Dan Pfaff
Head Coach
3 simple methods to see better results – a quick Q&A with Coach Pfaff
Q: How can Coaches recognize familiar patterns of movement quickly and accurately? Study, study, study: There is no shortcut - this is a skill that has to be learned. Watch films of the best performers across male, female, and different age groups. Watch in real time, watch slow motion, then break it down, and make kinograms to help you better...
on filing
I often get asked by younger coaches how to organize my thoughts so I don’t get overwhelmed by too much information. I use a file system format, whereby I put everything into files of topics. I have blog files, podcast files, coursework files, general research files, advanced research files, etc. I then use systems to manage them. I normally have...
The myth of work-life balance?
I come from a family tradition of storytellers. I love to hear and speak about stories. So when I’m guiding younger coaches through some of the pitfalls we encounter in our coaching lives, I tend to tell gut-level honest stories of failures, successes, trials, tribulations, etc. I also share biographies of coaches and other leaders who have fallen into some...
Is it worth it?
I have been consistently challenged in multiple environments. The two biggest challenges for me in scale and scope are constant battles with: Administration silos / scope of practice, etc. Support agencies around the athlete I have fought constant battles with NGBs, Olympic Committees, meet promoters, legislation issues, and world-politic. On the support side, endless and inane conflicts from agents, sponsors, parents,...
3 steps to being a good mentor
Mentorship is something that lots of folks talk about, and lots of folks appreciate the importance of - but there are really few effective structured mentorship programs in coaching education. Costs, time allotments for both parties, rules and regulations by governing bodies, a dearth of true educators in leadership roles, the lack of reward for doing mentorships other than self-gratification,...
in Praise of my Mentors
When I was a young coach, I was desperate for advice and mentoring, but it was very uncommon back then (late 60s-early 70s), so the only way to get any sort of help was to volunteer at a school and pray that one of the coaches took you under his wing. I grew up with a father in the construction...
Coach Pfaff on coaching at the Games
The second of our post-Rio series features Coach Pfaff. In this quick-fire Q&A, Dan reviews some of the challenges faced at the 2016 Olympic Games, and shares his solutions. Dan - thanks for joining us. How many athletes were you coaching in Rio? I was directly responsible for 4 athletes: Greg Rutherford, Fabrice Lapierre, Christabel Nettey, and Yosiri Urrutia. I also consulted with 3...
Barriers to Championship Performances
The below is a collection of Coach Dan Pfaff's thoughts and observations acquired through 40 plus years of coaching and interaction with Championship Performers from across the globe ... Enjoy! Risk taking is a common trait among champions. Learning to be comfortable with taking calculated risks to drive positive change – whether than be in mind-set, mechanics, strategies, tactics or...