The Best of Both Worlds Do you ever wonder if your coach or your child’s coach was a good athlete and that’s why they coach so well? In most cases that’s not true. “It’s rare to find a great coach that was a great player. ” One of the hardest transitions in the “athletic world” is transitioning between player and coach. This transition comes with a lot of different quality changes. Coaches tend to have more qualities than being a player. One thing that makes a team successful are the players. Good players have many qualities that makes them good.
To be successful it takes team layers that are reliable, show commitment, listen to others, are active in what they do, speak up (states opinions), pitch in to help, are flexible with one another, help solve problems within the team, and most importantly, are respectful and supportive to their teammates. Showing commitment is an important quality to both the coaches and your teammates. My coaches used to tell me, “You’re a team captain. What you do at practice and in games, your teammates see it and watch you. If you are slack and joke around, they will think it’s okay to joke around and be slack.
But if you hustle and work hard, they will do the ame. ” When you take the qualities of being a good player and put them together with the qualities of other team members, the team is successful. You’re able to help your teammates get work done, deliver good performances, and get other players fully engaged in the sport. Good players lead teams. For example, usually good players are captains on the team. The captain is pretty much a miniature coach. The captain demonstrates how to be a good player. Good players come with values. They should be able to listen and consider ideas from teammates and work together to solve problems.
Good players re able to communicate well with others by speaking and expressing their thoughts respectfully. One of the hardest qualities that a player has to understand and be able to work with is flexibility. Flexibility is adapting to every changed situation. The captain needs to know what his or her teammates can handle, and if they don’t get it the first time, to not complain or stress but to help them work through it. Even though sometimes there are younger players on the team which creates feelings of being able to boss them around by telling them what to do, that’s not always the case.
It doesn’t matter ow old the teammates are, the captain should treat each one with respect and help them support one another. Don’t demand all the time towards your teammates, you’ll end up losing them. As a team player you don’t need to commit to just “winning,” you need to commit to seeing the team succeed and knowing they all pitched in to accomplish this goal. Building traits for teams includes developing the “5 C’s. ” They’re competence, confidence, character, connections, and caring. The five characteristics bring positive outcomes.
For example, the players will learn discipline of training, teamwork, how to follow eadership, learning how to take a loss, they life long skills for athletes. Being an athlete saves many people by making one work harder on their school work to gain higher grades. In some cases the athlete might gain greater self confidence, family attachments, able to keep oneself out of trouble or risky behavior. Being an athlete has great outcomes but becoming a good coach and is able to coach a team is the best one in my book. Coaching is a difficult and stressful job to have as an occupation.
People need to understand that coaching is sometimes a thankless, frustrating, “no win” kind of job. Fans, arents, students, alumni, the media, and the teams organization are quick to judge your coaching. Coaches have to know how to take criticism and give criticism. One thing a coach can’t stand is negative feedback. Negative feedback is given 5 times more than positive feedback. Coaches need patience and to be able to handle the negativity. A great coach gives good news only based on your performance or they will give you constructive feedback, NEVER mix them together. A coach keeps it realistic.
Great coaching starts off with a solid knowledge of the sport including the products or services available as well as he skills and techniques. While coaching you want a good managing staff. The staff needs to know how to help the coach change and improve their behavior as a coach. Something that coaches struggle with is holding back by not being able to go out on the court and play again. “When I first started to coach, knowing I couldn’t go and run out on the court and play v hardest difficulty trying to overcome,” my volleyball coach said. Another struggle is recognizing your players.
Coaches usually organize their players in four sets of groups: Analytical, Driver- Type, Amiable, and Expressive. Analytical players are usually structurable; they can be taught and can teach others. Driver- Type players are direct, with no-nonsense attitudes. Amiable players are usually the ones you have to watch what you say and do, and how you say and do things, because they’re the sensitive ones. Expressive players are aggravating in some cases because they banter and joke. Judging players is something a coach has to really concentrate on. Coaches have to realize that some “employees” (players) can’t adjust quickly, yet some can.
A great coach who is aware of this should be patient. A coach can tolerate mistakes with the players who are trying to change. A coach can also sense when coaching isn’t working because not every athlete can benefit from coaching. They know who can be coached, and they know when to quit. With this a coach could also be considered as flexible. Even after all that, the best and overall important trait to have is commitment. A coach also has to be organized. An organized coach knows the success of their department. The coaching staff has to be organized, as well. They have to establish a coaching schedule to help keep the coach on track.
Choose a coaching staff that is reliable, dependent, and consistent. Being able to manage both of these occupations is really tough. Transitioning from player to coach has steps/advice you can use to go by: Delegation is Difficult; Managing different personality requires flexing; It’s okay not to have all the answers; Listening requires concentration; and Consistency is essential. This transition requires that you balance between the teaching and the playing aspects. Delegation involves you realizing that even though the drill wasn’t done your way, you need to let go in order for your eam and yourself to grow for the better.
You might even ask yourself “Will it be done as good as the way I’ve done it? “. Nobody is perfect. Managing the different personalities of course requires patience. Some players might need more attention than others because they can’t quickly learn something. You will get some kids that are able to do it within the first try, and you might get some that need to shown a couple of times. “It’s okay to not have all the answers” Your players need to know that they are able to come up to you and discuss an issue, and you both try to figure a way to gain the nswer together.
Listening requires concentration. For example being a player you’re always in a fast paced environment, so when becoming a coach you need to slow down and listen. Try to focus on what your players are saying. When being a coach you should always have a set schedule; nothing should ever change. Show no favoritism towards certain players. Even some players have favorite players. What my coach used to say “We don’t play a 3-man games on the court, we play as 5. Not 3 against 5. ” It is also important for a coach to play as a team not individually as well.
