Horrible Coaching in Tournaments

Time for a long post about terrible coaching at BJJ tournaments. I'm curious if other people have noticed this. Sorry for the long post, read at your leisure.

I went to American Cup in San Jose this weekend. Full results not yet in, by my small team one something like 10 or 15 golds, and our Women's team won the team trophy. Some of our brand new blue belts even won gold in their first tournaments! I couldn't compete due to a past injury and money issues, but I'll be hitting every tournament in the next few months that I can get to.

I again noticed something that has been apparent in most of my past competitions: most BJJ coaching is PROFOUNDLY TERRIBLE! There are a ton of serious tactical errors, strategic oversights, and general bad ideas that consistently pop up. The main ones I saw (described below) included: A) Giveaway comments, B) Flat-out incorrect advice, C) Not knowing the fighter's style and strength/weaknesses, D) Not giving strategic advice based on the opponent, E) Distracting comments, F) Pissing off the ref, and G) Not updating important information. What else have you all noticed? Do you agree?

Here are descriptions of what I mean.

A) Fighter is working a Kimura from closed guard, but trying to set up a hip bump sweep. It's his go-to move, and the coach knows it. Fighter locks up the Kimura, Coach screams "HIP BUMP!!! HIP BUMP!!!". Opponent hears it and defends the sweep. Are you serious? Yelling "Take the arm" and things like that is ridiculous when your fighter already knows to do so - it just tells the other guy to watch out. This is something 10th Planet really did right IMO when they renamed position to be understood only by their own guys. Don't yell armbar, yell "Swim move" or "spiderweb".

B) For example, don't give advice if you can't remember left vs. right. If you are a white belt, don't shout technical advice at your black belt teammate while he is trying a totally different attack that you have never seen. Don't scream "Watch the sweep!" as the opponent goes for a freaking triangle.

C) It's crazy when you see people giving advice based on what THEY would do. I watched coaches tell wrestlers to pull guard (only to get it passed in 3 seconds), and lanky triangles specialists to shoot double-legs (only to give up 2 on the TD). For example, I hate when I'm working mount and someone screams "Ezekiel!". I don't like ezekiels from top mount, and I get reversed a lot when I go for them. If you are my coach, you should know that.

D) This is similar to part C). When you see your fighter's opponent walk out upright, hips forward like a Judo baller, how do you scream "Take grips!"? If they are a champion wrestler, you better be saying to pull guard. If the dude just won 5 straight fights with armbars, you better make sure your fighter avoids the closed guard.

E) "There are 9 minutes left!" "He has a great triangle, be careful!" (while your fighter is sitting in mount) "Your teammate just won his weight class!" I actually hear these types of things from coaches. What?!

F) Ok, the ref missed a questionable advantage. You made your case, and he told you no. If you are not sure enough to call over the tournament director, how can you be sure enough to start insulting the ref, talking shit, and screaming? The only difference you are making is that if it goes to referee decision, your fighter is not going to get the nod from a ref who is furious. You want to win an argument, or be a good coach?

G) After all the random useless crap people scream, you rarely hear the important updates being consistently conveyed. What I need as a competitor are regular updates on time (not just 1 minute left, but every 1-2 minutes, halftime, 3 minutes left, 2 minutes left, and about 4 updates between 1 minute and zero. That's how I know when to explode, when to force points, and when to rest. I need regular point updates, even if you already told me (fighting is intense and people forget things, or wonder if someone has scored since), so that I know where I stand. And I need to know the moment points are given, either so I know to keep struggling when someone is almost passed my guard but hasn't scored yet, or so I know when to stop holding a position once I have scored.

Anyhow, that's my rant of the week.