I agree that "Coaches should sit down" is a ridiculously simplistic way of looking at successful coaching, but while that particular aspect of it is up for debate--as if sitting down is the only way for a coach to convey a positive message to his players--there's more to the message than that. If someone told me that there was only one "right" style of coaching, "deluded" would be the most polite term I would use for them. Coaches are very much like players--they need to learn to play to their personal strengths to develop their best personal style, and anytime you try to make every coach a cookie-cutter image, it's no different from micromanaging and trying to make cookie-cutter players--which is exactly what this article is discouraging.
If you look past the title, the message is not so much about style as it is about substance--about teaching the basics and demanding focus and hard work, but also providing positive feeback and encouraging CREATIVITY--empowering players to make decisions on the field and develop their own style and use their own personal strengths in conjunction with their teams. Creativity is at the heart of all the best players--no coach could have taught them to do what they do HIS way because they do it THEIR way better than anyone else. A mark of good coaching is to give the players the tools they need to surpass their coach. To do that, a coach needs to build players' confidence in their own decisions--it's not American football, and you can't stop and draw up a play every few seconds; the players have to be able to make those decisions on the field, on their own, without hesitation and without waiting for instructions or always pausing to think, "is this what Coach would do?"
Empowerment and positive energy get young people into the game and KEEP young people in the game, and teaching the right skills and building the right foundations gives them the chance to excel in it. Whether a coach is sitting or standing, silent or loud, it's the substance of the message he/she is sending that makes the difference...teaching the right things AND saying them in the right way to connect coaches with players.
