What makes a successful coach?
Successful coaches must have good knowledge of the sport sciences, sport management, and techniques and tactics. Successful coaches rank their program objectives in the right priority. To be successful, coaches adopt a coaching style compatible with those objectives. There are three other attributes of successful coaches: knowledge of the sport, motivation, and empathy.
School Physical Education Lessons
When preparing a PE lesson, the PE teacher has to consider the following factors:
- Participants (age, gender, number, level of abilities and skills, experience, theoretical knowledge, gear)
- Goals and objectives of the lesson (and its parts)
- Composition and duration of the lesson (warm-up, main part (skills practice, match-related practice, conditioning), cool-down)
- Methods and exercises to accomplish the set goals
- Organization of the lesson including the use of demonstrators and/ or assistants
- Sport facilities and equipment incl. safety measures
READING (Authentic text)
COACHING STYLES
Most coaches lean toward one of three coaching styles: the command style, the submissive style, or the cooperative style.
COMMAND STYLE (THE DICTATOR)
In the command style of coaching, the coach makes all the decisions. The role of the athlete is to respond to the coach’s commands. The assumption underlying this approach is that because the coach has knowledge and experience, it is his or her role to tell the athlete what to do. The athlete’s role is to listen, to absorb, and to comply.
SUBMISSIVE STYLE (THE BABYSITTER)
Coaches who adopt the submissive style make as few decisions as possible. It is a throw-out-the-ball-and-have-a-good-time approach. The coach provides little instruction, provides minimal guidance in organizing activities, and resolves discipline problems only when absolutely necessary. Coaches who adopt this style either lack the competence to provide instruction and guidance, are too lazy to meet the demands of their coaching responsibilities, or are very misinformed about what coaching is. The submissive-style coach is merely a babysitter – and often a poor one at that.
COOPERATIVE STYLE (THE TEACHER)
Coaches who select the cooperative style share decision making with athletes. Although they recognize their responsibility to provide leadership and guide young people toward achieving the set objectives, cooperative-style coaches also know that youngsters cannot become responsible adults without learning to make decisions.
COACHING STYLES EVALUATED
Which style best describes you? I consider the submissive style to be no style at all and urge you not to adopt it. Thecommand style has been prevalent in the past and is commonly seen among professional, college, and high school coaches. Many novice and inexperienced coaches adopt the command style because it is the one they have seen modelled by their own coaches or others. Some coaches adopt this style because it helps them conceal their own doubts about their capabilities. If they do not permit the athletes to question them, if they can avoid explaining why they coach as they do, then their inadequacies won’t be uncovered – or so they think!
On the surface the command style appears effective. Good athletic teams need organization. They cannot be run effectively as participant democracies; the team cannot vote on every decision that needs to be made. Indeed, the command style can be effective if winning is the coach’s primary objective and if its authoritarian nature does not stifle athletes´ motivation. But this risk is one of the major limitations of the command style. Coaches who use the command style also prevent athletes from fully enjoying the sport. The accomplishments are the coach’s, not the athletes’.
It is obvious by now that I favour the cooperative style of coaching, because it shares decision making with the athletes and fosters the Athletes First, Winning Second objective. Cooperative-style coaches provide the structure and rules that allow athletes to learn to set their own goals and to strive for them. Being a cooperative-style coach does not mean you avoid rules and order; failing to structure team activities is neglecting a major coaching responsibility. The coach faces the complex task of deciding how much structure creates the optimum climate for athletes’ development. The cooperative-style coach gives direction and instruction when they are needed, but also knows when it is useful to let athletes make decisions and assume responsibility.
We know there is more to being an athlete than just having motor skills. Athletes must be able to cope with pressure, adapt to changing situations, keep contests in perspective, exhibit discipline, and maintain concentration in order to perform well. These ingredients are fostered routinely by cooperative-style coaches, but seldom by command-style ones. The cooperative approach places more trust in the athlete, which has a positive effect on self-image. It promotes openness in the social-emotional climate and improves both communication and motivation. Athletes are motivated not by fear of the coach, but by a desire for personal satisfaction.
