Coaching At It 's Roots

Sports management is a really broad field, therefore I decided to focus on my minor and one of my major interests of this field: coaching. In this paper I will be explaining my personal five building blocks that make up a well-rounded coaching philosophy and coach. Those blocks are; leadership, organization, attitude, respect, and resiliency. Each of these five aspects are equally important and balance each other out. Leadership, the action of leading a group of athletes towards a goal. Organization, being able to organize a team and have a plan in order to help the team achieve goals. Attitude, it is very important for a coach to have a winning and positive attitude that is contagious to the players. Respect, there has to be a good

The relationship between an athlete and a coach is an unique and (humble??) one. It’s all about learning, growing, and overcoming failures to its successes. About looking forward to the future together in the game and beyond the life of sports. The interaction between them should be upheld and agreed upon, to be held together. They are the most influential character of the competitive environment. I believe in the value of a coach.

When I think of coaching I think of practice planning, game planning, scouting strategizing of offense and defense, choosing my starters, little things like that. All of those ideas are valid, but that’s not the whole picture. There is a lot more to coaching than planning for a practice or a game. Many times a person who would like to coach an interschool athletic team has little or no preparation to teach sports skills and techniques. The only qualifications is often the person’s participation on his or her high school, college, or university’s team, coach of a community youth team or even perhaps as a professional player. While all that experience is valuable in one way or another, it does not constitute an adequate preparation for

It is my job as a coach to help develop athletes physically, psychologically, and socially while helping them have fun by playing a sport. I will do this by being enthusiastic and having a positive attitude in practice, games, and while not coaching. This cooperative approach to coaching will create a sense of community within the team I coach, and the athletes will feel more welcome to discuss their thoughts, ideas, questions, and concerns with me. Creating this setting and relationships with athletes will only benefit the team by creating a team culture necessary for the well-being and success of high school sports’ teams. Success in sports means accomplishing goals set by the team, not winning. Winning is important, but just striving to win is even more vital toward the success of teams. As a coach, I will also be a motivator for athletes. Athletes will see me come to practice with a positive attitude, displaying my passion. This is the beginning of how I will motivate athletes. Motivation starts with my attitude, and athletes pick up on this. In order to motivate and want to be motivated, there must be a reason, a why? I will use the teams’ goals they will set, in order to motivate them to give their best effort in order to achieve success by reaching their

“At practice, Coach was always shouting the word Dig!” (Ehrmann 2011, pg. 53)What coach doesn’t ask for their players to work harder, dig deeper, or strive? We all do. “But to Coach it always meant: Dignity, Integrity, and Grace.” (Ehrmann 2011, pg. 53). Joe Ehrmann’s book InSideOut Coaching is an amazing look into why coaches coach. My mind was blown. My book looks like a firework display of highlights, underlines, and notes. There are so many ideas in this short book my head swam. The book really made me question the what, why, and how I am coaching. His ideas and opinions are a game changer for me. I can relate to Parade Magazine’s assessment; Joe Ehrmann is “The most important coach in America.” upon completing the book. For me the D.I.G.

Having a coach in life will positively influence your character and your skills. Also, having a coach doesn’t necessarily mean that your playing on a field. A coach can be anyone from a role model to a parent or guardian, a teacher, a pastor, a mentor, or sometimes even a best friend. One of the most important things for a coach to have is influence, and more important than that is that the influence he has on his players must be positive. As a leader, a coaches job is to better his players on and off of the field. This is done by developing the character of his players through encouragement and helping them understand that the game is more than just about winning. A good coach will always put the needs of his players first before he considers himself as a factor. If a coach is successful his players will develop a strong sense of self-motivation. This helps by allowing the player to

