2. Three major objectives to coaching
1. To have a winning team
2. To help young people have fun
3. To help young people develop:
physically (sport skills, conditioning)
psychologically (controlling emotions, self-
worth)
Socially (cooperation, appropriate
behavior in sport settings)
3. What is your coaching style?
Command…Submissive…Cooperative
Command (Dictator): coach makes all the
decisions, athlete’s job is to listen, absorb,
and comply
Submissive (Babysitter): roll the ball out
coach, makes few decisions, lazy with little
instruction
Cooperative: Shares the decision with
athletes (to a point)
4. Here is an useful analogy
Coaching is like a wet bar of soap, too
much pressure and it will shoot out of your
hand and fall to the ground, too little
pressure and it will fall out of your hands
onto the floor, but with just the right
pressure, it will stay in your hands and not
fall.
5. Three keys to successful coaching
1. Knowledge of the sport: knowing the
rules, tactics, and sports skills needed to
properly instruct the participants
2. Motivation: A coach has to be able to
properly motivate the athletes, and be
motivated enough to put the time in to be
prepared to coach
3. Empathy: Having the ability to listen to
the athletes, understand their feelings and
thoughts on things, and respond positively
6. Eight communication skills that are
essential
1. Pretentious Pete- Does not admit to
being wrong, demands respect, but never
gets it, the athletes tune him/her out
2. Nelly Negative- Always negative,
frequently criticizing her athletes
3. Jonas the Judge- always evaluating
his/her athletes, when athletes make
mistakes, blame is placed rather than
positive feedback
7. Eight communication skills that are
essential
4. Flabby Fickle- Wishy-washy, tells you
one thing, then does another, treats
players differently for the same thing (i.e.
fighting)
5. Gabby Glades- Constantly giving
directions during practice and games,
does not listen to any of the players
8. Eight communication skills that are
essential
6. Stewart Stoneface- Never shows
emotion, does not smile, wink, or show any
emotion, which leaves the players
wondering what he is thinking
7. Captain Gobbledygook- Constantly
talking above the heads of the players, or in
difficult contexts
8. Jermaine Jellybean- Frequently gives
rewards, but he usually rewards the wrong
behavior, or comes down very hard on
minor problems
9. Why do coaches use the negative
approach to coaching
1. Bad Habit: They are used to telling their
athletes what they do wrong, rather than
what they do right
2. Unrealistic expectations: Coaches may
forget that 14 year olds are not the same
as 28 year olds, and that even players of
the same age have different skill levels
3. Short-term success: can work initially,
but usually interferes with long term goals
and success
10. Using Rewards- what should you reward?
Reward the performance, not the outcome
Reward for the effort rather than the
success
Reward little things on the way toward a
larger goal
Reward the learning of emotional and
social skills, as well as sport skills
11. How often should you reward?
Reward frequently when youngsters are
first learning new skills
Once skills are well learned, you only
need to reinforce them occasionally
12. When should you reward?
As soon as possible after the correct
behaviors
Reward athletes only when they have
earned it
13. What type of rewards should you use?
Tangibles: trophies, ribbons, certificates,
decals, money and T shirts
People rewards: praise, smiles, pat on the
back, publicity
Activity rewards: playing a game rather
than doing drills, taking a trip to play
another team, getting to take a rest
14. Dealing with misbehavior
Extinction: ignoring the behavior.
Sometimes the attention you pay towards
the misbehavior is what the player wanted
in the first place, behaviors like clowning,
grandstanding, and other mischievous
behaviors
15. Dealing with misbehavior
Punishment: use it in a corrective way to
help athletes improve now
Punish in an impersonal way
Once the punishment has been agreed
upon by the players, give it to them if they
break the rule
Usually give one warning before
delivering a punishment
16. Dealing with misbehavior
Be consistent
If you cannot think of an appropriate
punishment at the time of the misbehavior,
tell the player you will get back to them
with the consequence
Make sure that what you perceive as a
punishment is not perceived by the athlete
as a reward
17. Dealing with misbehavior
Do not punish athletes while they are
playing
Never use physical activity to punish
Punish sparingly
18. Reasons athletes learn to fear failure
When the emphasis is on performance,
not learning
Unrealistic goals: examples
Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation:
what is the difference, and can one
become a problem?
19. Three stages of learning
1. Mental: beginning stage that required a
great deal of mental activity to put the
steps of the skill into the proper order
2. Practice: This stage emphasizes
practicing the skill over and over again.
You will spend more time in this stage, but
your mental activity will be less
3. Automatic: You free up even more
mental capacity, which you can use to
focus on achieving superior performance
20. Four steps for teaching sport skills
1. Introduce the skill: make sure the team can see
and hear you, speak clearly and in plain language,
and try to keep it under 3 minutes
2. Demonstrate and briefly explain the skill
What if you cannot demonstrate it properly?
