Plans are useless Planning essential

"Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - Dwight D. Eisenhower


In many aspects of life, to include teaching/coaching, I've found profound truth in this quote. While having a detailed instructional plan is valuable, the true essence of effective coaching lies in the ability to adapt and reshape that plan continually.


When I began teaching my current MMA class, I had mapped out what I thought would be the first lesson. However, I quickly realized establishing competency with even basic techniques like the jab would require multiple dedicated sessions - my "lesson 1" was really the starting point for an extended "topic 1."

This shift proved immensely helpful. As we progressed through jab drills and sparring, I noticed some students developing flaws that could solidify into bad habits if we continued down that constrained path. Drawing from the "ecological" coaching approach, I adapted by:

• Integrating low jabs 
• Adding evasive movement
• Making exercises more open-ended while maintaining a focused scope

As I continue to delve into the ecological approach to teaching combat sports, it seems one of the key factors to success is the coach's ability to actively perceive and respond to the present training environment and student progress. It's not just the designing of the games, but the adjustment to the games in class that gets the best outcomes. While an overarching curriculum roadmap is essential, optimizing outcomes hinges on continually refining drills and cues based on observed results.

Key factors that drove my decision to revise the plan included:

• Student skill levels
• Energy levels  
• Conceptual understanding
• Overall progress toward defined competency goals

No matter how carefully designed the original lesson structure, some elements inevitably require adjustment for maximum effectiveness.

This Agile mindset ensures my classes remain grounded in a guiding big-picture philosophy - cultivating functional skills across all ranges. However, the specific roadmap must bend and evolve. Constantly re-evaluating methods against outcomes allows me to refine individual techniques and conceptual focuses within the broader architecture.



In many ways, this mirrors the scientific method and Agile software development philosophies:

• Propose hypotheses through structured plans
• Conduct experiments through instructional sessions  
• Tweak the approach based on real-world data and observations

The ability to diligently plan while embracing the need to change those plans is paradoxically vital to maximizing a coach's impact. Having an overarching roadmap provides direction, but optimal results require continual agility and refinement.

Make a plan, change it accordingly.  Remember, the primary goals is achieving the best outcomes!

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