Assist Protocol (Fundamentals)

How to learn by helping before you lead.

After completing four shadow sessions, you’ll spend six sessions assisting an experienced lead coach. Assisting means you’re actively helping in the room, but the lead coach is still running the class. You’re a resource, not the decision-maker.

For the kids program assist protocol, see Assist Protocol (Kids).

What Assists Do

Walk the room during games. Give individual feedback to students. Start with positive feedback (“good pace,” “nice movement”) and work up to tactical nudges as you get more comfortable.
Help with new students. If a new person shows up, run through the New Student Protocol with them while the lead coach starts class.
Pair up with students who need it. If someone is struggling, play a round with them and adjust your resistance to give them productive reps.
Run game segments when asked. The lead coach may hand you a specific game to run. They’ll tell you the game, the win conditions, and what to focus on. Your job is to communicate the rules clearly and coach the room for that segment.
Manage logistics. Timer, music, helping late arrivals get oriented.

What Assists Don’t Do

Don’t override the lead coach. If the lead coach says something you disagree with, talk about it after class. Never contradict them in front of students.
Don’t give lengthy technique instruction. Quick cues and nudges are fine. Pulling a student aside for a multi-minute breakdown is not your role during an assist.
Don’t change the game. If you think the rules need adjusting, mention it to the lead coach during a break. Let them make the call.
Don’t coach from the sideline while playing. If you’re in a round with a student, focus on being a good training partner. Don’t narrate what you’re doing or turn it into a private lesson unless the lead coach asked you to.

Before and After Each Session

Before class:

Read the week’s curriculum topic
Know which games are in the library for that topic
Review the New Student Protocol so you can handle walk-ins
Check in with the lead coach: ask if there’s anything specific they want you to handle

After class:

Debrief with the lead coach (even two minutes is enough)
Ask: What went well? What would you change? Was there anything you noticed that I missed?
Write your own reflection: What feedback did I give? How did students respond? What would I do differently?

Sessions 1-2: Walking the Room

Focus on giving individual feedback. Get comfortable approaching students mid-round with a quick cue. Your main job is being present and helpful without disrupting the flow.

For the lead coach

The trainee’s focus is walking the room and giving individual feedback. This is harder than it sounds. Many new coaches freeze up or hover near the wall.

Give them a specific task. “During this game, I want you to walk the room and give every person one piece of positive feedback.” A concrete, manageable goal gets them moving. This is Lemov’s Zorro Circle: small, defined goals build a sense of efficacy.
Debrief their feedback. After class, ask what feedback they gave. Were their cues external or internal? Did students respond? This builds the habit of reflecting on coaching language.
Model your own individual feedback. Walk the room alongside them for a round. Let them see how you approach a pair, give a quick cue, and move on without disrupting the game.

Session 1: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: giving individual feedback.

How many students did you give feedback to during class? Was it positive, tactical, or both?

Write down three pieces of feedback you gave. For each one, identify whether it was internal, external, or a metaphor. Were you happy with the language you used?

How did it feel to approach a pair mid-round? What was awkward about it? What felt natural?

Session 2: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: reading the room.

While walking the room, what patterns did you notice? Were students breaking any games? Were there strategies that weren’t working but students kept trying?

Lemov writes that effective coaches use stoppages to guide perception, not just correct errors. Did you find yourself wanting to tell students what to do, or were you able to ask them what they saw?

Did a new student show up? If so, how did the New Student Protocol go? If not, could you have run it from memory?

Sessions 3-4: Running Handed-Off Segments

Start running game segments when the lead coach hands them to you. Practice communicating the five elements clearly: starting position, objectives, constraints, win conditions, switching. Give at least one group teaching point between rounds.

For the lead coach

The trainee starts running game segments you hand them. This is where they practice communicating rules and coaching a group.

