How Coaching is a Triple Jump
Coaching and sports are unavoidably intertwined. Every athlete has at least one coach, whether they are on a team or compete as an individual. The word is so used by the sports industry that most people only associate it to that.
But this is not about that. This is about our coaching model, Start With Heart, and how each stage of the model can be compared to the experience of a triple jumper. We only know this because on a recent Foundational Coaching Course, a participant shared this analogy and it resonated with us. Like Start With Heart, the triple jump is also based on three stages—Hop, Skip, Jump.
If you have 1 minute and 56 seconds to spare, you can marvel at these three longest Olympic triple jumps. If you do, you’ll see that the Hop and final Jump are deeply connected. The Skip in the middle matters too, it’s just that if the initial Hop isn’t on point, the Jump won’t be nearly as good. If there is one significant thing to understand about the Start With Heart model, it’s the same as that. If Heart isn’t addressed properly, Step won’t be as congruent, and the coachee will end up somewhere they never intended to go. Here are some other parallels that we see.
How Hop is like Heart
In a triple jump, the objective of this phase is to ‘hop out’ and this is when the athlete places all their focus on how to move forward. It’s during this time they visualise where they want to go and what it will all look like. Just like Hop, Heart is often an emotional space where the coachee is sharing their wants, desires and dreams. The coachee is conscious there is a road ahead and by exploring Heart, they know they will get there. The Heart and the Hop set the athlete and the coachee up for success.
How Skip is like Head
As soon as the athlete lands their Hop, they enter the next phase—Skip. This is where the athlete focuses on specific foot and body work in order to get into the right position for the jump. It’s detailed and intentional. It requires immense balance and control. Just like Skip, Head is about thinking something through and considering what options and resources are available, what the current reality it and preparing to take action. This is when the logical, thinking part of the coachee is utilised.
How Jump is like Step
When the athlete lands their Skip, the final Jump starts. What is most impressive at this phase is how the athlete utilises all the work done in the Hop phase. Just like Jump, Step is about building from the existing momentum and standing firm in a decision to be made. Both Jump and Step are about commitment and taking action.
The other thing to notice while watching those athletes Hop, Skip and Jump is that the Hop and the Skip happen on the track, whilst the Jump happens in the sand. The Hop and the Skip are integral, but if the athlete doesn’t complete the Jump, then their Hop and Skip won’t get them any points. Compare that to Start With Heart. Heart and Head are important, but the magic happens in Step.