Episode 68: Wade Gilbert (Award-winning professor, highly acclaimed author of “Coaching Better Every Season”)
🎙 In this episode: I sit down with Wade Gilbert, an internationally renowned coaching scientist, award-winning professor at Cal State University-Fresno and author of the highly acclaimed book “Coaching Better Every Season.”
🔹 The Science of Coaching
Coaching isn’t just an art. It’s rooted in decades of research on athlete development.
🔹 Global Perspective
Gilbert has traveled the world, studying how other countries organize and oversee sports.
🔹 The Wild, Wild West
“Most countries have a centralized platform. We don’t have that in the United States. It’s really a free for all, wild wild west. Do whatever you want. You and I could start a soccer league tomorrow.”
🔹 Business vs. Development
The U.S. sports model is driven by creative groups—but at the end of the day, most are businesses chasing profit, not long-term athlete well-being.
🔹 Best Principles > Best Practices
Gilbert stresses that lasting impact comes from principles, not copy-and-paste “best practices.”
🔹 Coaching as Personality
Coaching is highly personal…so how do we ensure standards are met without stifling individuality?
🔹 Scoreboard Blindness
“Coaches are judged only by wins and losses. If that’s the only thing asked of me, then of course I’ll think my job is to win on Saturday.”
🔹 A Broken System
“People are like water. You upskill them, but then you put them back into a broken container.”
🔹 Too Many Games, No Off-Season
Every pro league has a mandated off-season. Youth athletes in the U.S.? They often play more games than the pros.
🔹 Ignored Science
We’ve had 40+ years of data on what works…but at the local level, guidelines are ignored and kids pay the price.
🔹 The Specialization Myth
Most elite athletes didn’t specialize early. The science and the stories both back it up.
🔹 Who’s Responsible?
Coaches? Parents? Organizations? Communities? Or is change only possible when the market forces it…when burnout and cost finally make the system unsustainable?
🔹 Rapid-Fire Scenarios
We close with a debate: what’s the right way to handle a parent approaching you after a game about their kid’s playing time?
