7 Ways to Measure Coach Performance
TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to episode number 14 of the Tennis Business Academy Podcast.
And today I want to discuss how to measure coach performance. And how to measure it objectively. Or at the very least as objectively as possible.
If you know me, you already know that when it comes to business I believe in measuring stuff. And the performance of coaches isn’t an exception to that rule.
After all, how well a coach does their job is incredibly important to the success of the coaching programme (of course!), but also of the venue where that coaching programme is based.
Now, having said this, just because I want to discuss ways to measure coach performance objectively, doesn’t mean that I believe that everything that is important about a coach’s performance can be measured.
There are definitely some things that are important but very difficult, if not impossible to measure.
So, my goal with this episode isn’t to make the case that all Head Coaches and Club Managers should now become the kind of manager that ONLY looks at some numbers on a spreadsheet to determine the worth of a coach and decide whether they’re doing a good job or not.
There are definitely things outside what you can track on a spreadsheet that you should be taking into account.
But to not have any objective measure and to only rely on what you “see” or “feel”, is also not ideal.
Especially if you manage a relatively large team, or manage coaches at different venues, and therefore aren’t able to consistently spend time observing coaches perform their duties on a day-to-day basis.
Having objective measures in place will help you make informed decisions about what and who is working well and what needs to be improved or who needs help to get better.
Looking at figures is the only way to get factual information about what is actually going on. And facts are always good to have on-hand - even if they don’t tell the full story.
And the good news here is that most of the metrics that I’m going to suggest you track to understand coach performance are the same metrics that you should be tracking to understand how healthy the coaching programme is.
That makes sense, right?
If coaches are performing to the right standard then it stands to reason that the programme will be healthy.
And if they aren’t, well then chances are that the programme could be healthier.
Now, the last thing I want to mention before going through each of the 7 ways to measure how well a coach is performing is that I’m looking at this from a non-performance point of view.
If the coaches you manage are working with performance players only then maybe some of the metrics that I’m about to cover will apply, or maybe not.
I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Alright, with that out of the way let’s go through the 7 different metrics you could track to measure coach performance.
1) Session Capacity % & Session Attendance %
Pretty much every time I mention metrics session capacity and session attendance are going to come up.
That’s because these are the most objective metrics we’ve got for measuring how keen players are on coming back for more coaching.
As they say, people vote with their feet.
And while there are a number of factors that impact whether people want to keep showing up for sessions or not, one of the most important ones is the quality of the coaching.
A coach that is performing will find the right way to motivate players to come back lesson after lesson, week after week and month after month.
And if you’re the kind of coach that is able to do that, then you’re giving yourself the time and the opportunity to make the player better and therefore hit every other metric in this list.
On the other hand, if a coach isn’t able to keep players coming back for more, then that’s an issue that needs to be flagged and addressed as quickly as possible - obviously.
Or at least it’s obvious when I say it.
But I can guarantee that it won’t be obvious unless you’re tracking it religiously.
If you only want to track a couple of metrics that tells you about the overall health of the programme and how well coaches are performing, track session capacity % and session attendance %.
And track them every single week.
2) Coaching Outcomes
Are players learning what you set out to teach them?
That’s an important question every coach should ask themselves, and that they should measure for.
Of course that in order to measure outcomes, your programme needs to have defined the desired outcomes upfront.
What those outcomes are is entirely up to you. They could focus on technical or tactical achievement, on developing positive behaviours and attitudes in players when they’re on-court, in getting them to compete more, or anything else that you deem worthwhile teaching players.
Regardless of the outcomes you choose, the idea still remains that you should measure it to try to understand if coaches are being able to actually help improve players or not.
Now, I know that players will progress at different speeds, even when they have the same coach.
But if you measure this for every player for a long period of time, say for a year or more, you will be able to start understanding what is the average progress that you should expect a player to make when they join your programme.
You can then set the bar for progression around that same average level and measure against it.
3) Renewal Rate %
Or the percentage of players that stay in the programme from one time period to the next.
If you charge for your programme on a monthly basis then it would make sense to measure your renewal rate monthly.
If you charge for your programme term by term, or course by course then it makes sense to measure renewal in those time frames.
Regardless of the time frame, the reason why you should track the renewal rate is similar to why you should track session capacity and session attendance.
If a coach is doing a good job and players are enjoying their sessions not only will they keep showing up week after week, when it comes time to pay again it’ll be a no brainer for them to carry on.
A coach who is performing will have a high renewal rate and one who isn’t, won’t.
Again, if you measure this consistently you’ll soon be able to find out what is a “normal” renewal rate and then measure against that figure.
