The Benefits of Asking WHY

We’ve got a great athlete who just joined Good Wolf. He’s young, inquisitive, smart…and flippin’ fast.

We touch base frequently on most if not all of his workouts.

This past weekend, he eye-balled this week’s upcoming schedule and asked why I created the structure that way and what I was thinking overall for planning the weeks ahead.

There was a split-second, “Oh shit, can I explain this??” moment followed immediately by, “Yes! I’m glad you asked!”

it’s natural to feel a sense of fright over being challenged. It’s what we do next that defines our maturity and in this case (I hope) proves our expertise.

I have grown to appreciate the opportunity to be able to explain my rationale whether it’s in coaching, my Insomniac workplace, or home. I tell my Good Wolf athletes that if I can’t explain or defend something I’m asking them to do, I should be fired. I mean it! My philosophy is that athletes who thrive at Good Wolf do so because they believe they invest a piece of their soul in every workout they complete. If I can’t articulate the importance of and strategy behind what they’re doing, then I’m squandering the piece of their soul they gave to the sport, and by extension, to me.

Plus, as my dad recently wrote in one of his own blog posts, being able to confidently explain the WHY behind the what does two things:

1) It improves a coach’s ability to communicate

2) It improves a coach’s ability to understand himself and reinforce key concepts. Sometimes, we inherently “know” something but we’re not sure how to explain it…unless we’re asked on the spot to do so.

I’ll add a third reason this is beneficial. It improves the coach-athlete relationship dynamic. When an athlete buys in to a plan, they’ll see better results. You’ll see better results too. And then, on race day, both coach and athlete are more likely to see the desired result where it counts the most… at the finish line.