Overview
Starting to coach a drill team can be a daunting task. Where do I start? What do I focus on? How much should I do? How much should the students be responsible for?
While everyone’s coaching journey looks different, after years of coaching ourselves, and observing trends in the coaching practice of others, we have attempted to assemble some of the key areas where coaches add value to the drill team experience for their students. Consider this a roadmap for what you might need to prepare in advance of starting that next coaching job!
1. Know Your WHY!
Every person is driven to coach for a different collection of reasons. But one of the strongest indicators of future success as a coach is their personal motivation for doing so. We encourage you to sit down and honestly reflect on your personal reasons for wanting to be a coach. While there a tremendous number of powerful reasons to coach, if you find yourself landing on any of these as primary drivers, it’s time to pause and reflect:
- “I haven’t really given it much thought; it just seems like something you’re supposed to do after you graduate…”
- “I really like spinning…”
- “It seems like a good way to make money…”
- “My team is going to need the help once I graduate…”
Knowing – and truly believing in – your WHY is going to drive your coaching practice in ways you can’t predict. Go beyond the platitudes and spend time figuring out what’s most important to you. And know this will change over time!
Here are some powerful “whys” from our Coaches Network:
“I have lots of whys, but I think the one that got me started was pretty selfish: I wanted to keep drilling. I had been performing with essentially the same group of people for 4 years and I had become so used to every waking moment being drill it would be too weird for me to just…stop. I didn’t want to be a soloist and team drill still doesn’t really exist in the adult world, not like it does in high school. I didn’t want to be in the military or join an ROTC program, so coaching was the obvious next step. That reason has definitely changed. It hasn’t left, I still coach because I want to drill, but that’s not the main reason and it’s morphed into something else. I don’t want to be the one performing. I realized what made drill so great for me was the people in it; that specific environment and moment in time I wanted so badly was just nostalgia and wanting to do something I loved with the people I loved. Now, I want to be the one creating and seeing what I make in my head come to life. I want to drill kinda how a choreographer wants to dance: drill feels good and I am passionate about it, but more enjoying creating something new to give that feeling to other people. My other reasons are sort of subsections of that: I want other people to see drill the way I do, I want new cadets to find the passion and satisfaction I did from drill, I want to create, etc etc. You get the point. My biggest why today is that I fell in love with the sport over time, and I like to help others fall in love with it too. I enjoy being helpful, that’s just a part of who I am, so seeing a cadet’s eyes light up when they finally land that trick or sequence I made just right makes me happy because they’re happy.”
“My original ‘why’ for coaching started pretty simply: I wanted to give back. I was lucky enough to compete at a very high level in this activity, and drill gave me knowledge, confidence, discipline, and lifelong friendships that have followed me well beyond high school. I genuinely love the activity in all its forms, and I wanted to stay involved while helping newer teams and cadets experience what makes it special. Winning was fun, sure—but even early on, it was never the main driver. The experience, the brotherhood, and watching people grow mattered more to me than medals ever did. Over time, that “why” matured. One of the most formative moments for me came early in my career as a cadet, when I joined a team fresh off a national championship. We had talent and knowledge—but we were also cocky, and the culture suffered for it. When we moved up a division and fell flat, it forced a hard reset. I stepped into leadership with a team that was almost entirely new, and that year taught me what actually sustains success: humility, culture, standards, and shared ownership. That season, and the momentum it created for years afterward, cemented for me that culture outlasts talent—and coaching matters far beyond the floor. Today, my “why” is about creating an environment where cadets can gain the same life skills I did. Drill taught me how to communicate, how to carry myself professionally, how to lead and be led—skills that have helped me in interviews, careers, and relationships. From a technical standpoint, I love building strong exhibition sequences and proving that teams don’t need to be the best spinners in the world to succeed. With good structure and cohesion, teams can absolutely dominate. I also see coaching as a responsibility to preserve the activity’s history—paying homage to teams and styles that came before us, and passing that legacy forward. At the end of the day, I coach because drill changed my life—and I believe, when done right, it can do the same for others.”
