Most people who know me well know that when I was in college I had the opportunity to play baseball. I loved the experience and above all the life lessons that I learned. My coach ran a youth development organization (AAU) and it so happened that my freshman year a graduating senior had left a coaching position vacant. The teams were divided by age group and I was offered a position coaching the 14U team.

This was the highest age group as the players would leave from here to go play JV high school baseball. Officially the “head coaching” job for this team was performed by my head coach, however the task normally fell to me because of how busy he was. When he asked me to accept the position I couldn’t figure out why he chose me. There were plenty of more talented players than myself. After all I, was one of those kids that couldn’t just rest on raw talent, it was mostly hard work that had earned my spot on the team.

When I asked him I got the first of many life lessons he would teach me. He said to me, “Son, talent on the field doesn’t make you a coach. Patience, compassion, work ethic, and a passion for game are what really matter.” When I responded that I didn’t think I knew the game well enough he simply replied, “You know enough to get started.” I had no clue what he meant by that and immediately began to wonder if he had been hitting the bottle just before practice. At any rate I accepted the spot and was more than just a little uneasy about my new task.

My first day of practice as the new assistant coach all of my fears multiplied when coach pulled me aside and said I would be running practice today and he couldn’t make it. Holy crap, here I am not even sure if I can fake my way through an assistant coaching spot and now I have to actually perform the duties of a head coach. Now if it were little league maybe I wouldn’t have been so anxious but these kids had been playing year-round baseball at the highest level available to them since they were just five years old, so if I screwed up they would know.

As I arrived at the field I saw that even though I was early my entire team was already there and stretching for practice. I was excited, these kids were serious about the game I loved and for the first time I began to see the real opportunity that I had been presented with. I called them in to start practice and as they all stared at me I realized I had to tell them what to do, but I didn’t know. So I started thinking about what my coaches did, and more importantly why they did it that way.

This brings me to my first poker related point, for years I had been doing what I was told at practice but for the first time I had actually stopped to ask myself why. When you are presented with the challenge of coaching you are forced to not only figure out what to do but why you are doing it. While you’re improving the game of your player you are taking yourself to that next level of thinking. Now the question you begin to ask yourself before you make a decision is not just “what is the best move here” but at the same time your asking “why is this the best move.” This process alone will begin to deepen your understanding of the game.
Ok, back to my story. After the first several practices I got the opportunity to work with my catcher one on one as coach had actually showed up that day. It’s not an easy position so I felt I really needed to spend some time teaching him. Over the next few weeks as I worked with him something amazing began to happen, not only were his skills improving by leaps and bounds but I was showing improvements in my game as well.
Here’s my next poker point; as we progress as players it is often easy to forget the fundamentals of the game. When we coach a player the first thing that we must do is evaluate his understanding of the basics. The beautiful thing about this is that while you’re doing that you’re also reviewing all of those things that our more advanced skills are built on. Even though I had a great understanding of the basics it had been so long since I had spent time on them that I had a whole new set of experiences and knowledge allowing me to view them in a whole new light.
While I was honing the basic skills in my boys I was gaining a whole new understanding of the game and it was showing in my play. So much so that my catching coach had commented “you know Doyle, I really feel like you’re starting to get what I’m trying to teach you here.” This one took a little longer to hit me but several weeks later I had an epiphany, by gaining the experience of coaching my players I was better prepared to learn what my coach was teaching me.
This brings me to the last point of my article. By coachingmentoring others we begin to gain a unique set of experiences that will allow us to better learn from those who are coaching us. As you move through your progression as a poker player you should always be looking for the opportunity to better yourself. One of the best ways to do that is to befriend other players both better and worse than you. Try to learn as much as you can from those players, whether it’s through coachingmentoring players or getting a little coaching yourself through discussion of a HH or situation you experienced. Just because you haven’t asked someone to be your “coachmentor” doesn’t mean that they aren’t.
Finally, Ill leave you with this, pride is deadly to your poker game, confidence is the key to your success. Just because you feel that you are better than someone else doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something from them. Even if what that person has to say is completely wrong, try to understand why they are saying that and perhaps you’ll find you’ve learned something new anyway. Everyone has something to teach. Are you ready to learn?