There’s no reason why every day, you shouldn’t be looking at ways to get better, says Stuart Broad.
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There have been a lot of column inches over the last couple of weeks surrounding some of the leading coaches in professional sport. Whether it’s been Pep and his renewal at Manchester City, or the pressures around Steve Borthwick with the England Men’s rugby team, there seems to be so many opinions out there on different coaching styles and the impact they can have on a team’s results.
While I’m not qualified to review Pep, Steve Borthwick or anyone outside of cricket, from experience I can confirm that different styles of coaching can help you depending on the stage you’re at in your career. Whether you’re breaking into a county side for the first time as a youngster or coming to the end of a career on the international stage, there’s no singular approach that works for all players. That’s what makes the art of coaching so subjective and unique to an individual coach.
It was all about continuous improvement, and that’s an attribute that stayed with me for the rest of my career and kept me true.
Thinking back to when I was 19 or 20, at the start of my international career, I worked with Peter Moores, and he was a great motivator. He would push me for improvement in my technique. All the time, he’d want me to be improving my game. He saw no reason why every day, you shouldn’t be looking at ways to get better. He’d take the time to focus on how I could improve my performance by focusing on a specific facet.
He was brilliant for me at that stage of my career where he wouldn’t let me rest on my laurels. It was all about continuous improvement, and that’s an attribute that stayed with me for the rest of my career and kept me true.
I credit some of the mental strengths of my game to Andy Flower. He didn’t necessarily possess a huge amount of empathy as a coach, but he made me feel like a soldier in his army. He made me feel like I’d run through a brick wall for him when I was playing.
He made every game feel like it was the most important, which whilst was intense, in my mid-twenties, it gave me that never say die attitude. It certainly helped me when I needed to stand up in the heat of a battle later in my career.
I started working with Brendan McCullum as I entered the twilight of my career. I’d count him as one of the very best coaches that I played under. But more so, he was perfect for me at that stage. Looking back, I was pretty confident in what I was doing from a technical perspective. Baz just wanted to make sure I was as comfortable in delivering my skills as possible. He made me feel positive through his personal approach. He simplified our game plan; it was very much focused around entertainment, not just for the fans in grounds or at home watching on television, but for us as players. He wanted a fun changing room, a changing room that was tight and together.
He made me feel like I’d run through a brick wall for him when I was playing.
He’s been brilliant for so many players at varying stages of their career, but for me, towards the end of my journey as a cricketer, he was just magical to play for. Playing for England, aged 37, felt like it did as a 12-year-old kid playing for Egerton Park CC. Opening the curtains on a Saturday morning, excited to see it wasn’t raining, that feeling that you were to go and play cricket. That’s what I had in that final Ashes Series I played in and that was largely down to his approach.
Ultimately, it’s not the coach’s responsibility on you going out there and delivering on the field. That should be on you as a player. But I can look back over my career and identify the traits and characteristics and the coach they originated from and feel like I had a pretty good match with the coaches I worked with at the different points of my career.
I’m excited to see Baz take up the role with the England Men’s white ball setup. I’m sure he’ll do fantastically well. He’s taking the job like he did with the Test side, where England haven’t been at their best. During the recent World Cup, it looked like there was a lot of pressure on everyone’s faces, and Baz will be able to lift that. They’ve got the talent within that group to win big tournaments and I’m confident he’ll move the white ball teams in the right direction, just as he did with us as a Test side.
Finally, going back to the pressures on coaches. As a fan I always feel one of the most crucial roles of a coach is dealing with the pressures of the media. As soon as you see a coach or manager nibble at a question in a press conference, it can sometimes feel like the beginning of the end. I think we’ve all seen those press conferences where a manager or coach is outwardly expressing their frustration. That age old saying of ‘the pen (or keyboard in the modern world!) is mightier than the sword’ comes into play. The moment a coach or manager shows their frustration, the media will swoop, and the pressure is on!
The guys at Fitzdares have given me a £500 free bet pot to use on on a selection of the major sporting events over the next month. All the profits will go to my Motor Neurone Disease charity — The Broad Appeal. I managed to add another £80 to the kitty last month, taking the total to £480 so far. Here’s what I fancy in December…
£125 Ludvig Åberg @ 14/1
Hero World Challenge, 5th — 8th Dec
£125 Man City @ 8/15
Man City vs Man Utd, 15th Dec
£125 Spillane’s Tower @ 7/1
King George VI Chase, 26th Dec
£125 Nottingham Forest to score 2+ goals @ Evens
Nottingham Forest vs Spurs, 26th Dec
Stuart Broad is Fitzdares’ global Brand Ambassador.
