Make Sure Players Know You Believe In Them

While they often get a bad 'rep,' and rightfully so, good trainers do a good job of pushing kids to work harder - often times more so than their school coach.  In talking with one trainer, he told me that us coaches just have to make sure that the kids know how much we believe in them and then they will give us all that they have.

Kids have enough anxiety and pressure when it comes to performing in sports, and we coaches can sometimes add to that because we criticize - or coach - our kids, which includes correcting their mistakes.  If we spend more time on correcting than we do praising, it can be easy to see how kids might start to doubt themselves and our belief in their abilities.

While corrective criticism, direction and honestly is absolutely necessary for growth in anything, and especially in sports, we have to make sure to couple that criticism with positive affirmation.  We have to make sure that our kids KNOW that we believe in their ability to succeed in the tasks and roles that we give them.

In the teaching and education world, we often say to give 2 put ups for each put down to counteract negative interactions.  One study, as reported by the Harvard business review, found that the most productive organizations give 5 positive comments to every 1 negative comment.

Coach tough, but love tougher and make sure that those you are leading KNOW and FEEL how much you care about them and believe in them.