CoachUp Spotlight Series: Ged Doughton on CoachUp Premium
Ged Doughton is a basketball coach in Charlotte, North Carolina and a recent subscriber to CoachUp’s new Premium Membership — so, of course, we wanted the opportunity to chat with our up-and-coming superstar. Before he was a coach, he was the last player to wear no. 23 at the University of North Carolina before Michael Jordan. I recently spoke with Ged about playing for Dean Smith — one of the greatest coaches in NCAA history — at UNC, how he got into coaching, and how Premium helps him manage his day-to-day coaching business.
CoachUp: Hello, Ged, tell me about your experience as a coach!
Ged Doughton: I played college basketball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1976 to 1979 for Coach Dean Smith. I learned a lot about the fundamentals of basketball from Coach Smith. I was not the most gifted player so I had to consistently work on my technique and make sure that I was doing things efficiently on the court at all times. After working hard as an underclassman, I did get the opportunity to play a lot during my senior year and it was a really great experience.
I never coached full-time as my profession — I have been in the business world for the last 40 years — but always coached along the way. I love working with younger athletes and have coached everywhere from church league teams to elite level, high-powered AAU teams. With the emergence and popularity of individualized training, I now regularly work with individuals and small groups of players who want to work to improve their skillset.
CU: Two part question, Ged — how does CoachUp compliment how your identity as a coach and what do you find to be the biggest benefits of being a member of the CoachUp platform?
GD: CoachUp simplifies everything for me. I need CoachUp to help me run a business and for $20 a month and just 3% of all bookings, I have a partner to help me run this business who is there for me 24/7 — and I’m excited about that. I invite the clients who I already have relationships with to pay on CoachUp so that I can have all of my business in one place, and then the marketing component of CoachUp helps to drive new athletes my way.
CU: You mentioned CoachUp Premium, which is something we are very excited about in regards to being a tool to help coaches run their businesses. One of the tools that wasn’t previously available is the Group Event too — how have you taken advantage of this new feature?
GD: The Group Events that I’ve run so far have worked out very well, especially considering how quickly I put everything together. I’ve run preseason tune-ups for my athletes to help them get ready for their tryouts and the feedback that I’ve gotten is that they like the small group environment. I really think that the Group Events tool is one that I am going to use more and more often as I go forward.
CU: In your experience as a coach, what are the benefits of small group training versus individual training?
GD: The individual training is great because you don’t have to share your athlete’s time, that way you can focus on their improvement and build a relationship very quickly. On the other hand, in a small group, there is a real advantage in creating a competitive environment for the athletes. In my experience, if one kid is going harder than the others, then the others pick up their energy to match that athlete. If they are just by themselves, and it’s just me encouraging them to go a little bit harder, then that’s a bit different.
I like to get kids with similar talent and ability levels together in small groups so that they compete and push each other, while still being able to focus on the drill work that we’re doing.
Coach Smith was a huge believer in team basketball and it was amazing to see him take so much individual talent and help them mesh together into great teams. But, at the same time, he would tell us that if we wanted the team to get better, then we had to improve individually as well. So that’s why I believe you need individual skill-building to develop your ability as a player, but then you must also know how to thrive in a group environment when it’s time to execute as part of a team.
CU: Thanks, Coach. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today and I’m excited to see your business continue to grow.
GD: Thanks, Rob.
