When it comes down to it, coaches are teachers. How they teach it is what makes each coach unique. Some coaches yell. Some coaches mentor. Good ones can communicate their instructions effectively. Illinois head women's gymnastics Nadalie Walsh wanted to pass along her lessons as a coach, and thus began her journey to self-publish a book on Amazon, Enough.

Walsh has been coaching and teaching for more than 20 years. She has taken her Illini teams to NCAA Regionals in four seasons during her five-year tenure with Illinois (the one absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Over her coaching tenure, she has used hundreds of anecdotes, stories, and other methods to help her student-athletes be the best they can be as women and as athletes. At the prodding of her husband, she decided to take all her lessons and collect them in, Enough. The book is her positive approach to coaching and teaching. Her goal with Enough is to help readers shift their focus, build confidence, and generate success on and off the mat, track, court, field, or pitch.

Bite on the Hook

Walsh started coaching right away after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

"I was fortunate to get a really young start as a head coach," said Walsh. "I haven't ever really learned from anybody else. I've always just had my own programs and made a lot of analogies with my team. I felt those stories could reach them better than telling them what to do. Give them an analogy to relate it to whatever we were essentially trying to accomplish that day, whether it was an actual sports, team, person, or relational thing. They always seemed to just bite on that hook. They would always remember the analogies better than anything else that day."

She recalls coming home after practice and telling her husband, Victor, about how she would connect with her student-athletes through a story or analogy. He would always push her to write these ideas down.

"He just kept saying, write it down, and I said, yeah, but nobody is really going to want to read that," said Walsh remembering her dismissiveness.

She had insecurities about writing a book. She was worried no one would care about her unique approach

"I got to a point where I realized I was raising powerful, young women in this gym to go after anything they want to do," Walsh said. "If I'm going to preach that, then I need to be the first one to do it!"

Making it a Priority

To write the book, Walsh made a schedule to write in the morning. She would go through her old notes and, over time, develop several rough chapters. She set an arduous personal deadline and missed it, but only by a couple of months. It was one of the most challenging endeavors she had ever experienced.

"I had to work through sticking to a priority, especially with everything else on my plate," said Walsh. "I was able to go back and think through and really put into words some of the things that I think are the most important points right now, but it was also really challenging. I had to face my fear that I could even get it done and if it was worth it."

Walsh said the writing process turned into a family project. Everyone chipped in, helping with the writing, editing, and early drafts of the cover.

A Healing Approach

Her philosophy and approach have just always been about the athlete first.

Walsh said she saw an opportunity, "I don't understand why people didn't realize that. I thought that was normal. I've found out it's a little less normal. For me, I get to work with 20 athletes, which is amazing. With the book, if I hope to reach 200 or 2000. If I could reach the coaches and their athletes, maybe in some way, someone's life could be better."

Encouraging and lifting a team often falls to the coach. Walsh has always used her stories and anecdotes to help. In the sport of gymnastics, numerous athletes have been hurt in their lives, with many not even realizing it. She found her approach was healing.

"I saw a common pattern of specific hurts with my athletes over the years," said Walsh. "I felt like if I address those issues with an analogy, then maybe they can learn a new way without being told they are doing something wrong. Because nobody wants to be told they are doing something wrong."

Adjusting the Heart

Walsh does not preach a top-down approach. She isn't yelling at her student-athletes. It's more of a partnership to accomplish things together that could not be achieved individually. It's why the subtitle of her book is "A coach's guide to creating the culture every athlete deserves."

"Every athlete deserves to be invested in, but many coaches haven't yet realized the significance of connecting to every one of them," Walsh said. "It's what creates the culture. You can't just say, 'we're going to have a good culture' and not know how to get there. With the book, I'm just trying to convey that you get there by adjusting the heart of every athlete and every single staff member.