Previously I have highlighted on helping the athlete, but in reality the athlete is not to the only one who may need help. Coaches are normal people who make mistakes, and may require some assistance from time to time. In this section will be addressing a few problems that coaches may have when they are feeling at the end of their rope.
First off, attitude is always an area that can use some adjustment and guidance from time to time. Since we spend so much time with the athletes, they tend to have the ability to read our emotions and attitudes extremely well. If you show negative attitude, then you will show your athletes that is ok to act like that. “Your main motivation must be a desire to help and guide the athlete to achieve the highest possible level he can achieve for that particular season.” 1 Remember you are a role model for your athletes, so this is a very important time to lead by example.
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Secondly, it is important to maintain a high level of patience with your athletes, especially during instruction and drill work. . Making the required level of instruction a little more detailed, meaning the coach may have to slow down a little for one of the athletes who is having a hard time learning the drill. “Youth sports coaches, in particular, require patience to handle the growth and development of the young players. This patience is displayed through your own self-control and discipline, which can rub off on the players, assistant coaches and parents and ultimately lead to improved performance by the team.” 2 Patience is a virtue and will do nothing but ease the pain of having to repeat yourself.
Lastly, being able to communicate with your athletes will tie it all together. Communicating what you need someone to do whether, verbally or physically showing them can be a taxing job, but coaches who are good at it tend to get better responses from their athletes. In a study over coaches done in the early 2000’s shows, “In all, they observed more than 70 coaches, coded more than 80,000 behaviors, and surveyed nearly 1,000 athletes. They found that athletes responded positively to coaches who provided positive feedback after a good performance effort…” 3. The study is portraying how well athletes reacted to a coach who was a good communicator compared to a bad communicator.
A coaches attitude can be his best friend or worst enemy depending on his outlook, his patience level, and communication skills, but with all three of those mastered you are showing your athletes that virtues are not just something of the past.
1. Cavall, D. (1999, January 1). On Coaching Runners. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/technique/147_Cavall.pdf
2. Hoefs, J. (2015, January 28). Characteristics & Qualities of a Sports Coach. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/438821-characteristics-qualities-of-a-sports-coach/
3. Burton, D., & Raedeke, T. (2008, January 1). Good communication skills are key to successful coaching. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/good-communication-skills-are-key-to-successful-coaching
In our field of Kinesiology, we observe all types of coaching behaviors. What I learned right off the bat was that the players imitate their coaches attitude, on the field and off the field. Coaches that highlight respect, good sportsmanship, and team building are more likely to have athletes that mirror those characteristics. A coach always needs to remember that he is being watched by his players and that anything he is seen doing or saying does have a domino effect on these athletes. Great read Brock!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog, discussing matters in our field that sometimes are overlooked. A coaches attitude can make or break a team. The players feed off of the way they see their coaches act. Many players grow up without a positive male role model and it is our job as public educators to fill this void. The Texas High School Coaches Association holds an annual Leadership Summit which features first class coaches, sport psychologist and motivational speakers who discuss how important it is for coaches to be positive role models and how much they effect the lives of the student athletes that they coach.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog, discussing matters in our field that sometimes are overlooked. A coaches attitude can make or break a team. The players feed off of the way they see their coaches act. Many players grow up without a positive male role model and it is our job as public educators to fill this void. The Texas High School Coaches Association holds an annual Leadership Summit which features first class coaches, sport psychologist and motivational speakers who discuss how important it is for coaches to be positive role models and how much they effect the lives of the student athletes that they coach.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan, great blog, a huge thing to also consider is the amount of over coaching we see. So many times I see a coach hounding players about certain aspects of the game when they never just let them play and figure it out by experience.
ReplyDelete