The Art of Positive Coaching, Part II

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The Art of Positive Coaching, Part II

The role of the coach is similar to that of a parent or teacher. Our common goal in these roles is to prod, motivate, and cajole youth to be all they can be.

Concept Four

Our eventual goal is to make each athlete a student of his/her sport. By modeling effective analysis of performance, and soliciting the athlete's views, we are teaching our athletes important athletic and life skills. The sign of a truly effective program is in the success of its athletes once they go on to the college level. Become a cheerleader at competition if possible, restrict your real instruction and feedback to the practice setting. Your role at competition is entirely different.

Concept Five

Here the teacher becomes a cheerleader. The athletes are as prepared as they are ever going to be when they enter the stadium. This is not a time for last minute adjustments of form and technique. Perceptual motor patterns operate at their best when they are on cruise control. Too much thinking about last minute advice will bring the automatic patterns back up to the conscious level, and everything the athlete does will slow down.

A coach should focus on activating the athlete's fight/flight sympathetic nervous system, which will provide the burst of energy our ancestors depended on for their very survival. People really can do amazing feats like lifting cars off children when they are sufficiently motivated.

There are many ways to do this. One of the most interesting is the "haka" used by New Zealand rugby squads. By adapting traditional Maori prewar rituals, the New Zealanders recreate the emergency mindset needed for top performance, and they manage to scare their opponents half to death at the same time! The function of brain and body are intertwined. By assuming the facial expressions and postures of the pre-war rituals, the athletes are telling their brains that an emergency situation exists. The brain responds by shutting down low priority systems like digestion and putting all resources into heart, lungs, and muscles. Outstanding performances are the result.

Strengthening the Coach-Athlete Bond in closing, we might remind ourselves that the coach-athlete follows the rules of all human relationships.

Concept Six

In successful relationships, positive interactions out number negative interactions by a factor of at least 5:1. When positive and negative interactions approach a 1:1 ration, the relationship is doomed. Some of us are just naturally more positive people, but all of us can do a better job if we concentrate on bringing out our more positive sides.

Concept Seven

You can strengthen the natural bond between you as the coach and your athletes by getting your veteran athletes involved in the 'coaching' process by assigning them mentoring responsibilities with the younger athletes. It is important to remember that before motivation can come from an athlete, it must first come from the coach and the senior athletes to inspire and lead.

You must provide the reason the young athlete wants to succeed. It is important to realize that motivation starts with having a dream. That dream may be a humble as earning a varsity letter, or as grand as winning the Olympic Games. In either case, it is the responsibility of the coach and the veteran athletes to inspire and provide support for the dream within each of us. Good luck!