Coaching Tip #69

“Don’t sweat the small stuff”

Seriously.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.

There is a well known coaching axiom that goes on to suggest that there is no small stuff, implying that coaches must pay attention to all small details.  Like many coaching axioms, this statement seems wise, but doesn’t hold up very long under scrutiny.  The idea that everything, no matter how small, is equally important, is ludicrous.  Some things are more important than others.  Those are the things you have to sweat.  The big things are the ones you need to get right.

During the course of a day, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of small things that are missed; in the planning phase, in the execution phase, in training, in the review process, by the coach, by the assistants, by players.  If the coach spends all of their time on the small stuff, the only sure outcome is that they will drive themselves crazy chasing down increasingly intricate rabbit holes.  It is a far better to learn strategies for coping with the small stuff that inevitably slips through the cracks.

Don’t sweat the small stuff.  Really.  Don’t sweat it.