Assignment 1 Coaching
Booklet:
To be an effective coach you need to have many skills. One of these skills is being organised.
Having good organisation and planning as a coach helps keep the group/ athletes
interested. Not only does organisation keep the athletes interested it also reduces the
amount of stress that the coach has. This will improve productivity within the training
session as every drill is planned out to maximise time and work productivity. This suggests
that the overall performance of the athletes will increase due to their coach helping them
maximise work rate/time in sessions as the sessions are structured to enhance time. If a
coach doesn’t have a plan the athletes/coach may lose motivation or sight of the goal, and
progress will be difficult. Coaches need to arrange things such as: the session plan, registers,
injury recoveries, facilities, feedback, transport and equipment etc. This can be very time
preoccupying, but it is so important for training to run smoothly, be engaging and
performance to improve. If a coach doesn’t plan the athletes will be less motivated as their
coach doesn’t seem interred in their job leaving the athletes potentially feeling worthless.
Another skill is rapport building. This is a relationship built and kept with mutual trust and
understanding. In sport, rapport is the connection between a coach and an athlete that they
look for whilst they work together. 'A state of feeling at peace with and responsive to
another person' is another way of describing rapport. Developing good rapport is important
as the athletes can fully benefit from the relationship and training sessions when they trust
and have rapport with their coach. This is because it encourages open communication,
develops trust, and increases the performers motivation to join in. However, if a coach and
athletes do not have good rapport between each other, the athlete will not have trust or
belief in the coach, and this leads to a big drop in motivation and performance levels as they
will not feel calm and at peace during training sessions. To build rapport with the athletes,
the coach could smile and make eye contact, they could also learn their names and the use
them in the session, they could also coach the athlete in depth rather than the sport overall,
and finally show curiosity and respect them. Also tune in to your client to get on the same
page, pay attention to how they are feeling, their body language, their word choice and
their tone of voice. Then you try to match it. If a client is depressed and talking softly and
you respond in a loud, extroverted voice, they are going to feel cautious. Also, if your
athlete is positive and passionate and you speak quietly and show little emotion, that
person will also feel "unparalleled". So, part of forming rapport with the athletes is
mirroring your athletes so they feel more at peace with you. You should match up your
participants in not obvious ways that they will not even notice but will make them feel safe
and seen.
As a coach being able to communicate well is so important. Both verbal and non-verbal
communication skills need to be good. Verbal communication is using your words whereas
non-verbal communication is using gestures such as thumbs up, eye contact, facial
expressions, and body position. Communication is a two-way process where listening is as
important as talking, this is true when trying to establish each players goals and
achievements.
,Words that are spoken have a long-lasting effect on players. And the coaches’ words
are particularly important because young student athletes listen particularly carefully to
what coaches say. So, whether a coach is improving misbehaviours, showing an athlete a
specific skill, or applauding an athlete for amazing effort, they should know lots of things
when talking to an athlete; say it clearly and simply, be optimistic and truthful, eye contact,
say it loud enough, categorise your thoughts before talking to your participants, explain
things carefully, but don’t tire your participants with long-winded talks, and try to
be consistent. If an athlete is doing well in training/matches or has just learnt a new
skill, a coach should praise and encourage the athlete so that they feel happy with
themselves and have a high confidence, this means that they’ll be more motivated. It's
important for a coach to do this as it will inspire the athlete to achieve other goals they have
as it builds their confidence and self-esteem. If a coach can’t communicate properly with the
participants, the athletes will lose motivation to carry on. Same as, if an athlete is quiet and
shy and their coach speaks forcefully with them, the athlete will feel dismayed by the coach
and will not want to participate. The coach must be able to change the way they talk with so
that communication is valuable as possible, and performance can be improved.
Verbal communication and non-verbal communication are just as important as each other.
