What Makes a Good Coach?

UNCTarheels · 05-27-2009, 09:30 AM

What should a coach care about most: winning, teaching, or giving everyone a chance to play? We asked our readers this question, and hundreds of you replied. Here's what you told us.

Winning Isn't Everything

Winning was a loser in our survey: Only 9% of you said a coach should care most about winning. "When you are a good coach, winning or losing is secondary to you. You care more about the morale of your team," said Daniel, 13.

Most of you respect coaches who put winning in perspective and teach players it's just one part of the game. Naturally, you want to win - but you also want the enjoyment of playing well, learning, and working as a team. Kim, 13, told us.

But few of you are driven to win above all else. "The best lesson I learned from a coach is that losers give it their best, but winners succeed," Brett, 16, said. Brett is realistic about the fact that some parents and coaches can push kids too hard, though. "If I were a coach, I would find out who wants to play and who is playing because of their parents."

Winning seemed to be slightly more important to guys than girls in our survey: 17% of the guys who answered said coaches should care most about winning compared to only 7% of girls.

You Want to Improve Your Skills

So what should your coach care about most? Giving everyone a chance to play received the most votes from girls. Guys voted for teaching new skills. But when girls' and guys' votes were combined, it was pretty much a coin toss: 45% of you think your coach should teach new skills and 46% said giving everyone a chance to play should be most important.

What's in and what's out when it comes to coaching a player or a team? You told us about the qualities you like (and don't like) in coaches and what you'd do if you were in their shoes.

Good Coaches: What's In
Coaches Who Understand and Motivate Their Players

A coach has to understand a player's weaknesses and strengths.

Talent for building a player's confidence is also important. Lots of you told us about coaches who have turned your game around. When Aerielle, now 13, played soccer in third grade she was small and skinny and the other kids always picked on her. "One day the coach sat next to me and said that, even though I couldn't kick the ball down the field, I was fast enough to be at the other end to receive it. She said that I should forget about what other people think and stick to what I try to do, what I can do, what I like, and who it all makes me. The rest of that season I was the best midfielder on the team and even was chosen to go to the All-Star game."

So how would you work with your players? Cordellia, 13, said, "I would start by asking the kids what their goals are. Then talk with them and lay out a plan for the whole year."

Coaches Who Teach Life Skills Along With Sports Skills

"Besides just coaching, they share wisdom and insight on life based on personal experience," said Alex, 15, who told us about his high school wrestling coach. "It helps having someone besides a parent that's an adult that you can talk to in some situations."

Katie, 14, learned the power of positive thinking from her coach, something she can apply to other areas of her life. "If you mess up you have to shake it off and get focused again. Always think about what you will do, not what you won't."

Most of you said the best lesson you'd learned from a coach is "never give up." Charley, 16, told us, "We all have bad days and bad competitions and it's OK to be upset, but when you wake up the morning after, you need to set new goals and have a new focus."

So what would you do? "If I was a coach, I would train my players hard," said Monique, 16. "But I would be willing to help any of the players with schoolwork or problems."

Coaches Who Make It a Team Effort

Working toward a goal as a team is a priority for you (even if the team's just you and your coach). And coaches who treat players with respect, as equals, win your praise. "A good coach will listen to the team's ideas," said Kelsey, 14.

"A good coach understands that respect is to be earned and understands that they do not control the team, they are part of the team," said Rebecca, 13.

So what team-building skills would you use as a coach? Tom, 17, told us he would use the good side of peer pressure to get players to motivate each other. Annie, 14, said, "I would not let my players feel like they are the weakest link."

Bad Coaches: Coaches Who Focus on Only a Few Players

Coaches who play favorites are definitely high on your lists of "what's out" in coaching. Jessica, 14, thinks a good coach is "one who does not recruit others just because of their skills but takes those who actually tried out and works with them to improve."

"They have to want you to succeed and not choose favorites," said Katie, 14. Spence put it more bluntly: "A good coach should be fair and not be all about his or her little junior sports stars."

How would you play fair if you were a coach? "Not just focus on a particular person who is maybe a little better than the rest, although I would help them get to their full potential," said Tara, 14. And Kelly, 14, told us, "I would only start the ones who show up for practice."

Coaches Who Yell or Put Players Down

Another coaching no-no is yelling and making players feel bad. "A coach shouldn't bring down your self-esteem," said Rosie, 16. Dennis, 15, said, "I think a good coach is someone who doesn't get mad if you lose or make a mistake but he pushes you to the limit."

As with everything in coaching, balance is key. "It takes being hard on the team, but not to where they can't stand you as a coach," said Stephanie, 13.

Rebecca, 13, told us, "A good coach understands that different people have different learning patterns and doesn't stick to one forceful method to draw out a person's talent just because that worked before."