4) Customer Feedback
I’ve talked about customer feedback a few times before on the podcast.
But when it comes to measuring coach performance the idea is simple.
Good coaches will get more positive feedback from customers.
The Net Promoter Score, or NPS is a great way to measure customer feedback objectively.
If you want to learn more about NPS you can listen to episode number 9 of the podcast where I provide a 6 step plan to conduct effective customer surveys and discuss NPS in more detail.
And while I’m at it I’d also like to invite you to check out the Academy at tennisbusinessacademy.com/academy
The Academy is the essential resource for anyone who works in the tennis industry and is in charge of running or growing a tennis coaching programme or club.
Inside our community we have coaches, head coaches, tennis business owners, club managers and committee members.
And every single piece of content has been created specifically for our sport. There are no adaptations of someone else’s content that doesn’t fit what we do.
I, myself, who as you know, run my own coaching business, am constantly experimenting and sharing my learnings inside the Academy, so that you can benefit from it.
So, if you’re interested in joining a global community of tennis professionals who are keen to learn from and support each other, while also getting access to in-depth practical training and resources on all aspects of running and growing a successful tennis club or coaching programme, then the Academy is definitely the place to be.
Check it out at tennisbusinessacademy.com/academy
Ok, let’s move on to number 5.
5) Increase in number of players playing more often
Ok, this one is perhaps a little less obvious than the metrics we’ve discussed so far.
The idea here is that a player that decides to increase the number of times they play each week is a player that is getting more committed to the sport.
And if they’re more committed to the sport it stands to reason that they are also more committed to the club, programme and coaches who have been helping them improve and enjoy themselves.
So, a coach who is performing should be able to get more players to increase the number of times they play each week, as they will be able to more easily elicit the kind of commitment to the sport and the sessions that will make players want to play more often.
There’s other factors that play a part in generating this level of commitment, no doubt, but certainly the coach has a big role to play.
6) Amount of competition played
Again, this metric is trying to measure commitment.
The more committed and confident a player is, the more likely they will be to engage in more competition - whether internal or external, official, or social, doubles or singles, or any other kind.
And like I’ve already mentioned before, a coach who is performing, will be able to get more players to feel confident and excited about participating in competition.
Now, obviously there’s a massive caveat to this, which is the fact that competition needs to be available for players.
The best coach in the world won’t be able to get anyone playing competitive tennis, if competitions aren’t available for players to sign-up to…
So, before you decide to measure coaches based on their ability to get people playing matches, make sure that there are widely available matchplay opportunities for players. And those always need to start internally.
7) Number of players who joined the club
This one only makes sense if the coaching programme is allowed to accept players who aren’t club members.
If that’s the case, then this metric is again a measure of the commitment level of the player.
The idea being that a player who decides to join the club is probably more committed to the sport than a player who doesn’t, as they’re looking for more opportunities to play, rather than just sticking with their individual or group lessons.
If you do operate at a venue where players can decide if they want to become club members or not, then this metric might be worthwhile measuring as it will allow you to understand which coaches are being able to generate more commitment and loyalty towards the sport and the club.
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Ok, we’ve gone through the 7 different ways to measure coach performance.
Let’s quickly recap them before we finish:
Session Capacity % and Session Attendance %. Are people purchasing the spots on sessions and are they showing up week after week?
Coaching outcomes. Are players learning what you set out to teach them? Coaches who are performing are able to get more players attaining the outcomes that are important.
Renewal Rate %. When it comes time for players (and parents) to be charged again, are they sticking around or not?
Customer Feedback. Coaches who perform will get more positive feedback from players.
Number of players playing more often. If a coach is being able to get more players to play more often, then chances are they’re doing a good job.
Amount of competition played. Coaches who do a good job are able to get players to be confident and excited about matchplay.
Number of players who join the club. If at your club players are allowed to choose if they want to become club members or not, it might be worthwhile to measure how many players decide to join the club as this is one marker of commitment to the sport.
And that’s it. These are the 7 metrics that I recommend you keep an eye on if you’re interested in measuring coach performance as well as overall coaching programme health.
It makes sense that those 2 things are intimately linked.
After all, the coaches are the most important aspect of the coaching programme.
If they’re performing to the right standard then the coaching programme will almost definitely be in a healthy place.
Add at least some of these objective measures to your own day-to-day observations of the coaches working to deliver the programme, and you’ll be in a very strong position to identify what and who is working well, what needs to be improved and who needs help and support to perform to the right standard.
Ok, that’s it for today’s episode. As always I’ll be back next week with another instalment of the Tennis Business Academy Podcast
Until then and thanks for tuning in.