Trainers in CS GO are becoming more and more popular every day. You see them everywhere: behind players during big LANs, on the points table in your practice matches, in interviews. But what exactly does the CS: GO team train? What do they do if they don’t have a direct impact on the game? Should he be treated as an equal on his team? The answer is yes.
Coaching is something that people are used to seeing in traditional sports, but still don’t understand their need for esports. Coaches can be the determining factor in winning or losing. Sometimes they are even criticized by other less informed players for sitting on the shoulders of their teammates leading them to top spots in championships while the coaches are not working as hard as they are.
Coaches do many things to help their team’s progress and results. Let’s talk about some of them and how they can be useful for you and your team.
Coaches help the team prepare for their opponents
It doesn’t matter if someone is coaching a professional team or an amateur team. One of the main tasks of a coach is to analyze the opposing team before the match, mainly with the help of demos. This can be challenging as analyzing a game is different from watching a game. The coach makes notes of the different setups that the opposing team uses, the timing of their constrictions, the positions they occupy in preparation for the push, and, most importantly, prepares strategies to not only counter all the previous points, but also to make sure that it worked with the players available on his team. Everyone has their own playstyle, and sometimes the most logical way to counter an attack isn’t always what works best for each player.
After all this information has been extracted and analyzed from several different demos, it should be shared with all the players on the team. The coach listens to the feedback from the players and adapts the plan so that everyone has confidence in the effectiveness that he will have in the game.
Coaches work closely with in-game leaders
Due to Valve’s rules, coaches are not allowed to speak while playing. While this cannot be controlled in amateur leagues (and honestly, I personally don’t think there is any reason for controlling it at this level), players should probably try to stick to the official rules in case things go wrong. go really well and they’ll get to big tournaments where these rules apply.
Because of this, coaches cannot give commands during the game as they could before, which means that the role of in-game leader is one of the most important. Because of this, they work closely with them to make sure their ideas are in sync and to understand their opponent’s playstyle after intensively watching and studying their previous matches.
Coaches can have a great psychological impact
Another part of a coach’s job is to make sure that the team’s morale is as high as possible without compromising their performance. The more confident the player is, the higher the likelihood of a good game from him. Poor play leads to tilt, which leads to more mistakes, worsens the team’s results, and possibly even costs the team a match.
Even when losing by a wide margin, the coach can ask for a break so he can talk to his players, make sure they remember that the game is still going on and there is always hope for a combo. He knows his players and knows what to say to boost their spirits and self-confidence, making them strive to take on the remaining rounds of the game with renewed will to win.
It is just as important for a coach to be present at losses as it is at victories. Losses can be truly demoralizing, sometimes enough to degrade a team’s chemistry. It is important that the team remains united and ready to work on their weaknesses.
But what does this information have to do with you
Being a coach is not for everyone. At first it may seem interesting and attractive to many, but soon it becomes dull and boring work. You may even feel tired, because you are not really acting, not competing, but just working behind the scenes. It’s simple: if you don’t feel it works for you, just don’t try it. Doing what you don’t want to do can negatively impact the team’s performance and should always be avoided.
On the other hand, you can play for a team that can win with the help and work of a coach. First, you need to find someone who has the same short-term and long-term goals as everyone on your team. You should always be in sync together.
Be patient! The coach needs time to learn how different team members play, how they move around the map, what needs to be fixed, etc. Only this part will take a lot of work and time in the beginning. After that, he will need to check what the players are doing wrong or not as well as it could be, share ideas with them and together create something that both parties agree on.
During the game, if your team adheres to Valve’s coaching rules, they should look out for more appropriate times to time out whether you win or lose. He will explore how the “snowball effect” works for each player on the team (whether in your favor or not) and how time-out can affect the course of the game.
In general, having a coach won’t work for any team. The coach is another person you should count on when you train and play in official matches, another person you will need to adjust the schedule to (most likely, each of you does not have the same free time every day). It will be even more difficult for amateur teams, since due to lack of time it is not worth having a coach at all, because it would probably be better to spend some of the available time practicing on the server, rather than receiving lectures on Counter-Strike theory.
Go ahead, experiment with different things and see what works best for you and your team. Perhaps you may even find something that you never thought of doing before, maybe something that you really enjoy and will be good at, even with a small investment of time.
