How to be a better Newbie Mixes coach by JaguarFiend. All the advice and opinions are solely my own.
Pretty much all new Newbie Mix coaches are terrible when they start and mostly in the same ways. I'll touch on what I think are good and bad practices and with the points I'll be making below hopefully you can be less terrible right away as you find your groove as a coach.
Most issues stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the mission. If you ask anyone what the point of Newbie Mixes is the seemingly obvious answer is "for coaches to teach you stuff about playing 6v6 TF2" but that is only slightly correct. The actual mission statement reads something like "To provide a safe, low pressure, guided environment for experiencing what comp 6s TF2 is like" which is good but I would narrow it down even further and say that the point is to make sure that the newbies have fun and generally enjoy their experience here (without getting out of hand). This gives them positive early experiences with 6s and makes them want to stick around and bring their friends next time. Some of them will stick around long term to advance through the ranks and even become coaches themselves later. In many ways this is the lifeblood of our competitive community for a game from 2007 that remains so beloved my many. When you view your coaching through this lense I believe it will have a positive effect on the details of how you approach the task.
(As an aside the point of school is also mostly not to memorize all the little individual things that the classes teach you. It's to learn HOW to learn. It's to develop your mind by challenging it, much like building muscle, which prepares you for the challenges and pressures you will inevitably face in life. It is to facilitate lots of social interactions which develop crucial social skills. Also, more cynically, you could argue that it's to produce obedient worker drones for the factories of the post-industrial-revolution world.)
If your newbies have a bad experience, at least from the aspects you can control, then they'll never come back. How many countless potential gamers have been lost before they could really start because their first 6s experience was a dreadful TF2Lobby or TF2Center or some mismanaged inhouse pug? All that said, some people really do figure out that comp TF2 is not for them and that's perfectly okay.
I will be mentioning things which are bad to do in the hopes that you can mitigate them. Most people make bad teachers/coaches. People think that the better a player is at the game the better they'd be as a coach but that is rarely the case since good teaching requires a strong grasp of completely seperate skills. Just how you don't need a theoretical mathematics professor to help you learn the multiplication table you also don't need an invite player to tell you "ok guys you can't keep holding close when you have uber disad--they're just gonna keep killing you if you do". An in-depth guide of how to be a good teacher is outside of the scope of this document (it's a degree people earn at university after all) but I can tell you why most people suck. 1) Good player forget what it's like to be a beginner so they have a hard time seeing the challenges from a newbie's perspective. They take what they know for granted and will often speak quickly and in overly complex ways with insider lingo that they don't realize everyone doesn't get. You're teaching a player how to roll out but you may notice that they don't even know how airstrafing works. You're telling someone to "sac" but they have no clue what that means or that it stands for "sacrifice". 2) Related to that is being able to parse what the newbie is actually asking and knowing how to effectively and efficiently communicate to them the useful information which they need. I do touch on this in other parts of this text.
Mixes tend to last about 1.5 hours and how we manage this time is important. It's more important to PLAY MORE MIXES than to drag each one out as long as possible and bore people with talking. It's pretty standard for the first 30 or so minutes of the mix to be the coach reviewing things and teaching newbies but I implore you to figure out how to streamline this process as much as possible. If you drone on endlessly like a dull professor before a silent class you will bore people and I promise you that they will not remember most of the things that you are telling them. Their minds will wander and they will tune out while dm'ing or rocket jumping around, or just chat with friends or scroll on their phones. At that point what IS the point? Try to be as efficient as possible with your words. Keep things as simple as you can and phrase concepts in the clearest and most simple ways ("explain it to me like I'm 5"). Develop a sense for when you're droning on for too long and people are starting to mentally tune out.
This mix of newbies that you have for 1-2 hours is not your designated team of mentees that you are coaching all season long. It's a random mix of people who you have for just a short while. Some are strong, some are weak. Some are sharp, fast learners and some are not. Coaches will often overexplain advanced concepts in complex terms when a 5 word answer would have been sufficient. It comes off like a mental/verbal masturbation which makes you sound and feel smart but isn't what's needed from you. Occasionally a newbie will ask a brainy question which clearly indicates that they're thinking deeply and abstractly and at that point you can give them a fitting, more in-depth answer to match their energy.
The pregame talk is not a good time to do a full map review. That is long, tedious, and boring. Little useful aspects of it here and there can be good of course. Going over all the callouts of the map in a row is, I think, a bad use of time. Nobody ever memorized much from me naming off 30 things in a row. Tell people to ask if they don't know what something's called and we'll tell them then. If you have time "this is choke, this is IT and this is sewer" covers the most important callouts, in that case for Process. I do not like starting a mix with "let's introduce everyone! ok say something about yourself!"--not only is it a poor use of time but it's generally awkward and puts people on the spot.
