I had an opportunity to teach a USA Archery Level 2 instructors course over the weekend and as is often the case, I learned as much as I taught.

The first lesson I learned, again, is you can’t do it all yourself. Every archery program needs talented individuals to help archers learn and advance. If one instructor can seed others to help the cause, we all benefit.

The second lesson is, when you teach you learn. Going over materials I know well always opens my eyes to what I have been doing, both as a shooter and a program leader. An example of this is warming up ahead of shooting. Yeah, I give it lip service, but it is important, even if I don’t practice it. A new instructor I was teaching brought it up in the context of other sports and of course it makes great sense to prepare muscles for intense activity.

During the duration of the course we went over teaching techniques and corrections. Every time I go through this I am reminded about what I haven’t been doing as an instructor. We get so dialed into our routines that effective teaching techniques are forgotten, or not implemented.

New blood is essential to the continued vitality of our sport. Everyone looks at things slightly differently and brings new perspectives to help existing, or new programs grow and become better.

The last point may be the most important point of any training we do as coaches. Have you ever thought about how long you will be a coach? Many of us think we will coach until we drop, but life takes us in many directions and we must make our programs ready to effectively carry on when we no longer are available to coach. Training coaches may be the most important, lasting legacy of any coach.