New Look

Why, one might ask, am I writing a blog on coaching, when I, as an eighteen year old college student, have never experienced what it’s like to coach? While I have never had the role of a coach, I have definitely had to cope with the MANY different coaching styles since I have played soccer for fourteen years of my life. So yes, I am writing this from a first hand account of playing soccer at a competitive level. In that sense, one may say that my view of coaching is limited due to that single sport’s impact on my life. If that’s you, then just take this from a soccer perspective for now and later we will conclude whether or not it can be applied to other sports. Having to adapt to numerous coaching techniques throughout my many years of playing, it made me wonder which methods are more effective. I’ve seen coaches win games through constant instruction; I’ve seen them make players cry; I’ve seen them sit in angered silence. As a person who sought and still seeks approval from others, I yearned to meet the coach’s standards. I was afraid to be yelled at. I would often think - what if the coach takes me out of the game or what if he embarrasses me in front of the entire team? Playing with fear did not produce the best results for me personally. Experiencing so many extreme emotions and getting a taste of different coaching styles, the way someone coaches a team really interests me.

Is any coaching method necessarily right or wrong? Perhaps a better word choice would be - are certain coaching methods more effective than others? What do these different styles look like? For now let’s just address coaching during games, and specifically soccer games. Some coaches take the approach of instructing their players what to do on the field. The player could have the ball and have to make a decision; a player could be on the other side of the field, just in the wrong position; a player could have just passed the ball instead of shot it. The coach could interject and tell the player what to do in these situations. Would this be beneficial to the player or hinder the player? The player could learn from the coach’s instruction and next time shoot the ball if they’re in that situation, or they could get in a better position next time. The next time that situation arises, the player may do the right thing only because the coach navigates their movements while the play is developing. Is the athlete actually learning the right choices to make or robotically following the coach’s requests? One may say, well what does it matter if it’s bettering the team’s performance? In the long run, a player’s personal development will be aided by actually learning how to play the game. Consider this quote about education… http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/Bill_Beattie/

Also, I have witnessed many emotional problems with soccer players. Sure people are bound to get upset after losing a big match or getting a bad call from the referee. Some emotions are difficult to control. However, when a player gets angry because of a coach’s decision, comment, or action, something should be done about it because those things can be prevented. Especially in youth soccer, shouldn’t soccer be made to entertain kids? So many times coaches get too into the game and start yelling at five year-olds. YMCA soccer is not meant to be extremely competitive, especially at that age. Yelling at children could be discouraging and steer them away from liking soccer. As kids get older, they may be able to handle more criticism. But even then, it still can affect a person’s self-confidence, thus changing their performance. Coaches need to be more aware of how each individual player responds to them in order to strengthen the team’s performance.