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Different coaches use different methods and that diversity is a benefit to the newbies. But most coaches will necessarily converge on a lot of what they cover, however, since it's the same subject. I am not saying my method is the only one and that you have to copy it though I do think it's the best in achieving the goals (I'm obviously biased). Other coaches definitely do things that above I said are bad and that I do not do. Decide for yourself what you think is a good use of time and what upholds vs harms "the mission". If a certain player is not super new then I will usually be extra quick and brief on the part pertaining to their class/role just to keep things moving. Here's a brief summary of my script:
Mandatory starter points---
-anyone not know how to join the server?
-don't shoot people unless they're clearly trying to fight you
-questions? just interrupt me and ask at any time.
-(I don't go over callouts, just ask)
Basic knowledge check---
-medic know heal order? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqPCfLDxGF4&t=347)
-demo know the rollout?
-roamer know the rollout?
-pocket know the rollout? (use gunboats)
-pick scout roles, describe them briefly
This is the main part where every coach can decide what to cover. I mostly talk about how to be effective as each class on a midfight and those principles transfer to other big team fights---
-demo shoot at high ground
-medic prioritize healing scouts, don't beam soldiers much
-scouts avoid early dmg/death but don't just hide super far back the whole time
-soldiers-at some points you will likely be aggressive. do not be afraid to die if it means your play will win the whole fight for your team. and CALL IT when you're going in hard so your team can follow up. also you have priority on health packs and it's ok leave into one of the flanks for several seconds to grab hp and reload.
-if you have questions at any point just ask!
-keep offclassing to last points (attacking or defending). stick to standard non-goofy weapons.
-we will pause the game for about 5 minutes after each round ends as it's the best time to talk about what happened and learn from it. then both coaches agree to continue and we go.
-whoever wants to maincall please feel free (probably not flank players). doesn't have to be one person as you guys can work together. I try not to micromanage the teams I coach but instead ask questions which get them to talk through their situations but if they're very helpless and silent or keep making the same mistakes I will help more. Some coaches talk very little outside of pauses but I do interact live from time to time.
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Another general tip: Instead of just talking at silent people nonstop I try to engage the newbies as much as possible in a back and forth talk. This is a huge part of keeping people alert and not bored. Examples:
-Ok Dr.[medic's name], do you know the heal order that you have to do at the start of every round?
-Umm no not really
-Ok watch this short video I will link and I'll quiz you a few times later on to make sure you got it
(and then quiz them later)
-Demo guy, do you know the rollout on this map?
-I think so
-Ok can you show me? [shows you]
-Right, you have the general idea. Let me give you a few tips. Go to spec and watch me from 1st person.
[show some details]
Ok if you have a sticky jumper you should equip it and just keep practicing over and over. I'll keep an eye on you and give you and give some feedback if you need it later.
[...later]
-Ok demoman, what do you think is the most important thing you should be doing during the midfight?
-Ummm...
-What is demo better at that anyone else on the team?
-uhhh
-Just throw out some guesses
-Damage?
-Well, sort of. What parts of the map should you be shooting at?
-The chokes? On top of the crates?
-Yes! Demo is the best at shooting upwards. Soldiers and scouts generally have to go up there to contest the height but you can just walk on the floor and shoot your sticks up there. So go to mid and practice shooting at various bits of high ground from different ranges. You might have to put some charge on each sticky so it flies far enough to airburst over your target.
-Dr [Medic], what do you think is the most important thing is for you to do during a midfight?
-Ummm heal my team? Don't die?
-Well yeah, those are pretty good, but let me narrow the question down. There are 3 other classes on your team. Who do you think it's the most important for you to emphasize healing?
-Uhhh my demoman?
-Ah, good guess but not quite. That's the most common answer and it makes sense. He's important and there's only one of him. But now it's a 50/50 guess, try again.
-Mmmm... my pocket scout?
-Yeah actually. The scouts, both of them. It's not very intuitive but it makes sense. They have less hp and we need them to survive later into the fight. And you can dodge better when healing them also.
...etc etc
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After mixes end it's common for coaches to stick around for a few minutes and chat with newbies. While you can give some feedback often times I've already given it during the game or pauses. It can be reviewed but instead I try to make sure to give everyone a compliment and note something that they did well. This supports the overall goals of mixes by making people feel good. Sometimes it can be hard to give genuine compliments to someone that's so new that they did super terrible (like 2-20, 60dpm) at which point I will at least say something like "hey don't get discouraged, it is tougher than it may look. keep trying!"
"you guys can re-add for more mixes (if there's time in the night) otherwise I hope to see you next time."
One last time, try to think about what is happening at any given time during talking. Are the newbies engaged and having fun or are they bored and miserable? If it's the latter then is there anything you could reasonably do to steer things more in the direction of the former?
And yes I realize the irony of this document being long and wordy. I feel it's worth it to convey my thoughts. Do as I say not as I do, or something...
(v3)