Essential Qualities in Coaching
What is it that makes a good coach? Is it a person who is a great technician, is it someone who was an elite athlete, or is it someone who came out of a powerhouse program? No, not necessarily...
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One or two competencies do not make an effective coach. There is a great deal involved in coaching effectively.
Coaching is much more than teaching technique, conditioning the cardiovascular system, and teaching the strategies and tactics of the game. The essential qualities are necessary to develop a total athlete and a total program.
Knowledge of the Sport
In as much as coaches are teachers, then ultimately, all coaching is nothing more than teaching. To be able to teach effectively then, the coach must be knowledgeable about the activity being taught. In every sport athletes must need to be taught the basic skills, or the fundamentals necessary to perform in an effective manor. Coaches who are methodical and orderly in teaching of skills or techniques, and who are able to apply proper positive reinforcement and punishment are miles ahead of their lesser-informed counterparts. At the same time coaches should have practices in which the knowledge aspects of the sport are stressed, such as tactics and strategies.
Student of the Sport
In addition to being an effective teacher who knows their sport, the coach should also be a good student of the sport. Learning never ends in athletics. Dan Gable said, "Once you think you know it all you should quit, 'cause you are not going to help the program, or do any good for the kids. You can never know it all."
It is what you learn after you know it all that counts. It is critically important for the coach to be a hungry student of the sport. Various opportunities are available for personal development. Attending to coaching clinics, camps, learning from the elite coaches and athletes of your sport provides for much development. Watching videos, reading books, studying periodicals can also be helpful. Attending university classes in sport psychology, nutrition and exercise physiology is a great idea and is readily accessible for any coach who wants to grow and improve.
Finally, don't be afraid to e-mail, call or write a successful coach whom you admire. Many of the top coaches will freely offer suggestions and advice to you in the area where you or your team is struggling.
Be a Motivator
The successful coach is also a motivator. Successful coaches are successful wherever they may go. Programs in the doldrums are continually given a new life by coaches who have been successful elsewhere. The ability to motivate and inspire is part of the formula for success. Getting athletes to run through the proverbial brick wall seems to come far easier from some coaches than others. The coach who can motivate is able to generate the desire to excel in their athletes.
Know Your Athletes
Being aware of individual differences in athletes is also an important ingredient in coaching excellence. Yelling, screaming, and other emotional displays turn on some athletes. Other athletes are turned off by these shows of emotions, preferring a more serene, meditative approach of coaching, correction and motivation.
Individualizing motivation becomes important here. Knowing which athlete to pat on the back and which ones to cajole and emotionally exhort to perform are vital to effective coaching. Watching for signs of under or over-arousal is also important. There is an optimum level of arousal that is conductive to good performance. The good coach has a responsibility to acquire some sense of what this optimum level is for the team and for the individual athlete as well.
Be a Communicator
The effective coach is a coach who communicates well. All coaches should become acquainted with the best ways of reaching their athletes. The effectiveness of the coach will depend on such factors as credibility with his/her athletes, perceived competence, personal and psychological attractiveness, status and power.
It is important for the coach to realize that the message they give to their athletes is 7 percent verbal, 38 percent vocal emphasis, and 55 percent facial expression. The effective coach must be aware that too much of what they transmit to their athletes is non-verbal, and they must use this information in their favor.
Be a Good Listener
The good coach is also a good listener, keeping an eye open and an ear to the ground to achieve a sense of individual and team subtleties and undercurrents. Consistent with being a good listener, the coach should be a sensitive sounding board for problems, complaints and wishes of the team. The effective coach is going to utilize the team leaders as allies in providing keys to more aptly work with other athletes on the team.
Finally, the good coach will be forceful, but democratic, allowing for considerable individual input into the everyday management of the practice plan, whether it is the team or individual. The team should certainly not run the program, but they should have considerable input because they are an invaluable source of insights and information.
Be a Disciplinarian
At times, athletes will step out of line. When misbehavior occurs, the coach must become a disciplinarian. Athletes need to adhere to a reasonable set of rules both on and off the field - penalties must be metered out for violations of the conduct code. The effective coach clearly states a code of player conduct up front and adheres to it with reasonable regularity. When violations do occur, punishment should be levied. Consistent with time honored rules learned in research, if punishment is to be successful in changing behavior, it must be mild, prompt, and consistent.
Punishment that is consistent conveys a firm message that there are rules, no one is above the law, and all violations will carry a uniform punishment. Athletes can live within a punitive policy that is applied only absolutely necessary and meets the standards of mildness, promptness, and consistency.
Lead by Example
The effective coach also leads by example. This implies that the coach who demands hard work from others is also a hard worker. It means that the coach who demands fitness is exemplar of fitness. Obviously, coaches need not be in as good a condition as their athletes, but they should serve as fitness role models for their athletes.
It also means that the coach who commands respect should also show respect. It means that the coach who expects unbridled enthusiasm should be an enthusiastic person. It means that the coach who asks his athletes to be good listeners also listen when athletes and assistant coaches are communicating.
Finally, though, please note that this list is by no means exhaustive, the coach who expects athletes to build character should be a role model and facilitator of the character building aspect of athletic participation.
Finally Thoughts
Undoubtedly other role demands are made on coaches, depending on the level at which they function. The roles and qualities described here at least create some idea of why coaching is such an important and demanding profession. In summary, a good coach will be all of the following:
Teacher
Disciplinarian
Salesperson
Public Relation Specialist
Diplomat
Organizer
Role Model
Psychologist
Leader
Judge and Jury
Father Figure
Dictator
Politician
Actor
Fund-Raiser
Director
Field General
Equipment Manger
Trainer
Community Citizen
With these challenges in mind, it is easy to see why coaches have such a great effect on the lives they touch.