I don’t know if you know this but communication is the most important element to succeed in coaching high school soccer. The term coaching signifies the art of communication. This has the effect of expressing yourself to people with a view to perform them things in precisely the same manner.
Speaking of soccer coaching, almost all the coaches are the former players who decide to take on as coaches. Even then they have to deal with many issues in coaching young players. These issues come up due to the inability to communicate properly. Your role as a coach would become far easier if you just pay attention to some most important communication issues.
Let me explain them to you one at a time.
Emotions of the coaches take over their minds while they are watching their kids play on field. The coaches become spectators instead of adopting a critical approach to observing the kids. They fail to notice the important points that could better their team’s performance. The coaches fail to have an effective conversation that could help the players get to the winning post.
Even though the coaches are well versed with the technicalities of the game, they are not trained specifically on communication. For example; in soccer coaching, many coaches are not aware of the utility of a flip chart or a video. It’s important for the coach to know the game well but if he is unable to communicate his thoughts, the training gets repetitive.
This is especially important in coaching high school soccer since the players have been into the sport for quite some time. They have been working on these drills for some time but the standards are different. By keep on changing training format, coaches can avoid the monotony of repeating the same messages again and again.
It’s a fact that sometimes the coaches completely forget that it is people who perform in the practice sessions. The objective of training is lost because the coaches get so much occupied in just conducting the sessions well. An example of ineffective communication by a coach is when he fails to use a player’s name while giving instructions which produces uncertainty.
Some guiding principles for coaches in football coaching are given below:
• Every message from the coach is equally important. So make sure that they are interpreted correctly.
• Use positive language that encourages players to give their best shot. Challenge them to be better rather than punishing them for being poor.
• Pay equal attention to each player in the team. Research in this filed shows that coaches tend to spend comparatively more time with the best players (up to seven times more!).
• Don’t wait for the problems to arise to sort them out.
• Add force to the player’s confidence by harmonizing criticism with praise. Tip the balance more towards praise with players in coaching high school soccer.
Believe my words. Your training programs will be immensely benefitted as a result of adopting these simple exercises.
There’s not limit to the amount of information that you can lay your hands on. You just have to subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community to get all the latest and relevant information pertaining to the game.
Andre Botelho is a recognized expert in youth soccer coaching. He influences well over 35,000 youth coaches each year with his unique coaching philosophy, and makes it really easy to explode your players’ skills and make training more fun in record time. To download your free youth soccer coaching guide visit: Coaching high school soccer.
Tags: Coaching high school soccer, coaching youth soccer, football coaching, soccer coaching