Drive Coach Training

[Siri]

Originally Posted by penguinfrk

From experience, I've found that sometimes a student coach might work better than an adult coach, even if they had no prior experience behind the plexiglass. If there is a team member that your drivers are particularly comfortable with, don't hesitate to let them try coaching simply because they've never done it before. If nothing else, at least on a psychological level, the entire drive team will be more calmed and ready for matches.

(emphasis mine) I'd revise this slightly. The team member--student or adult, experienced or not--whom the drivers are most calm and prepared with during the match may well be your best coach. This is because calm drivers is one of your biggest assets overall, and isn't necessarily even related to who the drivers work well with in other situations. No matter how comfortable you are together, if the drivers don't trust your coaching judgement they'll never feel totally calm or prepared for matches. I've been in this situation as a student driver.

Let your drive team help pick and train each other. Drivers often understand intuitively (of figure out right quick) what they want in a coach, and can be good at finding and/or communicating it.


A lot of people have done a great job with advice. I don't have much to add except to remember your job can be viewed as ensuring your drivers do their job as well as possible. That covers everything from to practicing productively together*, ensuring they have an optimized control scheme, preparing the alliance before each match, keeping them calm and motivated in-game, staying adaptable and communicative as the match plays out, and protecting them afterwards. Ask your drivers and even your alliance for constructive feedback on your performance.

*I would recommend practicing with as match-like conditions as you can manage at least of the sometime. Watching matches (live if at all possible) and discussing strategic options is also helpful. Attending and watching other events on your off-weekends is great.