When it comes to coaching high school soccer, communication is the most vital part to consider on way to achieve success. The term coaching signifies the art of communication. It enables you to let people understand exactly what you wish them to do and in what sense.
Majority of coaches in soccer coaching are the players who used to play the game in their younger days. Then also they have to face a number of issues while coaching young players. Majority of these issues come up due to communication lags. You must recognize that there are certain issues related to communication that need special attention if your job is to be made easier.
Let me explain them to you one at a time.
Coaches generally allow their emotions to become involved while watching their kids play. They forget that they have the duty to observe the players analytically rather than merely watching them play. They fail to notice the important points that could better their team’s performance. As such they lose the focus on directing the team towards a win by way of an effective conversation.
The coaches are generally not trained to communicate effectively although they have all the knowledge of the game. For instance; most coaches don’t use videos or flip charts in soccer coaching because they don’t know about them. The daily practice gets monotonous when there are communication gaps even though the coach may be technically very sound.
In coaching high school soccer, communication becomes all the more important because the kids start to understand the game quite well. They have been doing these soccer drills for some time but at different levels. You can do away with the monotony of repetitive messages by frequently changing the layout of training.
The coaches have a tendency to just forget that training sessions are being executed by human beings and not machines. Only with a view to execute the training program well, coaches tend to ignore every other aspect of it. For instance; the communication is incomplete when an instruction is given to a player but without his/ her name thus making it difficult for any of them to apply it.
There are certain guiding principles in football coaching which are as follows:
• All messages that come from the coach are very important. So ensure that they are understood completely and correctly.
• Use positive language that encourages players to give their best shot. Help them to improve rather than reprimanding them for not playing well.
• Make sure you spend quality time with all your players. Studies indicate that coaches spend relatively more time with star players in team (up to seven times more!).
• Don’t wait for the problems to arise to sort them out.
• Reinforce the player’s self esteem by balancing praise with criticism. Tilt the balance a little more towards praise with respect to coaching high school soccer.
Trust me. When you apply these rules to your training sessions, the benefits will be much more that you’ll expect.
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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