“My why is probably going to be considered a “boring” response and that’s ok. I believe that my why has stayed consistent throughout my entire time coaching/teaching that being, helping others find there why. I somewhat directly use drill as a medium to teach kids to:
1) Become confident with themselves and their decisions
2) Learn that failure is a requirement and a good thing
3) Realize it is far more important to help others than to help yourself in most cases.
I have put the idea of competing myself completely behind me more in favor of helping the next generation with their successes. I have said it many times before that when you’re a coach/ educator in any form you are more than just the activity you’re teaching.”
“My “why” is rooted in giving back to the community that shaped my childhood. I attended a school that served a low-income community and had limited resources and few role models. After graduating, I knew I wanted to return as someone students could look up to—someone who could give back to a place that provided structure, support, and a safe environment. I have always loved drill, as it has taught me valuable life skills that I use every day. I wanted to share that knowledge with my students, help build their confidence, and encourage them to always go above and beyond in everything they do.”
2. Cultivate a VISION of Success!
Every time we step in front of a new group of students, we have absolute clarity about what success looks like. This vision drives every decision we make – from how we interact to what we teach to how we prioritize and make decisions. And after each workshop, camp, or practice, we reflect relentlessly on how we’ve moved the needle closer (or further from) that vision of success.
Many times, coaches begin without thinking about the end. And in many cases, they don’t actually know for themselves what they’re hoping to achieve.
There is where we’ll be honest: graduates from legacy programs with long histories of sustained success and the “DNA” of championship-caliber performance have a leg up here. In almost 100% of cases, they intrinsically understand what success looks, feels, acts, and moves like – both on and off the deck. They can FEEL when things are going well and instinctively understand when they are not.
But for the coach who didn’t come from such a program, fear not! It’s entirely possible – though more difficult – to help sharpen your vision of drill team success by finding opportunities to observe and be near truly successful programs, dialoging and networking with coaches and alumni who have a clear vision of success, and joining other organizations outside of drill which operate at a high standard with clearly-sustained success.
Excellence leaves clues. And being familiar with what those clues look like in our activity in specific is crucial in becoming a strong coach. Without a clear vision of what success will look like today, tomorrow, and years from now with your continued involvement, it becomes difficult to know if you’re helping the team press forward.
This is also one of the reasons we HIGHLY encourage young coaches to spend time working with programs other than their own alma maters upon graduation. Without intentional, purposeful professional development outside your known ecosystem, coaches who return to their home programs immediately often end up merely replicating what they know and did in high school. And, sadly, in many of those cases the school stays right where they always have been primarily because the coach’s vision of success is limited to what they knew as a student themselves.
3. Hone a SYSTEM!
Coaching isn’t only going to practice, observing, giving feedback, and supervising the implementation of that feedback. It goes one step further than just the knowledge you bring – though we’ll talk about that in a moment. It’s the processes you bring to the team that help them achieve vision of success you’ve cast for them.
You should have an idea of what practice looks like from start to finish: the order of events, the structure, the pacing, the energy and vibe you want to cultivate. In general, drill teams do not JUST need better information or a cooler exhibition sequence to succeed. Instead, they need replicable processes, practice structures that improve productivity, and a booster shot to their practice environment that brings them to the next level.
As a coach, you should come locked and loaded with a game plan. It won’t be perfect. We’ve honed our systems over many, many years and continue to do so. Every season, we learn a new efficiency, a new way of augmenting practice, etc. and adjust the system we bring as coaches as a result. But you need to have A system because that’s what every single coach in every other arena truly brings to their team.
It’s why athletes follow coaches, why musicians change groups to follow instructors, etc. The SYSTEM a coach brings to the table IS their coaching. The information they provide then fits inside of this system and makes improvement skyrocket!
You should reflect on:
- What is the order of events at a given practice?
