able to make strategic decisions, since they will not be fully aware of what is happening on the rest of the field. They need to listen to coach's every decision, and act on them immediately. Remember, respect is earned. So in advance of the competitions, the coach must work hard to earn his student's respect and trust.
3. I've always said a FIRST match is like a high speed game of chess. The coach is the player. He needs to make quick strategic decisions. This is not an ability that everyone has, and is very hard to teach. Basically, the coach need to be able to freeze the match in his head, evaluate the situation, recognize the possible moves, evaluate the ramifications of each move, and choose the most advantageous one. All of that in a split second. (A lot easier than it sounds, but not as easy as most people think)
4. The coach needs to recognize his place within the alliance. For each match, it needs to be established which team is "in charge". A good coach will step up to the task when it's appropriate, and allow other coaches to when it's warranted.
5. Strategy does not only take place in a match. The most successful teams are those who work with their partners before the match, and come up with a plan. This allows for less in match decisions, where people are prone to mistakes. Part of this process involves having fall back plans. You need to be prepared for most every outcome.
6. Communicate efficiently with your drive team. Enough said.
7. The coach must not be afraid to deviate from plan during a match. Many teams fail, because they behave in a static manner. If the strategy involves actions A through G, you cannot get stuck on B. Have time limits for each action, and if they are taking too long, move on. Nothing drove me more crazy then watching teams spend 30 seconds trying to adjust a precariously positioned tetra in 2005.
8. The coach has to know the rules better than anyone on the team. They need to understand every aspect of game play, and all possible strategies. A coach who says "I didn't know they're allowed to that" needs to catch up quickly.
9. The coach is a visible Representative of the team. He must act accordingly. As competitive as he is, he must remember to act graciously and professionally. Temper tantrums, disrespecting partners or opponents is not appropriate.
10. The coach needs to take responsibility for all defeats, and let the drivers bask in the glory of victories. I know it may not sound fair, but it's the way it is. Never blame your drivers for a loss, no matter how badly they mess up.
11. Never get stuck thinking about a previous match. Learn from both your defeats and victories, and move on.
12. Be objective. The coach needs to honestly evaluate his team's strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, he'll be designing implausible strategies.
That's a good start, I'll add more if anything pops into my head.