The demonstration should be performed from
several angles, and several times.
If the skill is complex, demonstrate the major parts
separately
21. Four steps for teaching sport skills
3. Practice the skill: whole versus part
practice, what is the difference?
Part is best for complex skill acquisition,
whole is better for simpler skills
Practice should be short, but frequent when
teaching new skills
Practice should also occur in game-type
environments, why?
22. Four steps for teaching sport skills
4. Correct errors: provide feedback that the
athlete can use to try and fix the errors in
the skill being performed
23. Take this quiz on feedback
1. Save feedback until the end of practice
so that you do not disrupt practice
2. More feedback is better than less
feedback
3. When an athlete is making several
mistakes, it is best to try and correct one
at a time
4. You and your assistant coaches should
be the only ones providing feedback
24. 5. You do not need to tell the athlete what
was done incorrectly, just tell the athlete
how to do the skill right
6. Give simple and precise feedback
about how performance can be improved
7. Provide frequent positive feedback
(Nice job!)
8. Use sight and sounds in providing
feedback
25. The ten principles of training athletes
1. Readiness: Speed, strength, stamina,
etc are largely based on maturation with
regard to prepubescent, and pubescent
boys and girls. Neuromuscular skills can
be honed regardless of age
2. Individual response: Athletes will
respond to the same training in different
ways (i.e. heredity, nutrition, rest and
sleep, illness, level of fitness, etc)
26. The ten principles of training athletes
3. Adaptation: the body takes a while to
adapt to training (what does that mean for
your athletes)
4. Overload: Pushing the body harder
than it is normally pushed
5. Progression: Slowly increasing the
demands that you place on the body
27. The ten principles of training athletes
6. Specificity: Train the muscles that you
use the most related to the skills you use
during the sport
7. Variation: vary workouts from hard to
easy, use different types of drills/activities,
cross training, etc
8. Warm-up and cool down: A warm-up
does what? A cool down does what? How
are they performed?
28. The ten principles of training athletes
9. Long-term training: It typically takes
years for athletes to perform at very high
levels, do not expect great things in a
short amount of time
10. Reversibility: Fitness can disappear
quickly if not maintained, a off-season
training program can help the athletes
come into the season better prepared
29. Topics for team rules
Player’s language
Attendance at practice and games (what
will your policy be)
Behavior at practices and games
Interactions with officials
Discipline for misbehavior
Behavior when traveling
Locker room behavior
30. Topics for team rules
Dress when practicing, competing and
traveling
Protecting valuables
Drug and alcohol use
Curfews
Criteria for awards
Trouble with the law
31. Managing relationships
Assistant coaches
Use their strengths
Make their responsibilities clear
Help your assistants prepare for their duty
Let your assistants be involved in the
decision making
Provide formal and informal evaluations
32. Managing relationships
Administrators
Understand what is expected of you
Stay organized (don’t lose receipts or
important documents)
Keep your administrator informed of your
progress, and invite them to your games
Give the administrator credit for their
contribution(s) to the team
33. Managing relationships
Officials
At home, greet the officials and show
them where they can get dressed and
ready
Treat them like you want to be treated
Avoid constantly harassing officials
If you have a question about a rule
interpretation, address it at the appropriate
time, and in a nice way
34. Managing relationships
Officials
Avoid intimidation tactics
Help the officials in enforcing the rules
that keep the players safe
Thank the officials after the contest
If you feel they did a very poor job, do not
use them again, or write a letter to their
boss
35. Managing relationships
Parents
They are ultimately responsible for their
children, so if they insist their child does or
does not do something (not a request like,
put him at quarterback [even though he
does not have thumbs]) you should grant
their wish
Keep them informed of practices and
games
36. Managing relationships
Parents
Remind them of their responsibilities
regarding equipment, travel, pickup, fees,
and behavior
Inform parents immediately if a serious
problem arises
37. Risk Management
Negligence: failing to fulfill your legal
duties
Contributory negligence: Athlete and the
coach/supervisor are both partially
responsible
Comparative negligence: A new way to
assess fault, with each party given a % of
how much they were at fault
38. To avoid legal troubles, follow these steps
1. Properly plan the activity (developmentally
appropriate, what does that mean?)
2. Provide proper instruction (spear tackling)
3. Provide a safe physical environment
(examples)
4. Provide adequate and proper equipment
(examples)
5. Match your athletes (examples)
39. To avoid legal troubles, follow these steps
6. Evaluate athletes for injury
7. Supervise the activity closely
8. Warn of inherent risks (examples)
9. Provide appropriate emergency
assistance (example)
