Shadow Protocol (Fundamentals)

How to learn by watching before you coach.

Before you run a fundamentals class, you’ll spend four sessions shadowing experienced coaches. Shadowing means attending class purely as an observer. You’re not coaching, not giving feedback to students, and not jumping in to play. You’re watching how the lead coach runs the room.

Each session has a specific focus area so you’re not trying to absorb everything at once. That’s cognitive overload (the same reason we don’t give students five concepts between games).

Shadow across different coaches if possible. Every coach runs the room differently, and seeing multiple approaches helps you develop your own style rather than copying one person. Sit where you can see both the coach and the students. You want to watch how the room responds, not just what the coach does.

Don’t take notes during class. It’s distracting to students and pulls your attention away from observing. Write your notes immediately after.

For the kids program shadow protocol, see Shadow Protocol (Kids).

Session 1: Game Design and Rules Communication

What to watch for

How does the coach choose which games to run? What’s the reasoning behind the sequence?
How are win conditions communicated? Are they concrete and measurable?
Listen for the five elements of game communication: starting position, objectives, constraints, win conditions, and how players switch sides. Can you identify all five for each game?
When and why does the coach change the rules mid-class?
How does the coach use the curriculum schedule to plan games for the week’s topic?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Walk through your game selection. Why did you pick the games you picked? What was the targeted goal for each one? The trainee may not realize how much thought goes into sequencing.
Explain a rule change you made (or didn’t make). If you changed the rules mid-class, explain what you saw. If you considered changing something but decided not to, that’s equally valuable. The decision not to intervene is a coaching skill.

Quiz & Reflection

What games did the coach run today? For each one, list the starting position, objectives, constraints, win conditions, and how players switched sides. (These are the five elements from the Coaches Guide. If you can’t list all five for a game, that’s useful information.)

Did the coach change the rules of any game during class? What do you think they were seeing that prompted the change?

Lemov talks about targeted goals: effective practice has a specific, observable goal for each round, not a vague purpose like “work on passing.” For each game today, what was the targeted goal? Was it specific enough that you could tell whether students were meeting it?

Session 2: Feedback and Coaching Language

What to watch for

How many teaching points does the coach make per stoppage? Count them.
Listen for external vs internal cues. How often does the coach reference the environment or opponent (“don’t let their head touch the mat”) vs the student’s body (“put your hand on their shoulder”)?
Listen for metaphors and concept-based cues (“stay connected like a seatbelt,” “wreck their posture”).
Does the coach ask students any questions during or between rounds? What are they trying to assess?
How long are the breaks between games? Time at least two of them.

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Ask what they noticed about your stoppages. How many points did you make per break? Were you focused on one idea or did you cover several? This opens the door to talk about Lemov’s focused feedback principle: one point per stoppage, observe whether they use it, then decide what’s next.
Point out your language choices. Were you using external cues, internal cues, or metaphors? You probably did all three without thinking about it. Naming them helps the trainee start to hear the difference.

Quiz & Reflection

How many teaching points did the coach make per stoppage? Lemov’s research shows that giving more than one or two points per break overloads working memory: “When you chase five rabbits, you catch none.” Did the coach stay focused on one idea, or did they cover multiple?

Write down three cues the coach gave during class. For each one, identify whether it was internal (“put your hand on their shoulder”), external (“don’t let their head touch the mat”), or a metaphor (“stay connected like a seatbelt”).

Did the coach ask students any questions during or between rounds? Lemov argues that “What do you see?” is often more valuable than “What should you do?” because it trains perception. Did you hear any questions like this?

How long were the breaks between games? Time at least two of them.

Session 3: Timing, Pacing, and Energy

What to watch for

How does the coach manage the clock across the four segments (warmup, evergreen, retrieval, main topic)? Track the approximate minutes for each.
How much of class time are students playing vs listening?
How does the coach transition between segments?
How does the coach set the tone at the start of class?
What happens when someone is going too hard? Watch for the “chill out” cues from the Coaches Guide in action.
Does the class follow any progression within segments (isolated skill to game-like application)?
Watch for the entropy principle: within each segment, does chaos always increase (drill → constrained game → less constrained game)? Does the coach ever reverse direction by stopping a game to demonstrate a technique? If so, what happens to the room’s energy?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Talk through your timing. Did you feel rushed in any segment? Did you cut something you planned to cover? Trainees often assume the coach executes a perfect plan. Hearing that you made tradeoffs and cut material on the fly is one of the most useful things they can learn.
Describe how you set the energy. Did you have to redirect anyone? Was the energy in the room what you wanted? If not, what would you change?
Talk about entropy. Did chaos increase throughout each segment? Did you resist the urge to stop a game and demonstrate something? If you did stop to show something, what happened to the energy afterward?

Quiz & Reflection

Map out the class timeline. How many minutes did the coach spend on each of the four segments (warmup, evergreen, retrieval, main topic)? How much of that time were students playing vs listening?

Lemov describes the progression from blocked to serial to random practice: start with an isolated skill, then connect it to other movements, then add unpredictability. Did you see this progression within any segment of today’s class?

Entropy always increases: within each segment, chaos should only go up. Did you see the coach reverse direction at any point (stopping a game to drill or demonstrate)? If so, what happened to the room’s energy?

How did the coach set the tone at the start of class? Was there a moment where someone was going too hard or the energy shifted? How did the coach handle it?

Session 4: Observation and Adaptation

What to watch for

What is the coach watching for during games? Try to follow their eyes and attention.
When do they decide to change the game vs add a concept vs keep the same game running? What triggers the decision?
How does the coach give individual feedback while walking the room? How long do they spend with each pair?
Does the coach give live feedback during rounds? If so, is it quick and focused, or does it pull students out of the game?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Describe what you were watching during games. This is invisible to most observers. Were you watching for a specific pattern? Were you scanning for safety? Were you tracking whether your last teaching point was landing? Make the invisible visible.
Explain an adaptation you made. Did you change a game, add a concept, or shift the energy? Why? What tipped you off? Lemov distinguishes between “I taught it” and “they learned it.” How were you checking whether students were actually learning, not just participating?
Ask them what they’d have done differently. This is the most important question. It forces them to think like a coach, not just an observer. There’s no wrong answer. The point is to get them making coaching decisions in their head before they have to make them in the room.

Quiz & Reflection

What was the coach watching for during games? How could you tell where their attention was?

Describe one moment where the coach adapted to something they saw. Did they change a rule, add a concept, or adjust the game? Lemov calls this the difference between “I taught it” and “they learned it.” Was the adaptation driven by what students were actually doing, or what the coach planned to cover?

Lemov writes that focused feedback lets a coach observe accurately: “few coaches can accurately observe for five things at once.” During today’s class, was the coach giving live feedback during rounds? If so, was it quick and focused, or did it pull students out of the game?

Across all four sessions: what’s one thing you saw a coach do that you want to incorporate into your own coaching? What’s one thing you’d do differently?

When You’re Done

After four shadow sessions, you move to the Assist Protocol for six sessions. If you don’t feel ready after four shadows, do more. The goal is understanding, not speed.