In his brilliant book, 'Coaching for Performance', John Whitmore tells a story that powerfully illustrates how Coaching can enhance Performance. The Royal Tournament was a military show that used to be held annually in London. One of the events was called the Field Gun Race, in which teams from different branches of the Royal Navy competed to carry a gun and carriage over an assault course. It required great strength, and injuries were often sustained during training.
Joe Gough, trainer for The Fleet Air Arm Team, participated in a two day Performance Coaching course run by David Hemery, former winner of a gold medal at the Olympics, and John Whitmore. Consequently Joe Gough decided to alter his style of training incorporating coaching principles he had learnt, which differed from the traditional autocratic approach. The result was that the Fleet Air Arm Team won all five major event trophies; a result that had not been achieved before. They repeated this achievement for the next two years! The team practised less and received fewer injuries, putting their success down to Joe Gough’s approach, feeling they were treated as equals, as he was asking their opinions and actually listening and taking on board their comments. For instance when they were tired and felt that they could not practise any more that day, they said so, and were told to put the equipment away, feeling motivated to give their all the next day. Coaching for Performance is powerful!
Simon Pimenta
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