First lesson

Sports Coaching
Skills of the coach
• Organise
• Observe
• Analyse
• Adapt
• Communicate
• Improve performance
Coaching Philosophy
Develop a set of personal guidelines on how you will
operate as a coach, including:
• How you will communicate
• Level of participant responsibility
• Dealing with behavioral issues
• Coaching for all, irrespective of ability or
background
• Dealing with winning, losing and cheating
Qualities of a good coaching
• Be enthusiastic and show enjoyment of coaching
• Be self confident, consistent, friendly, and fair
• Have a sense of humor and make things fun!
• Dress appropriately
• Be a good role model for the participants
• Maintain discipline throughout the session
• Be well organized
• Include all participants, regardless of ability, disability, age,
gender, and ethnic background.
Qualities of a coach
• Coaches should maintain high moral and ethical
values.
• Coaches must be completely honest with all
those with whom their deals.
• Coaches must maintain a true and lasting concern
for all the athletes with whom their deals.
Qualities of a coach
• Coaches must earn the respect of their athletes,
the school staff and the community.
• Coaches must be able to motivate their athletes
as well as other school and community.
• Coaches must be dedicated to their athletes, to
the school, and to the community.
Qualities of a coach
• Coaches must be a strong disciplinarian.
• Coaches must have obvious enthusiasm.
• Coaches should possess a strong desire to win.
• Coaches needs to be a good evaluator of talent.
Qualities of a coach
• Coaches must be knowledgeable about their
sports.
• Coaches should have a good sense of humor.
• Coaches must be willing to work long hours.
• Coaches must have a working knowledge of their
sport.
Coaching styles
• Authoritarian or autocratic
• very strict, punish frequently
• Business-like
• • not people-oriented
• Democratic or cooperative
• get along well with athletes, can be taken advantage of
• Intense
• focused on quality, uptight attitude
• Easy-going and Casual
Other coaching styles
• Command - dictating how and what will be done!!!
• Reciprocal – athletes taking responsibility for their
development, with coach monitoring.
• Problem Solving – athletes solve problems as set by
coach.
• Guided Discovery – coaches sets options for the
athletes to explore and decide upon.
Coaching children and adolescence
• Children and adolescences play sport to:
• Have fun
• Make friends
• Learn new skills and increase confidence
• Be challenged
• Be actively involved and successful
Coaching children and adolescence
Why do children drop out of sport?
• Not receiving sample game time
• Coach or parents having an over-emphasis on winning
• Being yelled at by coaches and parents
• Being injured
• Lacking success
• Not playing with friends
• Game is no longer fun
• Other interests
Leadership in coaching
• Leaders provide direction; they set goals by having a
vision of the future.
• Leaders build a psychological and social environment
that is conducive to achieving the team’s goal.
• Leaders instill values, in part by sharing their
philosophy of life.
Leadership in coaching
• Leaders motivate members of their group to
pursue the goals of the group.
• Leaders confront members of the organization
when problems arise, and they resolve conflicts.
• Leaders communicate.
Fiving feedback
• Feedback should be:
• positive, constructive and corrective
• clear and concise
• delivered as soon as possible after the action for
which it is being provided
• Use the ‘feedback sandwich’ approach:
Active listening
• Stop – Pay attention and don’t interrupt
• Look– Make eye contact and get onto the same
level as the person
• Listen – Focus on what the person is saying
• Respond– Restate what has been said and use
open questions to prompt for further
information
Communication Barrier
• Different perceptions of words and actions
• Only hearing what you want to hear
• Using jargon
• Not responding to questions
• Judging too quickly
• Looking for personal agendas
• Allowing emotions to blur the message
• Assuming ‘I’m right’ and not being open to other views
• Asking antagonizing questions
Coaching Communication
• Coaching is a two-way process (coach-athlete, athlete-coach)
• Clear and consistent messages avoid miscommunication
• Open questions will glean more information (eg. What do
you think about the team’s new attack move?)
• Good feedback (positive and corrective)
• Active listening shows interest and gains additional
information from your athlete
• Non-verbal communication eg. Voice expression, is as
important as verbal communication
Non-Verbal Communication
S - Squarely face the athlete
O - Open posture
L - Lean slightly forward
V - Verbal comments are relevant
E - Eye contact
R - Relax Effective ways to use non-verbal
communication in a positive manner
Difficult People
• Try to stay calm and distance yourself personally from
the issue
• Keep your voice quiet and calm, this may encourage
the other person to do the same
• Don’t argue back or trade insults (no matter how
unreasonable they seem)
• try to see past the emotions to define the actual
problem and work at addressing this
• Use active listening skills to address the problem.
Learning styles
- People have a sensory preference to obtain and
remember knowledge.
The senses include:
• Visual sense
• Auditory sense
• Kinesthetic sense
• Tactile sense
• Olfactory sense.
Developing sports skills
• Select basic techniques, skills and tactics for beginner
participants to learn
• Break techniques and skills into parts, and providing
key coaching/safety points
• Allow adequate time for practice and observing
participants’ performance
• Progress the activity in a sequential manner
• Ensure that the session is fun and provides variety.
Game sense
• Game sense is a coaching method that uses
game-like activities as the focus of the session
• Participants respond to challenges through
activity, solve problems and contribute to what is
done in a session
• Traditional coaching sessions have focused on
practicing techniques. The game sense session
focuses on the game and on learning “why”
before “how”.
The Coach’s role in Game Sense
• The coach facilitates rather than directs
• ‘the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage’
• Using questions and challenges encourages participants to solve
problems
• Questions/challenges will generally relate to a particular tactical
aspect as follows:
• Time: When will you (run, pass, shoot etc)? Why?
• Space: Where will you move to? Where will you aim?
• Risk: Which option will you take to pass to? Will you run or
stay? Will you attack or defend? Why?
 How to modify activities?
• Coaching style - eg; demonstrations or use of questions, role
models and verbal instructions
• How to score/win
• Area - eg; size, shape or surface of the playing environment
• Number of participants
• Game rules- eg; number of bounces or passes
• Equipment – eg; softer or larger balls, or lighter, smaller
bats/rackets
• Inclusion – eg; everyone has to touch the ball before the team can
score
Group Management
• Engage the participant through:
• Voice and Expression
• Eye Contact
• Signal for Attention
• Asking Questions
• Praise and Compliments
• Quality Instructions
• Notice Board
Formations and Routine

