A commitment to player development requires that a coach has a firm grasp of their over-all system and the skills required to execute that system.  It also requires that a coach not be so committed to the system that all they have time for is 5-on-5 practice to master the rote movements and outcomes.  Instead the system is used as a tool to help players understand where they need to get to with their games.  It gives them a framework for all the footwork and cuts necessary to get to the right spots and the skills needed to make plays from those areas.  When working in practice situations, good coaches are consistently talking to their players and offering instruction about how they need to do things and what they need to work on.  Execution is broken down to the level of the needs for each individual participant.  There is also a willingness by both the coach and the player to work individually to maximize a player's development.  As players improve personally, it also helps develop the team's depth and gives the coach more usable pieces to have at their disposal.

Athletes, like most people, will have the best intentions in terms of working hard on their fitness and skills.  They will profess their desire to do what is needed and lay out their plan in terms of how they will accomplish their goals.  This is where a good coach is able to stay on top of their players and see that they adhere to their plan; to make them accountable.  It is like the Confucius saying, "At first the way I dealt with people was to listen to their words and trust they would act on them.  Now, I listen to their words and observe whether they act on them. It was within my power to change this."  You cannot control the actions of others, but you can control whether you are aware of the actions of others.  A lot of coaches will offer their players advice on what they can work on, but are not actively involved in seeing that their players are developing and following that plan.  They see this as the player's responsibility.  Quality coaching understands the importance of directing their player's skill development and playing an active role in helping them reach their potential.   

Good coaches also understand the motivating factor that personal development is to most athletes.  One of the surest ways to keep players happy and working hard is to help them see the positive impact their improvement is having on them and the team.  Players pay better attention, work harder and feel better about what is happening when they feel some sense of control.  The only thing in a team setting that they have any real control over is their own improvement.  This is a key reason to concentrate on this facet of coaching.  It is easy to get swept up as a coach in tactics and game plans and how the whole should function.  When you spend an inordinate amount of time on system development, players can lose their connection to what is happening, feel like the process is out of their control and grow frustrated and stagnant.  When a player senses that a coach is invested in their development and cares about their growth, they are more likely to compete hard and pay attention to the things the coach is looking for.  Player motivation is a key reason to be invested in player development.

Once you have decided that player development is a key consideration to ensure quality coaching, it opens up a consideration that every coach who is invested in individual improvement must confront.  This consideration is the conflict that exists between outcomes and development.  Over the last number of years, there has been a slow evolution away from coaching for outcomes and more focus on coaching for process.  In outcome coaching, the emphasis is on winning and desirable outcomes for the team.  In process coaching, we believe that a certain style of play will be beneficial and, if we establish that style, then we feel that the outcomes are more likely to be favourable.  In outcome coaching, we are seeking something that we do not fully control.  Ultimately, we have no control over outcomes or other variables like the officials, whether we are home or away, weather, illness, etc. which have an impact on the outcome of a sporting event.  On the other hand, we can control how we play.  Attempting to get our players to execute and behave in a manner consistent with what we feel like we need to be successful, is something in which we should seek to have a direct hand.  This puts the control back in the athlete's hands and even though we may not always get the outcome we desire, we can always measure whether we played the way we want.  Most people in the coaching business now see process coaching as the right path to follow.

Even in choosing to be a process coach, the end remains the same: we are still trying to produce the best possible outcomes.  We can be happy if the outcomes are not wins, if we play well, but what if our decisions directly impact our chances of playing well?  As we have stated earlier, the more veteran the team, the more likely it will execute well.  Making the decision to play your more senior athletes will usually give you the best chance to play well and therefore, the best chance to win.  This is why judging a coach on their team's win/loss record can be misguided.  If a team is full of young talent, that talent, because it lacks the necessary experience to understand the plan the coach has laid out and the reps to build faith in that plan, they are more likely to unnecessarily deviate and chase other goals or means of execution, often in misguided notions that they understand what needs to be done.  This is not necessarily a lack of discipline or respect, just youthful exuberance.  Learning to stay on point is part of the growth of every athlete.  Often coaches are teaching the right things, in the right manner. What is needed is the patience to see the process through.  

With these things in mind, and if we accept that athlete development is a necessary part of quality coaching, then we must accept that helping young athletes learn and grow is significant.  What follows then is the question, are there certain outcomes that we are willing to sacrifice to aid the development of our players?  Sacrificing these outcomes can come in many forms. It does not necessarily mean losing, although that is a possibility.  It can mean winning by a smaller margin, or under tougher circumstances.  In some instances, it can mean letting a game get away that you might otherwise have won.  If you identify a player who has the right skills and makeup to be a finisher, a player who can make plays late in games, then there may be some negative results while you give them the ability to acquire reps in that role.  Letting the bench log minutes in situations where leads have been built may squander some or all of that lead, but the reps acquired by those players are valuable and the long term benefits are harder to judge.  Having games or tournaments where you are up front about the outcomes not meaning as much as the development opportunities for some or all players, especially in youth coaching is valuable.  This notion is even becoming more acceptable at pro levels, where the need to play younger players is acknowledged to have an outcome cost, but "rebuilding" is an accepted part of the process now.

If you consistently keep player development in mind in the planning of opportunities and outcomes, then you are better able to build a more consistent base for your teams and produce more even results over a longer period of time.  Often teams are forced to suffer through bad seasons when they swing too heavily to relying on veteran players and then suddenly lose a large number of them for various reasons.  The willingness to place outcomes behind player development at certain times during the season is a sign that a coach understands the long game and is invested in both now and the future.  It also strengthens a team, makes all players feel better up and down the bench about their contributions, and makes a team tougher to defeat at the end of the year.  When you are building your yearly plan, these are important considerations to think about.  The need to be committed to player development in all its forms should be ever present.