Do you have to have coached or played?

[MikeJones]

To understand the sport you are watching?

I see it all to often in MMa "hard core fan, casual fan" I think that is a huge joke for mma.

I see folks saying have you ever coached? Have you ever played?

I think its good if you can understand a sport both from a competitor and a fan. I have competed but some of the best advice I have ever got was by a onlooker.

I saw that in a few arguments. Tonight. This isnt a coaches forum. It a discussion forum. Some of us may not have coach / Some of us may have. Some of us may have never played/ Some may have. That dont meen we should discount a opinion.

[R13]

That argument really is stupid when people use it, I've seen it a million times on here and I'd be willing to bet that the people that use it never coached anything either. And I only average like 2 min a game in basketball, but I do know a whole lot about the game...people either know the game or don't know the game, you don't have to have a state ring or be Phil/Stan/Mack to have an opinion on a forum about a sport.

[joedirt]

Nevermind

[MikeJones]

Joe I am no way trying to be a ****. Or lesan what you have to say. You may have typed something great but it runs together and makes it hard to read.

[Biggin]

I'm sure most on here played sports at some point; I did not play sports my HS career, I played youth sports and football until my soph year.

But you dont have to be a great former player or a coach to know the sport.

Read some of my posts on football and such; ask people on here, i understand the sports and know the nuances associated with the game.

If a player is out, on the collegiate or national level for a game I am watching, hell yes I know it.

Look, on a fundamental level, there are certain adages that hold true; that it takes elite talent, or the ability to execute your offense with incredible efficiency, moving the ball on a consistent basis.
If you have no ability whatsoever to even TRY to change up an offense, it makes it harder to win. In football at the HS level, games go two ways for the most part;
the team with the most talent wins
or
the team who executes better win.

i.e. a team who is more talented, a better overall team, can afford to have a few turnovers and more penalties and still win.

or the team who doesnt turn the ball over, the team who never commits penalties, the team who is able to control the game, move the ball effeciently, score more often, not alllowing big plays, etc.. wins.

Does JJK have a decided talent advantage over the upper level Region D teams?
Answer that question honestly, then look at this if the answer is no.

Will they be able to beat the upper level teams by not being able to score more often, control the game more, move the ball better, etc..?
No
And it makes it easier for a defense to stop a team that can only move the ball by one method. A defense can stack the box, cheat inside, bring in extra linemen, etc.. Its pure strategy.
If a team at least has the allusion of being able to throw the ball, they make it easier on themselves to score points, because it makes them harder to defend.

Now what about that does not make sense?


people can talk a lot **** to me about a tons of things hah, but understanding sports is not one of them.

[Unchained]

According to some on here,you have to have played to know the sport. By far the most ignorant argument we'll ever see on here.

[joedirt]

Of course you don't have to have played to be able to understand concepts about a sport or even be able to coach it. Look at Texas Techs coach, Leache. He didn't play football. Jason Mullins, one of JJK's assistants, didn't play high school ball. He played soccer or futbol.
But if you didn't play, you can't say you know what it is like to be on the field, or make comments about being in the game or playing with pain or anything like that because you DON'T know what its like or anything about that part of it. Just my 99 IQ opinion.

[3ydsandacloudofdust]

Let me sum this up real quick......

NO, you don't. Anyone can be a student of any profession. Coaching is totally different from playing. I do admit that playing the game helps, but anyone who is deeply involved, loves the game, and commits themself to the sport and truely learns the ins and outs can make it.

I've been around great coaches and very knowledgeable fans who know the sport, whatever it may be who are as knowledgeable as anyone.

[sup-rbeast]

While I don't think you have to have played or coached to understand or analyze a sport...I DO think without playing or coaching it's much harder to understand the psychological aspects of a given sport. Without that experience, you really don't know what it takes to dig deep down in those pressure situations on the field..or what that's like, or just how fast a player has to read keys (and fully understand how keys work), really understand the life lessons that come along with a team sport, etc. There's much more to it than analyzing a team, knowing how an offense or defense works, or the game you see on the field...and the only way to see the full picture is to have been in that situation before IMO. As far as posting on a message board or talking football, I don't think there's a prerequsite for that tho.