A fellow blogger posted an interesting list of tips for coaches a while back. The film Waterboy was at least partly influential in their creation. They are, paraphrased:
- Manage your body language
- Finishing training on time
- Discuss the theme of training at the start of each practice
- Love the sport and share that love
- Recruit help
- Team activities should be both fun and purposeful
- The “pay to train, not to play” idea is crap
- Expose your players to alternative coaching
- Young players should spend half their time working on serving
- Consider why you’re angry and where you’re pointing that anger
I’m generally on board with all of these suggestions. A couple of them in particular have things worth definitely thinking about.
A suggestion for #1 is to actually be able to see yourself in action by getting someone to video you. I’ve seen myself in training footage, but not in a match yet. I tend to be pretty calm, but I’m sure there are little things I do amid my general pacing around. Regardless, it’s good to be aware that you’re always being watched.
I didn’t always go by #3, but it’s something I definitely do now. It helps the players know what they need to focus on and keeps you on task.
I find #7 interesting. That rejects something often expressed by the likes of John Kessel from USA Volleyball. She takes a parent’s point of view, though, that she wants to see in matches what her child has learned in training.
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