When it comes to Coaching high school soccer, communication is the most vital part to consider on way to achieve success. The art of communicating to the team is what coaching truly is. It enables you to let people understand exactly what you wish them to do and in what sense.
Majority of coaches in soccer coaching are the players who used to play the game in their younger days. Still, there are several problems that they have to find solutions to. Most of these issues are a result of lack of communication. There are some major communication issues that you must understand as a coach to make your job easy and more effective.
Let me explain them to you one at a time.
Emotions of the coaches take over their minds while they are watching their kids play on field. Instead of acting as analytical observers, they become more of spectators. As such they are not able to see the key points that could make all the difference in their team’s performance. They therefore lose the opportunity to have an objective conversation aimed at winning the game.
Even though the coaches are well versed with the technicalities of the game, they are not trained specifically on communication. For example; use of flip charts and videos in soccer coaching is not applied by many coaches as they aren’t aware of them. It’s important for the coach to know the game well but if he is unable to communicate his thoughts, the training gets repetitive.
This is especially important in coaching high school soccer since the players have been into the sport for quite some time. They have been working on these drills for some time but the standards are different. You can do away with the monotony of repetitive messages by frequently changing the layout of training.
You’ll be amazed to know that coaches tend to forget sometimes that it is people who carry out the trainings. They tend to get carried away in the process of coaching and training. When a coach tries to instruct something to the play but does not use that player’s name, it creates confusion and is an apt example of bad communication.
Some guiding principles for coaches in football coaching are given below:
• All messages that come from the coach are very important. So make sure that they are interpreted correctly.
• Use positive language that encourages players to give their best shot. Let them become better players with every passing day rather than pointing out their weaknesses.
• Make sure you spend quality time with all your players. Studies indicate that coaches spend relatively more time with star players in team (up to seven times more!).
• Communicate the potential issues that could arise and have a solution ready.
• Add force to the player’s confidence by harmonizing 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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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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 Youth Soccer