- What is the expectation for conduct? For interactions?
- What is the energy level and vibe the team should have every practice?
- What are YOUR standards and expectations for team behavior?
- What procedures are non-negotiables for you as a coach?
4. Cultivate Healthy RELATIONSHIPS!
Coaching is a relationship-driven pursuit. How you relate to each individual student – and to the team as a whole – will determine your impact. One of the most meaningful and fulfilling aspects of coaching is the relationships you will form and the lives you will impact. Long after a student has forgotten whatever drill knowledge you’ve imparted, they will remember how you impacted their lives as a person.
Learning to cultivate healthy, positive relationships to your team is key. We have other materials focused on how to do this effectively – and most importantly, SAFELY – but many coaches run into their jobs thinking more about the choreography they’ll teach than the ways in which they relate to their students.
While ALL teaching, training, consulting, etc. relies on forming positive, healthy relationships between adult and student, coaching provides the unique opportunity to spend sustained time with a group. Make sure you’re prioritizing the skill of developing healthy, safe relationships to the students on your team!
5. Know Your CRAFT!
At the end of the day, you have to have some kind of skill, information, insight, etc. about the conduct of drill and the operation of a successful drill team to have value as a coach. You must be constantly seeking out new information, up-to-date best-practices, etc. and incorporating this knowledge into your coaching practice to be effective.
Simply replicating what you knew before becoming a coach won’t cut it. Your team has a cadet commander for that. A coach must be constantly seeking out knowledge that will help them bring to the team that which they could not reasonably obtain on their own, transmit that knowledge effectively, and then go out and find new knowledge to give them. Rinse and repeat until you retire from coaching.
One of the many pitfalls, especially in young coaches, is simply relying on what you think you already know. Strong coaches are students of their craft who are constantly learning, innovating, and building upon their own body of work such that they add immense value to the teams they lead.
If this sounds like a lot of pressure, don’t worry. The good news is that there is plenty of drill information here at your fingertips, a massive cache of coaching content on all social media platforms, and you only need to be one practice ahead of your team at any given time!
6. Be a WHOLE Person!
More than just providers of drill information, coaches are role models. To be the most effective coach, you need to have other things happening in your life. It doesn’t really matter what those things are but you should be actively working towards being a healthier, more whole version of yourself.
To be frank, we’ve seen many people wind up in a dead-end as drill coaches. It’s the only thing they did in high school and it’s the only thing they’re passionate about or have any degree of expertise in. They invested their entire personal lives towards it, they built their entire social circle on it, and they sunk a large amount of time into it. And as such, drill is all they do and all they know. They wind up in a state of arrested development and, in turn, create students like them. Trust us: we’ve made this mistake.
You NEED to be passionate about drill team to be a successful drill team coach. Don’t misunderstand us. But you need to have other things in your life. You don’t need to be perfect – no one is. But you should be striving to be the best version of yourself so that your students are inspired to do likewise.
We can sit around and debate the nuances of Sling Arms all day. We can converse for hours on end about what it takes to crack high-level drill meets. But it isn’t the only thing we’re passionate about and it isn’t our entire life. Our success and fulfillment isn’t limited to this single facet. And yours shouldn’t be either.
Whether it’s family, faith, other hobbies or pursuits, you NEED to have other things going on in your life. After all, isn’t that what you want for your students?
Conclusion
Like everything in life, this is a journey. You’ll start small. You’ll make mistakes. You’ll look back and cringe at what you thought was cutting-edge in the moment. You’ll have regrets. But many times, coaches step off into their first jobs without knowing that they should be considering these important items FIRST and then constantly reflecting and growing in them throughout their journey.
Unlike sports or other activities, there’s no “pattern” or “model” for what being a coach looks like. Many times, those who find themselves on drill team in high school will only ever experience a team activity in that context.
Hopefully this checklist will give you a jumping off point for what being a successful drill team coach really requires!