Effective coaching is about understanding and connecting with your athletes.
In order to do this, it is important to both understand the sport, and to understand why the athletes are there and
what they need individually in order to reach their maximum potential and skill level.
Coach development is rooted in two main realms:
In order to do this, it is important to both understand the sport, and to understand why the athletes are there and
what they need individually in order to reach their maximum potential and skill level.
Coach development is rooted in two main realms:
General MentalitiesMany coaches are parents of players. This is a very good thing, but these coaches rarely have a foundation of solid coaching fundamentals.
In general, parent coaches tend to repeat the lessons they learned from their coaches when they were young...both the good aspects of coaching and the bad. There are a number of things relating to good coaching that can benefit these relatively new coaches and make their experience, and that of their players, much better. These include an understanding of motivation, discipline, sportsmanship, skill disparity and the nitty-gritty of teaching a sport to people with different levels of interest, skill and potential. |
ProfilingMore advanced coaches understand that coaching can be very complex and very in-depth.
One of the most effective tools a high-level coach can use is the technique of profiling. Profiling works on teams, individuals and the opposition. Profiling is effectively a systematic rendering of a sport, a game or a position within that sport into a very detailed list of characteristics. Then, once the general profile is created, an individual entity (team, player, etc) can be measured against that profile using Likert scaling. This can provide an extremely valuable resource for both players and coaches, because it identifies strengths and weaknesses in a very specific way. This can enhance practice planning, off-season workout strategies, long and short term athlete development and season strategic planning. |
Good coaching also relies on being able to handle skill disparity. Some players are more motivated, talented and skillful than others. On a team, managing this issue is a challenge. Not only is it hard to play the lesser players when you want to win the game, but those better players frequently do not trust the lesser players to be competent, helpful teammates. Dealing with this is one of the most difficult challenges when coaching young athletes.
When dealing with the top end of the spectrum of skill, a new set of challenges present themselves. High-achieving, elite athletes need different coaching than the middle of the road athlete needs. If they don't get it, they will get bored or start to respect you and your coaching less. There are strategies to keep these athletes interested and they WILL make a diffference.
When dealing with the top end of the spectrum of skill, a new set of challenges present themselves. High-achieving, elite athletes need different coaching than the middle of the road athlete needs. If they don't get it, they will get bored or start to respect you and your coaching less. There are strategies to keep these athletes interested and they WILL make a diffference.
