In coaching high school soccer, you may wish to disagree but it’s true that communication is the most important aspect to get success. The term coaching signifies the art of communication. It lets you speak to mind in the simplest way and allow the other to do the activity in exactly the same way.
Majority of coaches in soccer coaching are the players who used to play the game in their younger days. Even then they have to deal with many issues in coaching young players. The reason why many of these issues show up is the coach’s inability to communicate. You must recognize that there are certain issues related to communication that need special attention if your job is to be made easier.
These have been described one by one.
Coaches generally allow their emotions to become involved while watching their kids play. They tend to become spectators rather than analytical observers. As such they are not able to see the key points that could make all the difference in their team’s performance. The coaches fail to have an effective conversation that could help the players get to the winning post.
The coaches are generally not trained to communicate effectively although they have all the knowledge of the game. For example; in soccer coaching, many coaches are not aware of the utility of a flip chart or a video. The coach may be technically talented but if he not able to communicate properly, regular practice sessions get really boring for the kids.
It is even more important in case of coaching high school soccer because the players are not new to the game. They have been working on these drills for some time but the standards are different. By keep on changing training format, coaches can avoid the monotony of repeating the same messages again and again.
You’ll be amazed to know that coaches tend to forget sometimes that it is people who carry out the trainings. Only with a view to execute the training program well, coaches tend to ignore every other aspect of it. For instance; the communication is incomplete when an instruction is given to a player but without his/ her name thus making it difficult for any of them to apply it.
Some guiding principles for coaches in football coaching are given below:
• Every message coming from the coach carries equal importance. So it’s necessary that they are deduced correctly.
• Your messages should have a positive impact on the players to put their best foot forward. Let them become better players with every passing day rather than pointing out their weaknesses.
• All players should get an equal opportunity to sit with you and learn. Research indicates that coaches spend a lot more time (up to seven times more!) with star players.
• Communicate the potential issues that could arise and have a solution ready.
• Strengthen the player’s self respect by matching criticism with praise. When it comes to coaching high school soccer, tilt the balance slightly more towards praise.
Trust me. When you apply these rules to your training sessions, the benefits will be much more that you’ll expect.
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Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching high school soccer.
Tags: Coaching high school soccer, coaching youth soccer, football coaching, soccer coaching