By Paddy Upton
World number one fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah said something fascinating at a conference where he and I recently spoke in Bangalore. He said his unique action, which is one of his superpowers, is the result of him being “lucky enough to not have a coach when I was younger”.
As a result, he was able to discover and refine his unique action for himself. While he didn’t have a formal coach, he watched and mimicked other great fast bowlers in the process of finding his action.
Sure, Bumrah’s is an uncommon story of being successful without having a formal coach. What’s more common is to hear stories of acclaimed athletes attributing success to their coaches’ input and support.
Then there are other stories, which I have personally witnessed, of high potential athletes who had their career ruined by a coach trying to “correct” their technique- by changing it to suit the coach’s idea of what is best.
Recently, I was involved with one athlete who attributed success to his coach’s input. And in the next moment, I watched another athlete listen to their coach’s input and fail as a direct result. This athlete went on to deeply regret following that advice, because it went against his intuition or ‘gut feel’ at the time.
If this seemingly random failure and success, both with and without coaches input, happens with the best, how the hell are the rest of us supposed to figure out how to succeed? And this, with all the coaching advice and sometimes lack of advice that’s out there? You are excused if you’re feeling a bit confused at this point. I would be.
The solution
There is a very clear and common thread that underpins all those very different stories above! And that everyone can learn from.
It’s this.
Like Bumrah, every one of us has our metaphorical ‘unique action’ – a strategy, technique, talent, personality, character traits, or brain preferences that works best for us.
What Bumrah got right, was that he watched other bowlers, he has always been hungry to listen and learn from others, and at 31 years old, is still constantly seeking to advance his game. But he remains his own best coach. He has learned to listen to that which suits his game, and to filter out advice that is not relevant for him – but that may well be game-changing for somebody else.
In the case of those athletes who attribute their success to their coach’s input, what they got right is that they took on board only that which was relevant for them. And they discarded what was not.
In contrast, the athlete who listened to his coach and failed made the mistake of following the unhelpful advice ahead of his own knowing or intuition.
The good news here is that you have already met your personal life-changing super-coach. It’s you! You are, and will always be your own best coach!
The other news is that it takes time to master the art and science of training your inner coach. It takes time, and plenty of mistakes, to fine-tune your filter for what to listen to and what to discard. Be patient.
A framework for becoming your own best coach
1. Seek advice, input and coaching from ‘out there’, and at the same time,
2. Pay attention to the wisdom that sits ‘within’. Seek to understand your body, your mind, your emotions, your game, your gut-feel. The better you do this, the more you are able to
3. Develop your filter for knowing what information from coaches or media to listen to, and what to discard.
Be cautious of handing over to others too much of the responsibility for your decisions, game, and life.
Keep learning and refining the process of being your own best coach. Own and build the library of knowledge around your body, your mind, your game, and your life.
In closing, make it one of your missions in life to discover your unique talents, skills, and attributes. These are gifts you already possess and that are waiting to be unwrapped.
Once you’ve sort-of done this, consider that an even more rewarding mission in life may be to give your gift to others.
