Post-game assessments are a great way for coaches to gain insight into your athletes performance needs. These are paper and pencil self-assessments that help you get feedback shortly after the game. You should make the questions open-ended so they can't just say yes or no to your questions such as
Continue Reading
Watch for Coaches’ Negative Feedback
Not all coaches are bad coaches. But sometimes they have bad days and good days. However, if you discover that a coach's negative feedback or behavior is undermining your child's confidence, it's up to you to talk to the coach or help your child (if she's older) talk to the coach.
Under certain
Continue Reading
Does Anger Help You Perform Better?
Is anger helpful or harmful to your game? Anger in itself is not the worst of the negative emotions. It is counter-productive for more athletes I work with, but there are worse emotions such as grief, depression and fear. In most cases, anger is negative, but in rare cases a select group of athletes
Continue Reading
Enhancing Team Trust
To enhance your athletes' ability to play freely and as a unit you must instill trust among the team. Start by helping everyone identify their specific role on the team, and relate how all roles are important to the team success.
In a team meeting, ask the group to share their concerns for
Continue Reading
Research Youth Coaches
Before signing a young child up for a team, it's appropriate for parents to interview a prospective coach. It's very important to ask about his philosophy of coaching. How does he handle playing time? How does he motivate kids? Is his child on the team, and if so, what’s his philosophy about
Continue Reading
Trust in Your Practice
If you do not trust your ability when performing, you are more likely to over-analyze your technique, which could lead to performing tentatively. It is important that you trust what you learned in practice. The trusting mindset is the ability to rely on practice, play freely, and let it flow in
Continue Reading
Letting go of Mistakes
As a coach, you should help athletes who get angry or frustrated with their performance. You don't want them to shut down in the middle of a game. First, your athletes need to understand the confidence-expectation connection. Strict or high expectations can undermine and suck the life out of
Continue Reading
Coping with Frustration After Mistakes
More than 40% of sports parents and coaches say that their kids become easily frustrated or angry after making mistakes. As a sports parent you must attempt to help them better cope with disappointment and setbacks. Start by explaining to your young athletes that mistakes and setback a just a part
Continue Reading