WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GOOD JUDO COACH

 Excellence can be attained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.

Quality coaching from passionate and knowledgeable judo coaches is vital to delivering high quality judo for everyone who participates in the art. Coaching judo covers a wide range of roles, levels, and skills. Coaching requires a certain level of judo skills as well as knowledge of the sport. A knowledge and experience which will be valuable to the coach and to their students/athletes.

I honestly believe that one of the greatest injustices to the student of judo is for the coach to come to a class unprepared. A Judo coach doesn’t teach from the hip so to speak. For the coach to stand before a class and say, “let’s see, what will we work on tonight?” is really just……unpardonable. Coaching judo is not impromptu. There is no short cutting lessons or lesson plans. Coaching or teaching judo is no different than teaching in general, there should be lesson plans, class material must be prepared in advance. The coach must plan well in advance of any given session to affect some continuity of material that is presented. The coach should attempt to link material from one session to the next.

It is important that a good coach not only be a student of Judo but also in the field of athletic performance…. After all what is judo…..yep it’s athletic movement. Read as much as you can on all the subjects that will affect you. Among many topics, this would include literature on athletic training methods, sport specific conditioning, nutrition, sports medicine, and sports psychology.

A good coach will continue training themselves. A good judo coach should be fully aware, that judo is an endless path and should not succumb to the self-delusion of believing that they know everything. A good coach should be skilled, experienced and athletic, but those three alone make a good judoka, not a good coach.

A coach's job isn't just to be good at judo but it's also to impart that skill to his students. Coaches need to have good communication skills, patience and an ability to adapt their teaching style to a range of different individuals.  A knowledgeable judo coach will be capable of getting the student to the level he or she desires be it a recreational level or the elite competitive level.

Barron Shepherd is a 3rd degree black belt instructor and USA JUDO certifed coach, a certified boxing coach and certified NASM Sports Performance Enhancement Specialist.