The 10 Best Tips From ‘Coaching Young Athletes’ During 2017
Below are ten of the best tips, tricks, thoughts and ideas that appeared in articles posted on the Coaching Young Athletes blog during 2017.
1. Understand that kid’s sport is DIFFERENT to elite sport.
This should be apparent in your coaching.
2. Direct your efforts into developing HOW you coach.
This is just as important, if not more so, as WHAT you coach.
3. Coach so that the kids want to come back.
Coach in a way that the kids love to come to practice and can’t wait to get there.
4. Take a “fundamentals first” approach.
Resist searching for quick results, quick fixes or magic solutions. Don’t be fooled by the “cool” fancy-looking stuff.
5. Don’t rate your success on “wins”.
It’s not about you; it’s about about the kids.
6. Avoid going “over the top” with praise.
Too much praise may lead kids to feel expectation and pressure.
7. Teach young athletes to focus on the “controllables” rather than the “uncontrollables”.
Competitors are an uncontrollable.
8. Give young athletes a break during the off-season.
Encourage kids to play other sports. Regular sport-specific practice should cease during a sport’s off-season for kids 11 years of age and under.
9. Treat a warm up as the START of the session.
The warm up sets the scene for the rest of the session. Be present, engaged, and active. Don’t just go through the motions and certainly don’t allow your athletes to go through the motions
10. Be aware that passion is the main ingredient in a powerful coaching presence.
Kids don’t expect you to be perfect, just passionate.
Which tip is you favourite?
I would love to hear which of the ten tips is your favourite. Let me know by leaving a comment/reply or by using the contact details below.
Darren Wensor is a sports development professional, coach educator, specialist coach of young athletes and founder of the blog coachingyoungathletes.com. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Anchor or via email.
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