A debate I feel strongly about and some will agree and others may not!
18 years ago, I passed my level 2 ETTA coaching licence (update recently to UKCC). Back then I believed I was a top coach, little did I know how poorly educated I was inside the field of TT coaching. I was a confident young man due to a good personal playing level. Unfortunately, my ignorance gave me a false impression of my true coaching capability. Nevertheless, I pursued a career as a table tennis coach and decided to self-educate by…Reading books, watching other coaches, speaking to coaches and players from around the world. I continued to develop my knowledge by looking at all the possible elements that could enhance and increase the rate of improvement for aspiring players. All these things have made me question, does qualification affect our sport?
Always developing and growing
18 years later my mindset has changed and I feel like a ‘developing coach’ rather than a top coach. I aspire to continuously grow as a coach and help my beloved sport (table tennis) continuously grow.
I may have accomplished a lot over the past 18 years since passing my level 2. But the question remains, Is it because of my qualification? Or my desire to be an accomplished table tennis coach?
To date, no one has ever asked me what level I am as a coach! I pride myself on giving my best to all my students rather than let a certificate qualify me.
Where I believe, we are going wrong;
We judge per qualification instead of achievements. This can be extremely problematic, as some coaches may not feel the need to self-develop and rely upon their higher tier certificate to quantify their coaching skills.
Would you ever ask Alex Ferguson what level coaching badge he has?
We all know he’s the most successful football manager the premiership has ever seen, so let’s focus on those who continuously achieve and grow rather than what course they have been on.
I have a very good friend who possesses the highest level of football qualification, yet he was coaching at junior level football for many years while possessing that qualification. He was always told you must prove your worth before you can move up to the big league. Recently he was asked to coach a senior national team, not because of his qualification but because of his coaching success.
Why do former top players walk into high national/international coaching jobs without any previous coaching experience?
Achievement as a player should not qualify you as a top coach, with some coaching experience; possibly yes, but with very little experience how are you able to draw your player’s needs?
Studying other sports I quickly noticed, many coaches are often not top players themselves or the highest qualified. On the contrary, they are successful as a coach continuously producing positive results. This is due to self-development and they produce the goods without the need to have the higher tier qualifications.
Qualification affects our sport in England
To make matters worse becoming qualified in England as a coach is virtually guaranteed unless you fail to complete the course. If I taught my wife how to do the basics strokes and put her on a TTE coaching course, she could potentially be a fully qualified level 1,2 and 3 coaches. In theory, my wife can qualify herself as a level 3 coach, giving her more kudos than me on paper.
Let’s focus on developing our sport by supporting coaches that thrive to achieve and succeed. Coaches who self-develop and don’t necessarily want or need a higher qualification to showcase themselves as good or great coaches.
The governing body should enforce a tighter ruling on who can pass the higher levels of qualification giving them true meaning.
I decided to write this on behalf of fellow coaches that I believe have amazing coaching skills and abilities but are considered less than due to lower tier qualification (by choice). In some cases, some people are unable to afford the courses, especially when there’s no direct reward.
If you’re looking for a top coach look at their track record, not their qualification. More about coaching click here
Written by Eli Baraty
Hi Eli ,
I´m far from being a qualified Coach let alone holder of a Coaching licence but after 3 years of intensive Support of my kids in this sport I come to the conclusion I spend more time effort and heart on educating myself about the ins and outs of this Sport than any Coach I happen to meet ,bar one i must say. I´m not interested in certificates ,as These do not really make a Coach better suited or effective than one who has what it takes but does not carry that paper. My Position is very straight here:if the Coach does not believe in my Kids perspective and as important has no fire burning inside to Coach -teach someone how to improve in TT in a structured organised way I´m simply not interested
I totally agree with your comments Eli. I recently passed the UKCC Level 2 course in table tennis. I did this because I wanted to improve my coaching skills and improve my technical knowledge of the sport.
Unfortunately the main thing I improved was my ability to fill in the correct pieces of paper and to say the right things during the assessments. I didn’t really learn how to develop and improve players technique which is what I wanted to learn.
I also believe that a level 2 coach should have to have developed their technical skills to a reasonable level. And they should be able to play a little bit as well. It’s ridiculous watching someone trying to coach beginners who can barely do the basic shots correctly.
Keep up the great work, Nigel
Lovely attempt to unravel thee intricacies of coaching and player development. The problem is probably not just a table tennis issue. In our desire to meet targets anybody can apply to become a coach. Good question of whether a top player should walk in to a top job even just because of their past individual achievements.
Excellent post eli you made some valid points on what constitute to being a top coach which at the moment seems to be acquiring that piece of paper i guess measuring the student development and progress regardless of their level beginner intermediate or advance is ultimately the measuring tool in our sport