The Coach

The Sports Coach

The sports coach is responsible for developing an individual to their full potential in the sport of their choice.

They are responsible for training others in a sport by analysing their performance, instructing in relevant skills and by providing encouragement.

Coaches are also responsible for the guidance of the individual in life and their chosen sport.

Useful tips for helping develop coaches in your community


I highly recommend you take a look at the Sport NZ "Growing Coaches" resources in the link below. There is alot of information to digest so I suggest you look at it in small chunks. Take the learning away and try applying it in your coaching session, reflect on it when you come back and see how useful the knowledge you gained truely was.

Coaches need to think about how to put the Fun and Skill Development back into Youth Sport.


How can you impact change?

Sporting leaders, including administrators and coaches, are encouraged to be bold and courageous to tackle the change needed to make sport inclusive, fair and safe for young people.

Remember why young people participate in sport – it’s about fun, the challenge, being part of a team or group, being with friends and self-improvement.

So where do I start?

Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”

This is so true for every sports coach that ever practiced. The habits you develop around being organised, planned, prepared, time focused and successful will be the difference between being and average coach and being the best coach you can be!

The relationships you establish with your Athletes from the very beginning will impact and direct the team in all aspects

The articles to the left "How to start coaching" by Wayne Goldsmith talks about the 18 key points on how to start coaching and "What is coaching' from the Player Development Project blog highlights the importance of relationships.



Click the buttons to the left to open the articles.

Tips and Tricks for a Good Coaching Foundation


What makes a good coach?

A good coach is positive, enthusiastic, supportive, trusting, focused, goal-oriented, knowledgeable, observant, respectful, patient and a clear communicator.

Great coaches see things as they are, not worse than they are. They have a firm grasp on reality, and are honest with themselves about where they stand. It goes well beyond directing activity, as a great coach will define the future and make it real and attainable for others. Great coaches also understand strategy.

The main purpose of the coach is to improve performance, to raise the performance level of the team or individual being coached. Put simply, the coach helps to take the individual or team from where they are now to where they need to be

The role of the coach is not just coaching. They are responsible for training athletes in a sport by analyzing their performances, instructing in relevant skills and by providing encouragement. But coaches are also responsible for the guidance of the athlete in life and their chosen sport.

There are several essential skills a good coach needs:

  • Listening. This is so important, we put it at the top of the list

  • Questioning

  • Building Rapport

  • Empathising

  • Summarising and Reflecting

  • Unlocking Limiting Beliefs

  • Staying Focused

  • Being Non-Judgemental and Open-Minded

Coaching is very much about trust, relationship and encouragement. As a coach, you must work with players to build one-on-one relationships that result in improved performance.

PLANNING EACH SESSION

Give some consideration to the following questions as you are planning a coaching session:

What do I want the athletes to learn today?

What areas do we need to improve on from last week’s game?

How can I best get the athletes to work on areas of weakness?

How will I know if they understand my instructions, descriptions etc?

How will I plan for the different player abilities?

What resources/gear do I need during the next coaching session?

SESSION COMPONENTS

The start

The start of a coaching session sets the scene. Have things ready to go including all the equipment set up. This allows athletes to feel ready to go from the start

Speak to each athlete as they arrive. This makes them feel noticed and welcomed

Have an activity already going at the start to set the tone. That way each athlete can start as they arrive without standing around waiting for others

Start with high energy activities to blow away the cobwebs

Start on time otherwise the athletes will start arriving late themselves.

The athletes

Learn about your athletes – who they are, why they are there, what their needs are relating to the sport, what motivates them. (Use some of the team culture, people activities in the Coach Gear Bag to learn more about the athletes)

Match the level of difficulty of the activity to the ability of the athletes

Realise that some of the athletes will need help to get them to the required level and some will need challenges to extend them-try to plan for this in your practices

One of the most common reasons young people give for quitting a sport is they didn’t like the coach – know this, understand it and work hard to make sure that isn’t true for your athletes.


Leading the session

Lead; step up and lead! Put your stamp on the group, set expectations and expect the athletes to follow through. Back yourself

Communicate honestly and with thoughtful respect

Set boundaries (physical and behaviour) and expect the group to stick to these. If they don’t stick to what has been asked, let them know when they have crossed a physical or behaviour boundary.

Safety

Look after your athletes –they are in your care

Plan to preserve their safety through consideration of:

Emotional safety - think about the words you use; the words you let them use with each other

Physical safety - in each session think: What could injure the athletes? How can I reduce the risk?

REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

What went well? What didn't go well? What modifications do i need to make? What differences were there from what i had planned to what actually happened?

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one's actions to engage in a process of continuous learning. According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively.

What is the Gibbs Reflective Cycle? In 1988, the American sociologist and psychologist Graham Gibbs published his Reflective Cycle model in his book 'Learning by Doing'. Gibbs Reflective Cycle encourages people to think systematically about the experiences they had during a specific situation, event or activity.


Reflection Sheet

Reflection Activity

Click on the Google Doc to the left, download to your google drive and complete the worksheet. Think about how you will plan to be reflective in your coaching.