Planting Seeds of Success

Sports are full of ups and downs.  Successes and failures.  Every second in a practice or a game is an opportunity to do something good or to make a mistake, and as coaches, it is important to know how to effectively respond to each mistake that our athletes make so that they can respond appropriately, quickly and with confidence in their play.  

Our reactions to our player's mistakes are critical, not only for the confidence of the individual player, but also for the outcome of the game.

So, encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

How we respond to each mistake a player makes can either build them up or tear them down.  If we tear our athletes down enough, we might not ever see them regain their confidence in this sport again, and this is often why many players quit playing sports altogether.  The last thing I ever want to do as a coach is the be an athlete's last coach because I took away their love, passion or confidence to play.

Our goal in every interaction with our athletes should be to plant seeds of growth, confidence and success and show that we believe in and care about our athletes.  Our choice of words, the timing of when we use our words, and how we use our words all play a factor in our athletes confidence.  So often we hear coaches say, 'Hear the message and not the way I say it.'  As coaches, can we be more aware of how we are communicating our messages so that we don't have to give this caveat before and after yelling at our kids?

If we are clear in our communication and expectations, constructive in our comments and deliver honest feedback with care and empathy, we can teach AND build up our athletes and not tear them down.