Every year tens of thousands of adults consider going into youth and interscholastic coaching, and most go into it for the right reasons and with the right mindset. Still, there are others who have good intentions, yet haven’t worked out their own unmet sport dreams, or still need to work on the basics when it comes to teaching and mentoring kids. Sport psychologists have contributed a lot to the coaching literature in recent years, providing some of the most important ideas, concepts, and approaches new coaches need to consider before signing up to lead a team:
- Tolerance, patience, and understanding. Keep in mind when dealing with kids they will regularly make mistakes, not listen, resist your commands, disregard team rules, and occasionally even act out in front of the team. Does this mean they are terrible little people? No! What it does mean is that they are kids, and kids don’t always do things perfectly, making it all that much more important for coaches to exercise patience and understanding.
- Handling stress. Being a youth sports coach can be a very stressful job when you take into account all the hats coaches are expected to wear. Working with kids, dealing with parents, and being accountable to league officials can be a lot, especially for new coaches who are not prepared. If stress is something you can’t handle, there might be better ways to spend your free time instead of coaching.
- Perfectionism. Expecting kids to be perfect is only setting yourself up for frustration and stress. Adults are not perfect, so expecting kids to never goof up is hardly realistic. A better way to coach is to help your kids strive for excellence and daily improvement, goals that are actually realistic.
- Positive reinforcement. Countless sport psychology studies have shown the effectiveness of positive reinforcement, and coaches who coach this way usually see faster skill acquisition, better training habits, increased focus and discipline, and greater resiliency. If you don’t believe in positive reinforcement, you might want to refrain from coaching kids.
- Humiliation tactics. While there are countless sports movies showing coaches getting in the faces of kids, this is not an advisable coaching philosophy if you want to empower and build up the kids you coach. While it is understandable that coaches often become upset when things don’t go well, it is the responsibility of the coach (adult) to keep things in check and find more suitable ways to mentor kids.
Still interested in coaching? Good! You might find our Coaches Tool Kit a helpful resource to start your career off on the right foot!
www.drstankovich.com
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ac9PPNtKuQ[/youtube]
