Coaching or Scouting

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Posted by Joshua Berthiaume.

Student on team #131, C.H.A.O.S, from Manchester Central HS and Osram Sylvania and Fleet Bank.

Posted on 7/9/2000 9:52 PM MST



Are they alike or are they different? What does everyone else think? And if you are a bad scouter does that mean you cannot Coach? or vice versa?

~Josh
Team 131

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Posted by Lora Knepper.

Student on team #69, HYPER (Helping Youth Pursue Engineering & Robotics), from Quincy Public Schools and The Gillette Company.

Posted on 7/10/2000 5:48 AM MST


In Reply to: Coaching or Scouting posted by Joshua Berthiaume on 7/9/2000 9:52 PM MST:



If you have some good scouts out there gathering information, you can still coach and not scout. Going out there without info of some kind is not advisable. I drive, and I always feel more comfortable when I have personally looked at the machines I'm competiting against and talked to the teams.

If you are a bad scout, there's nothing that stops you from coaching. To be a coach requires someone who can keep track of the field situation and make decisions on the fly, for even the best strategy goes awry. As long as someone who is a good scout is feeding data to the coaches and drivers, and the coach (and drivers) have the mindset to be able to function well on the field, scouting is not neccesarily a requirement of the job.

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Posted by Joshua Berthiaume.

Student on team #131, C.H.A.O.S, from Manchester Central HS and Osram Sylvania and Fleet Bank.

Posted on 7/11/2000 8:09 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Coaching or Scouting posted by Lora Knepper on 7/10/2000 5:48 AM MST:



The other day a team member and I got into an argument about because a student could not do scouting very well he/she was not able to make the on the spot descions one of the things that a coach must do in order to be a coach. One of the points in this argument from there side was that because the student could not handle the 'Grunt' work of scouting teams even thought it is necssicary, that the student could not handle the task of coach.

Just a thought.

~Josh
Team 131

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Posted by Ken Patton.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #65, The Huskie Brigade, from Pontiac Northern High School and GM Powertrain.

Posted on 7/10/2000 11:50 AM MST


In Reply to: Coaching or Scouting posted by Joshua Berthiaume on 7/9/2000 9:52 PM MST:



I think coaching and scouting are definitely different. Scouting is about gathering data on what other teams can do and what they choose to do. Coaching is about putting your chosen strategy into a game plan that works on the field. A good coach depends on good scouts in my opinion.

Ken

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Posted by Janna.

Student on team #349, The RoBahamas, from International Academy and Ford Motor Company.

Posted on 7/10/2000 11:54 AM MST


In Reply to: definitely different posted by Ken Patton on 7/10/2000 11:50 AM MST:



Yeah, I agree. We had some pretty good scouts, and before each match, one of them did a very thorough job of briefing the field team on the other robots' abilities. It worked well, and left the coaches able to work on strategy with the drivers between matches. So yeah...definitely not the same thing, although they complement each other well.

Janna

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Posted by Andy Baker.

Engineer on team #45, TechnoKats, from Kokomo High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 7/10/2000 3:29 PM MST


In Reply to: Coaching or Scouting posted by Joshua Berthiaume on 7/9/2000 9:52 PM MST:



Like Ken says, coaching and scouting are VERY different.

Scouting is historic. It not only is data gathering, but also tracking tendencies and getting a feel for the team's level of aggressive play. A good scout can record all of this info, along with picking up a few tidbits that will warn his/her team about the scouted team.

Coaching is what you do with the scouting data and how your team uses its robot's capabilities. This means pre-match scenarios, tactical calls during the match, and post-match evaluations.

A good coach can scout, but a good scout doesn't have to be a good coach.

When I watch a match, I look at it from two ways: as a scout and as a coach. As a scout, I'm looking for what these teams can do that would be useful information to us. As a coach, I try to put myself into their drivers' or coaches' shoes and see what I would do in that situation. Looking at other teams' matches from a coaches perspective makes you realize how easy it is to make a tactical mistake... it happens often.

I feel that in general, teams spend too much time on scouting information and not enough time on strategy and tactical planning. These two aspects of the game definitely go together, and are equally important.

Andy B.