So if you were a coach, how would you motivate your players? "When they messed up during a game I would just blow it off," said Tyler, 15. "Players don't need to feel nervous and put down at the same time

Coaches Who Can't Teach or Don't Give It Their All

"I have a coach who doesn't know a thing about baseball but he still tries to act like he does," said Tyler. "He shows up in a suit and tries to coach us from the fence. A coach needs to have just as much heart as his players."

"It's not experience that makes a coach great (although it does help); it's the quality of their coaching," said Brynn, 13. She told us about one soccer coach who taught her skills like how to develop her endurance. Thanks to his strong coaching, Brynn got onto a club team. Her new club coach had a lot more practice as a player than her former coach. But she wasn't able to teach skills as well. "Although she had lots of experience and could really move the ball, she had no coaching qualities. She was a player, not a coach."

Daniel, 14, agreed. "A coach has to make sure they're actually coaching, and not just playing with the players or doing it to improve their own physical fitness."

"A good coach coaches for the love of the game, not for the publicity," said Nick, 14.

Hello? Are We Having Fun Yet?

One message came through loud and clear in our survey. Sports are supposed to be fun, and coaches need to do what they can to keep them that way. Almost all of you wanted your coaches to have a sense of humor. "My soccer coach is a role model; you can crack jokes on him and he will crack them back," said Kelly, 14.

We had way more suggestions on what coaches should do to keep sports fun than we had on any other topic. Team events - pizza dinners, team outings, that kind of thing - are big. Nina, 14, said that if she were a coach, she'd take her team to a theme park for a good time.

You also had ideas on fixing the stuff that wasn't so fun about your sports. Team drills can be boring, and you'd try to figure out a way to make them fun. "I would have at least one drill in which the kids choose what they want," said Aerielle, "And do a variety of drills, not just the same ones over and over again." Katelyn, 16, said, "My basketball coach would never punish us with running because he saw no point in making us hate something we should love."

But you're realistic - sometimes practice needs to be routine. Bianca, 13, said the best lesson her coach taught her is, "The fun things are fun, but the boring stuff is what you learn from." Madison, 15, offered this advice, "You practice more than three times the amount that you play in a game, and if you're dreading practice, the sport isn't for you. Find something that you love unconditionally, all the time!"

A good coach supports, rewards, teaches, and makes a sport fun. For most of you, that motivates a team to win more than anything else. As Katelyn said, "hearing what you suck at never inspired anyone."

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: October 2007

coachstew · 05-27-2009, 10:31 AM

My thought on this is, it seems like the things that others value would lead to a winning program. Coaches do have to be good teachers, give a lot of effort to their program, and they have to value every member of their team. No one likes a coach who berates their kids. As coaches we lose our tempers, and as long as we stick to the game at hand it can be useful. It becomes a problem if you make it a personal issue for yourself and the players.

I'd be curious to kow where this survey was taken. Only 9 percent value winning? No offesne to anyone out there, but then why do we hear parents, and players ripping coaches for not winning. I've coached up here for five seasons, and five more down south, and I've yet to hear any parent or player complitment me or any other coach for saying "coach doesn't win, but he's a good guy." I understand it's not the most important part of the profession, but winning is valued in a lot of these communities. If it's not then why do you have parents sniping at coaches after losses? Again I understand that is part of the profession.

UNCTarheels · 05-27-2009, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachstew

My thought on this is, it seems like the things that others value would lead to a winning program. Coaches do have to be good teachers, give a lot of effort to their program, and they have to value every member of their team. No one likes a coach who berates their kids. As coaches we lose our tempers, and as long as we stick to the game at hand it can be useful. It becomes a problem if you make it a personal issue for yourself and the players.

I'd be curious to kow where this survey was taken. Only 9 percent value winning? No offesne to anyone out there, but then why do we hear parents, and players ripping coaches for not winning. I've coached up here for five seasons, and five more down south, and I've yet to hear any parent or player complitment me or any other coach for saying "coach doesn't win, but he's a good guy." I understand it's not the most important part of the profession, but winning is valued in a lot of these communities. If it's not then why do you have parents sniping at coaches after losses? Again I understand that is part of the profession.

It's hard to tell, i found it on a Kidshealth website and there was no information as to where the info came from. Judging from the quotes they interviewed quite a few younger kids with Big a Vocabulary

OldSchool78 · 05-27-2009, 12:25 PM

IMO......a good coach also must be a good listener. A good coach can push kids to their limits without ever breaking them. A good coach must realize that not of his/her players have the same menatality, breaking point, desire or ablility. Coaching is a balancing act. A good coach must always let his players and parents if neccessary, that he/she is the boss and does things a certain way. If you are not all on board, they need to be shown the door.

coachstew · 05-27-2009, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldSchool78

IMO......a good coach also must be a good listener. A good coach can push kids to their limits without ever breaking them. A good coach must realize that not of his/her players have the same menatality, breaking point, desire or ablility. Coaching is a balancing act. A good coach must always let his players and parents if neccessary, that he/she is the boss and does things a certain way. If you are not all on board, they need to be shown the door.