Set them up clearly. Tell them the game, the win conditions, and one concept to focus on. Don’t dump five things on them (focused feedback applies to coaching the coach too).
Let them struggle. If their rules explanation is clumsy or they forget a win condition, resist the urge to jump in and fix it. Let them feel the confusion from students, then talk about it after. They’ll remember that more than any correction you could give in the moment.
Give them feedback on one thing per session. Maybe it’s their rules communication. Maybe it’s their voice projection. Maybe it’s how long they talked between rounds. Pick the most important one and let the rest go.

Session 3: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: communicating game rules.

Did you run a game segment today? If so, write out the five elements you communicated: starting position, objectives, constraints, win conditions, switching. Did you miss any? Were the win conditions concrete and measurable?

How long did your rules explanation take? Lemov’s principle of managing extrinsic load applies here: the more familiar the game format, the less you have to explain, and the more students can focus on the actual skill. Did the format feel familiar to students, or were they confused by the setup?

What did you say between rounds? Was it one focused point, or did you cover multiple things?

Session 4: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: coaching between rounds.

How many teaching points did you make per stoppage during your segment? Were you able to stay focused on one idea, or did you drift into multiple?

Lemov describes four possible responses after a round of focused feedback: (1) sustain focus on the same point for more mastery, (2) link it to a related skill, (3) fix a common technical error, (4) increase awareness of inconsistent execution. Which of these did you use? Which would have been better?

Did you give any live feedback during rounds? Was it quick and external, or did it pull students out of the game?

Sessions 5-6: Owning Full Segments

Run multiple segments per class. Start making real coaching decisions during your segments: What will you say between rounds? Do you need to change a rule? Walk the room during your segments and give live feedback. By session 6, you should be running a full segment (evergreen or retrieval) start to finish with minimal input from the lead coach.

For the lead coach

The trainee runs multiple segments and starts making real coaching decisions.

Give them a full segment to own. “You’re running the evergreen today. Pick the game, communicate the rules, coach the room, decide what to say between rounds.” Let them plan it and execute it.
Observe without intervening. Unless something is genuinely unsafe or going badly wrong, let them run it. Take notes on what you’d do differently and share them after.
Debrief with depth. By session 5-6, the trainee has enough experience that the debrief can go deeper. Ask them: What was your targeted goal for that segment? Did students meet it? What would you change about the game design? What did you see that surprised you?

Session 5: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: owning a segment.

You ran a full segment today. What was your targeted goal? Was it specific and observable, or was it vague?

Describe a moment where you had to make a real-time coaching decision. Did you change a rule, add a concept, keep the same game running, or something else? What were you seeing that drove the decision?

Lemov’s progression from blocked to serial to random practice: did your segment move students through any version of this progression? Did they start with something isolated and build toward something more game-like?

Session 6: Quiz & Reflection

Focus area: putting it all together.

Rate yourself 1-5 on each of these. Be honest.

Communicating game rules clearly

Giving focused feedback (one point per stoppage)

Using external language over internal language

Walking the room and giving individual feedback

Reading the room and adapting

Managing time within your segment

What’s your biggest strength as a coach right now? What’s the one thing you most need to work on?

Across all six sessions: what’s the most important thing you learned about coaching that you didn’t know before you started assisting?

Do you feel ready to co-lead? If not, what do you need more reps on?

When You’re Done

After six assist sessions, you move to co-leading: splitting the class with another coach. One of you runs the evergreen and retrieval segments; the other runs the main topic. You plan together before class and debrief after.

Co-lead for six sessions, then solo with supervision for four. The full progression:

Phase	Sessions	What you’re doing
Shadow	4	Observing only
Assist	6	Helping the lead coach, running handed-off segments
Co-lead	6	Running full segments independently, splitting the class
Solo with supervision	4	Running the entire class, experienced coach observes

That’s 20 sessions total. Any phase can be extended if you or the lead coach don’t feel ready to move on. The minimums are firm: don’t shortcut a phase to get on the floor faster.