•  Safety is the main consideration for group

formations
• Use markers
• Establish routines for warm ups and cool downs,
as well as ‘set up’ and ‘put away’
Grouping
• Place individuals in groups of similar ability
• Assign responsible individuals to help the younger or
less able players during training
• Participants can work at different levels within the
same program. Give all participants :
• Equal opportunity to participate in practice and games
• Feedback, rewards, and leadership opportunities
• A consistent coach attitude.
Self management
• Discuss the effects of poor individual behavior
• Show the connection between behavior and consequences
• Acknowledge players who go out of their way to assist
others
• Rotate or share responsibility for captaining
• Encourage participants to contribute to organisation and
planning
Managing Behavior
• Help participants establish team rules with consequences for
breaking the rules
• Focus on the behavior, not the individual. Do not publicly insult
or embarrass someone
• Avoid punishing a group for an individual’s poor behavior
• Be firm, fair and consistent
• Avoid using punishments such as running laps
• Use rewards, praise and acknowledgement to reinforce desired
behaviors
• Ensure programs are fun, with variety and high rates of activity.
Smarter Goal
SMART or SMARTER
S- goals must be Specific
M- training targets should be Measurable
A- goals should be Accepted
R- goals must be Realistic
T- training targets should be Time based
E- goals should be challenging and Exciting
R- goals should be Recorded