There’s coaching in the calm and there’s coaching in the moment.

They’re not the same.

Whether it’s self-coaching or coaching someone else, there’s a fundamental difference between what happens in training and what happens at game time.

It’s tempting to amplify the latter to make up for shortcomings in the former.

But that rarely works.

Robust coaching in the calm allows for more effective coaching in the moment.

In the best scenarios, primetime coaching only needs to reference what’s already been learned and practiced.

That is, it’s difficult to call upon a skill on stage … when that skill has yet to be developed behind the scenes.