It's part of coaching the modern athlete.

A lot has been made to do about “coaching the modern athlete.” Everything from their individuality, to their need for constant feedback; hundreds upon thousands of articles, books and presentations have covered the topic. Most of it revolves around one thing: communication.

So here’s a challenge to all coaches, everywhere: let’s all be more specific in our communication.

In terms of coaching, there isn’t much worse than a miscommunication or misunderstanding.

Here’s how it might sound. You say your team needs to compete harder, they think you’re saying they’re not trying. You say your team wants to play fast, they interpret that as skating 100 miles an hour accomplishing nothing. You say I need to read and react on the forecheck… I read it differently than you wanted… and now you’re the one reacting.

In order to connect with the modern athlete, the key is to communicate with linguistic intentionality. At the very least, define your buzz words at the start of the year so that when you refer to them later, everyone knows what you mean. Set a clear expectation and evoke specific imagery when you bring them up so everyone is on the same page. If you don’t, the consequences can be dire for your team.

Here’s are some examples.

“Heavy hockey”

Heavy hockey. What does that mean? Is it physical play? Fighting? Strong on pucks? Winning 1-on-1 battles? Strong on your stick? Stick lifts/steals? Cycling the puck below the goal line?

Does it literally mean having players gain weight so they are heavier than their opponents? Here’s a discussion with Doug MacLean, Brian Burke and Jeff Marek discussing the very topic on Hockey Central last year:

Two former NHL executives. Two totally different opinions on exactly what defines “heavy hockey.”

So which is it?

The answer is hard to define, which is why it’s so essential to clarify to your team what your expectation is. Whether it’s “heavy hockey,” “playing fast” or being a “possession team,” it is ultimately about playing a style of game that suits your team and has specific, measurable and tangible ways to quantify it.

“Compete”

One of the most used buzz words in hockey, “compete” can become a dirty word if not understood.

What is compete? Is it simply being competitive? Wanting to win? Is it effort? How can you measure how hard someone is trying?

If there’s one sure-fire way to to lose a player’s interest, question their effort.

Just because you lose a battle, it doesn’t mean you didn’t try. And it may not mean you didn’t compete. You may have lost the battle because of stick position or body position. Was it a matter of size and strength? Did you take the wrong angle? Or maybe it was a lack of bravery?

I did an informal poll of players, coaches and managers from the NHL, AHL, major junior and university hockey and asked them to define “compete.” Here is a sample of some responses:

Pretty vast with varying degrees of definition. If your players aren’t “competing” to your level of expectation, the first place to look is whether or not your communication matches the level of their expectation. Good communication is always the bridge between confusion and clarity.

To me, “compete” has four components:

1. Demonstrating the desire to work hard
2. Understanding the fundamentals required in the moment
3. Possessing the skill required
4. Executing

Without any of these four things, you simply can’t compete. If a player loses a puck race, before you communicate with them, you should ask yourself where in the chain there was a breakdown — and then mold your response to fit. There’s a big difference between “you need to compete harder” and “you need to gain inside body position to win that race.”

Other examples

None of this is to say that buzz terms don’t have a place – because they do.

If you can come up with terms that represent mutual understanding of a concept between you and your players, it can shorten your communication channels and de-clutter the message. Without this understanding, however, there will always be more questions than answers. Here are a couple more common terms and some good questions to ask yourself — or perhaps your players, as your definitions may vary:

“Play fast”

Do you play fast by skating fast? Do you mean being predictable and connecting your systems together? Move the puck quickly? Get in on the forecheck quickly? Transition from defence to offence and offence to defence in a fast, efficient way?

“Possession team”

What kind of possession? Do you want to carry the puck in and attack off the rush? Or maintain offensive zone possession for sustained periods of time? Do you want to slow things down in your regroups and maintain possession? Possession comes in many different ways.

Why?

One of the number one reasons people are unhappy in their organizations is communication. Good communication relies on two things: the message being relayed and the message being received. Often, we don’t consciously make the effort to make sure the second part of our communication has occurred.

There’s an old phrase that says, “just because you’ve taught it, doesn’t mean I’ve learned it.” This is why it’s so important to define your terms early so you’re both on a level field. At the end of the day, players and staff need to understand what your expectations are when you communicate — before you can expect them to be accountable for their results.