By Jamison Page
Coaches are our scaffold, our framework, and our safety net.
Having a good coach can help you reach your potential, but a bad coach can rip away your confidence and tear your love for the game to shreds.
Coaches have seven responsibilities to ensure good performance from their athletes.
No.1: Skill Development
Teaching proper technique and skills is important, while correcting mistakes to improve performance in a positive manner can significantly help athletes.
No.2: Motivation and confidence
Coaches inspire their athletes, keeping them disciplined and on track, no matter how tough it gets throughout the season. Because it will get tough.
No.3: Strategy
Keeping in mind strengths and weaknesses of both their players and opponents, coaches come up with strategies and plans to have athletes performing at 100 per cent.
No.4: Physical Conditioning
Coaches need to make sure their players are in top shape for the season and encourage athletes to maintain it themselves. Coaches can do this through endurance, strength training, flexibility and rehabilitation.
No.5: Mental Preparation
Sport can get stressful, coaches need to work on their athletes’ mental toughness, focus and stress management.
No.6: Feedback and accountability
Coaches provide regular feedback to players while setting goals and holding athletes accountable throughout the season, and even the off-season, to ensure continuous growth in their players. Although it’s important for coaches to maintain positivity.
No.7: Injury prevention and recovery
Sometimes injuries are inevitable for athletes, but coaches have a responsibility to monitor workload to avoid them and also guide athletes through injuries.
Some coaches don’t understand the impact of their words and throw out phrases with no regard for their players’ feelings, while others know how to uplift their players with as little as one word.
They have a responsibility to be neutral and not have favourites, to encourage their players to be disciplined and earn their place.
But this isn’t always the case …
I’ve had coaches who picked favourites, pounced on every mistake until trying felt futile and completely broke down every ounce of confidence I had.
I’ve also had coaches that lifted me up and healed those parts, like a little band-aid, once I started playing under those coaches there was a significant improvement in my game but also just how I carried myself on the court.
A good coach will make your love for the game multiply by 100, and make you work harder for your dreams.
The guidance that a coach provides is like a torch in a dark tunnel, turn off the torch and athletes can get lost on their path.
Keep the torch on.
Featured Image: A coach that cares can point a player in the right direction. Photo: University of Texas at Arlington News Service Photograph Collection/CC
