The Best Learners
In 15+ years of teaching both golf and tennis, there are attributes in people that begin to stand out. As a coach, it is my job to teach every single person to the very best of my ability. I used to think that I was the main reason as to why people improved. However, the more lessons I taught, the more I realized that I was just a small percentage of a player’s development. In reality, I am just providing the analysis, the course of action, and providing the pathway to you becoming better. Are some coaches better than others at doing this? Yes. Can some coaches help get you to your desired place quicker than others? Yes. But the rest is on YOU.
The best learners are people who show up to their practice and completely buy into the process of learning. I have taught 2 players in tennis and 2 in golf that stand out clearly amongst others in how they approach their lessons. Were these players more gifted? I would say yes. But this is not because of their height, athleticism, the time and money spent. In fact, all 4 of these players had completely different upbringings, physical attributes, and practiced different amounts of time. What they all had in common was that they completely bought into the learning process.
If I asked these players to do something, they would not tell me they already knew (THE WORST), or just do it (most), but they would ask me why (THE ELITE)? They all wanted to understand why they were doing things. Why was it important to work on that particular thing next? If they learn this new technique or shot, how does that improve them? These were the common types of questions. Once they understood, they learned things at rates that enabled them to be leaps and bounds better than their peers.
To conclude, if you are trying to become the best version of yourself with anything you do, and you are seeking help to do it, focus on getting the answers you need so that you can fully understand what you are working towards. If you ask a coach a question, and they are unable to explain what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you are going to do it, then you have the wrong coach. By the end of a lesson, if you learned something properly, you should be able to teach it to others. If you go into a lesson with that mindset, you will become the best player you can be.