I guess if you are looking for what I think is this greatest quality in a high school coach it is the ability to motivate. If your players want to do well, then you have an advantage right there. I think it's an ability that comes from a lot of listening, and talking, and I think your kids have to realize you care about them, and not just as athletes. It's also not something you get from kids by yelling and screaming and acting like a crazy person.

eb14560 · 05-27-2009, 01:31 PM

The first thing I look for in the determination of a good coach is someone who realizes it is about the kids, not them. Someone with no hidden agendas, ie coaches kid, teachers kid, my win/loss record, my work or personal buddies kids, etc. Yes, sometimes those are not so "hidden". Not to say you can't have that relationship to coach, but it can't be the reason you handle the team the way you do.

Next is every player treated fairly, the stud superstar doesn't show up for practice the day before a game. Does he still start or even play if the team rules say no?
A good coach has to realize that every kid deserves the same opportunity. They don't have all the same skills, but treating someone vastly different than other kids who put in their time and try will kill a program. Small schools absolutely must have high student participation for year after year sucess. Show the future players that it does not matter how hard you try and you'll loose all those younger or weaker players who may become your future 7,8 or 9 hitters who get on base or get a hit when no one is counting on them to do so and you win a game. I personally know of 2 Section V championships that were decided because the bottom of an order set the table for the "studs" to do their damage. Take away those kids heart and it is a 1,2,3 inning and game over.

Then it comes down to teaching ability and the ability to transfer what knowledge you have to the kids.

All of these before the coaches game knowledge or personal playing experience which to me is only the last 10%

No you probably won't win a sectional title without some of that last part, but you will have very sucessful teams year after year. You have to be able to set aside your ego and give the credit to the kids for winning and just suck it up when "its your fault for loosing". You have to be a leader to get them to work at the skills, but a happier team works harder, wins more and lets face it winning makes a lot of bad stuff go away.

joeZam1 · 05-27-2009, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldSchool78

IMO......a good coach also must be a good listener. A good coach can push kids to their limits without ever breaking them. A good coach must realize that not of his/her players have the same menatality, breaking point, desire or ablility. Coaching is a balancing act. A good coach must always let his players and parents if neccessary, that he/she is the boss and does things a certain way. If you are not all on board, they need to be shown the door.

Guess what? Iagree wholeheartedly. A good coach must also be able to break a team down and put them back together again...A good coach must know how and when to criticize and know when to give a give a pat on the back, or even a quick hug and "great job". I would scream at my players when needed, no doubt, but what many didnt see is my compassion for them. I couldnt count how many hugs and praises I gave out..JMO

Bravesfan08 · 05-27-2009, 11:01 PM

Heres what I think makes a good coach (In no particular order)

They can relate to their players

Treat all players fairly, from the superstars to the last kid on the team

Knows when to push a team and when to back off

Knows when to push individual players and when to back off

Gets the most out of the talent they have

Is commited to the program year round.

Team improves as the year goes on and players improve the more they are with a coach

Wins games

I think the key thing to remember about judging a coach is you have to look at the talent the coach can work with. My dad for example coached varsity basketball in the 90's in the LCAA. His first 5 years he went to 3 sectional finals and won one title. His last 2 or 3 years the teams were not that good record wise. Does that mean he suddenly became a bad coach, NO! It just means the players he had just weren't as good as before. The talent of the players may be the most important factor on whether or not a coach can win. You can be the best coach in the world but if you don't have talent your not gonna win a lot of games.

boobiemiles · 05-28-2009, 04:51 PM

Somebody who doesn't turn the team (mostly all of the seniors) against him.

goldteamer · 05-28-2009, 05:36 PM

Some of you said it coaches have to be fair, when "superstars" show up to practice late. onething happens to them they might get yelled at, then they give some BS apology like they will never do it again. however the next day they do it again. and then you have regular players who are never late always there 10 minutes early to practice, what do they get???? more time on the bench. thats another thing coaches should do they should teach the kids that want to learn how to play the sport right, and not show up late and screw around and not get in trouble. if the "superstars" want to show up late and set a bad example for the younger players they should sit and someone who has always been there and wants to play can take their position. Also instead of showing the more talented kids on the team the proper way to play, why don't some coaches, if they see a kid that is not as talent and some other players that is in need of some sort of improvement stop and demonstrate the proper way to perform the task?

It is the coaches job to not only teach the sport but to teach lessons that the kids will need later on in life. because lets be honest with ourselves about 99% of highschool athletes will never continue to play any organized sports.