Just as you should be constant with the words you use and your tone of voice; you should
also keep your nonverbal communication consistent. An example of not doing this would be
shaking your head, showing disapproval, while also at the same time telling the performer,
“Good try”. This will confuse the athlete, as they don’t know whether to believe the gesture
or the words and overall, that would discourage the athlete to join in as they want to be
able to have confidence in the messages their coach sends. The body language of a coach
has a huge impact on an athletes' mindset and performance too. If a coach is hunched over
with their head looking down and shoulders sagged, or jaws clenched and reddened face-
the participants will create a bad impression of their coach which is not good. That’s why
coaches should carry themselves in a pleasant, confident, and vigorous manner. This
posture not only portrays happiness with the coach’s role but also provides a role model
example for the younger athletes who may copy the coach's behaviour.
Effective communication is aided by diplomacy in coaching. It is based around
understanding and knowing the athletes and being susceptible to their beliefs, opinions,
ideas and their feelings. It means to be able to know/sense with accuracy what the players
are feeling or thinking at any given time and then replying/dealing with it in a way that
doesn’t cause bad feelings or awkwardness, whilst at the same time stating the coaches
own ideas such as what drills need to be done. Good diplomacy from a coach leads to
enhanced relationships with the athletes and is a way to build and develop mutual respect
and will help build rapport, which can lead to more successful outcomes (better/improved
performances) and then leads to less difficult or tense communication. It is very important
for coaches to be diplomatic so that their athletes can feel comfortable during the session
and therefore perform to the best of their ability without feeling judged or awkward.
Coaches need to be a motivator to their players- both intrinsically and extrinsically.
Someone who is motivated intrinsically participates in fitness because they enjoy it, there is
, no external reward that they are striving for, they just want to have fun. Whereas
extrinsically motivated people participate to gain an external reward such as a first-place
medal and praise from external figures.
In a group of athletes, they will all either be motivated extrinsically or intrinsically. This
difference in motivation types has an impact on the coach as they will need to adapt their
coaching methods to accommodate for all the players. The athletes will react in a different
way to situations and instructions given in training/drills by their coach, so to ensure
maximum work ethic/potential, a variety of coaching methods is required. The coaches
could try to learn from each of their performers/players, what type of motivation they have.
After learning that for example 90% of the athletes are motivated extrinsically, the coach
should often remind these athletes of what all their hard work is working towards for
example, winning the league/trophies. This will inspire those athletes to push themselves to
reach their goals and improve performing. But on the other hand, the other 10% of players
are motivated intrinsically, which means the coach should take a different methodology
when trying to motivate and inspire them. The coach could make exercises as fun and
different as possible every week so that these players stay engaged in the task. The
coach/coaches need to make sure that they inspire all their athletes in the right way and
well so that they have more courage, belief and motivation to carry on participating in the
training session. If the coach can’t motivate their athletes, the athletes will lose ambition
and will not want to participate anymore which leads to other players wanting to leave as
well because they’ve seen unfair/bad motivation given to their teammates.
Knowledge of coaching methods and technical performance models are ways in which a
coach can help/show an athlete how to learn and develop a skill like a serve in badminton.
One type of a performance model is Whole and Part learning. This is where the performer
will attempt the skill (e.g., a back handspring in gymnastics), then once they've tried the skill,
the coach will see what needs to be changed and improved and then break it down in
smaller parts and guide them through it thoroughly. Improvements will be made before
bringing the whole skill back together to re-try it. Some athletes may find it difficult to put
the skill back together, so will need extra help and support from the coach/coaches.
The second method of learning is Chaining. This is used when a skill is harder and can be
broken down into parts; it's also used when an athlete has minimal knowledge on a skill and
need to be taught from scratch. It involves the coach demonstrating the skill, e.g., a bowl in
cricket, and then only demonstrating the arm motion and letting the athletes practice that
first phase. Once they can complete the arm motion, the coach will then demonstrate the
arm motion and how to throw, and then allow students to practice that. (The coach will be
assisting and guiding the players to achieve the skill). Then when the students can do the
second phase, the coach will then demonstrate the final phase which is the skill complete so
the arm motional, throw/aim run into it. Once again, the participants will practice that and
should hopefully be able to do the skill. If not, the coach will spend time with athletes
needing help and will help them be able to do it.
Lastly, another method is Shaping. It was first introduced by psychologist B.F. Skinner. It’s a
method to teaching that only offers praise with each successful step that gets closer to the
end goal (the full skill). Praising good behaviours will make them more common. When an