Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The best sports coaches take the best care of their athletes

Being a sports coach can be an incredibly rewarding job, even if it is just a part time you can still enjoy the experience of nurturing an individual or a team which has talent and developing them into top level professionals of their sport. Much like a school teacher teaching a child to read and write, you are able to notice a hidden talent in your athletes and being the best out in them, leading them to succeed at their sport.

But what makes a good coach? Experience is no doubt a key factor. Having played a sport for many years you will have learnt many great skills, strategies and tactics from your own coached. This has undoubtedly helped successful managers in the world of Football, Basketball and Rugby. The same can be said for any sport, a coach who understands the game and how it’s played is always going to have the edge over a coach who has learnt everything they know from a book.

Another sign of a good coach is studying the game, as well as personal experience a good coach will study other teams and other coaches for tips. Many professional sports teams will have entire teams of scouts whose job it is to spy on the upcoming opponents to deduce their strategy, it isn’t unheard of for rival football managers to go to each other’s games to get the low down on how the team play. Watching past game videos if they’re available is a great training aid to point out weaknesses and where the team can improve.

The key factor in any sporting coach is the ability to motivate and inspire your team. This is often a tough and rare skill to master, even the poorest performing team need congratulating for positives in their game but also encouragement to improve for next time. Even during a success the more critical coach will reiterate that no one’s perfect and there may have been a time when winning that the team let their guard down and allowed the opponents to score a goal or get a slight advantage.

The final and most underestimated skill a good sporting coach should have is an understanding of the team as individuals. Many players may feel disheartened or that they are lacking in some areas, this happens a lot with younger athletes. They may become so disheartened that they want to quit the sport, a good coach should notice any players that are feeling this way and deal with it appropriately. Enforcing how important they are to the team may not be the advice they are looking for, it’s important to let the player know that they should partake in the sport only if they want to, if they aren’t having fun then maybe they need a change, this may not mean quitting altogether but maybe changing position.

These tips should help you become a better coach, friend and source of inspiration for your players and team as a whole.



November 11, 2009
By Phil Adams-Wright
Phil Adams-Wright has written on sports and coaching related subjects for many years. sport coach insurance can cover some expensive situations such as lost or stolen equipment and liability, if you're a golf tutor then golf instructor insurance can set your mind at ease when teaching how to play golf.

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