Research proved that athletes found their coaches training as well as instruction behavior and their style of coaching did have an impact on individual performance. This was important research for me in understanding how those I coach perceive my leadership and whether or not I am effective as their leader. My teams’ outstanding performance or lack of performance can be a direct link to my type of leadership skills in addition to my training. The primary role of any coach or athletic leader is to help their athletes and improve on their individual performance. “Several sport studies exploring the coach-athlete relationship claim that effective coaching includes basic ingredients such as empathic understanding, honesty, support, liking, acceptance, friendliness, cooperation, caring and respect” (Moen, Hoigaard, & Peters, 2014, p. 76). The challenge for me is finding the balance between being supportive and meeting the individual needs of team members while also enhancing their ability and understanding of the sport. Understanding how to lead and coach various personalities within the team is essential to the team’s

Coaches have a huge impact on the sportsmanship and behavior displayed by their team. According to Churdar (2015), “The coach bears the greatest burden of responsibility for sportsmanship. His influence upon the attitudes and behavior of the players, the student body, and the fans is unequalled.” (p. 2). Coaches have a huge influence on the behavior and attitude of their athletes. According to John Wooden, “Profound responsibilities come with teaching and coaching. You can do so much good-or harm. It’s why I believe that next to parenting, teaching and coaching are the two most important professions in the world” (as cited in Matheny, 2015, p. 99-100). This is a very weighty but true statement. The majority of athletes look to their coaches for guidance not only in athletics, but in life.

Coaches come from many different backgrounds. Some are former players, some are students of the game, and some just want to learn a new skill. Growing up, I have had good coaches, mediocre coaches, and bad coaches. Although our team record, or my personal seasons haven’t always been up to my expectations, each of these coaches have taught me different ways to coach the game. My sport of choice is baseball. I have played for 14 years, and although an arm injury has probably ended my playing days, my love and passion for the sport is still there. When I think of “Why do I want to coach?” I think of three main reasons that attract my interest. These include, I love seeing people reach new heights through hard work, I feel I have a strong yet unorthodox

I have been playing baseball since I was 7 years old and I have experienced various coaching styles throughout the years. My experience with the Wheatland Athletics Association playing on the Ducks Baseball Travel Team has been a positive experience. The coaches create a healthy environment of support in developing and tweaking a player’s skills with organized and structured practices, as well as, the opportunity to use the batting cages on our own time. The instruction and guidance given during games help motivate to keep a positive attitude when the team is a bit off and not performing to the best of our abilities. On the other, the coaches keep the team level-headed and humble when the momentum is going our way as the lead can disappear as fast as it came. Along with helping prepare an athlete physically, they also encourage a strong mindset. The coaches emphasize the importance of perseverance and endurance in keeping focused when the going gets tough and most importantly, to never give up. They also enforce the importance of school and finding the balance between athletics and schoolwork. This foster a strong work ethic both on and off the field. In addition, finding the balance between athletics and academics is crucial, as they are both

Coaching Philosophy My coaching philosophy will emphasize sportsmanship, responsibility, self-confidence, and a desire to succeed. My athletes will be disciplined, sportsmanlike, and very motivated to put in an intense effort on the floor every practice and game. As a future coach, these are my values, my leadership style, and my purpose for coaching. I will provide a positive sport experience for athletes.

I need to be flexible, always looking for ways to improve coaching techniques and keep up with the times, regulations and trends. Mark Guthrie author of Coaching Track & Field Successfully explains that, “as a young coach, you will create a dynamic philosophy that will continue to evolve throughout your career until such a time as you are comfortable and confident with the way you make decisions for your team. Your coaching philosophy is shaped by the experiences you gain working with different athletes in various situations.” (Guthrie, 3) From my past and present experiences working with coaches and athletes I will begin to develop a deeper, fuller philosophy. When I get the opportunity to become a coach I want to be a positive influence and role model on those I coach.

Overcoming the fact that one day you will not be able to play your sport is one of the hardest things all athletes must one day go through. It is a fact of the game that one day your eligibility runs out or if you are one of the lucky few who play professionally, your body’s years of health do not last forever. Coaching just to be around the sport and spread the joy that sport gave you for so many years. My coaching philosophy relies extremely heavily on this information. I have always been a person who is passionate about the things I love because I do not believe in not putting your whole heart into something. The most critical component to success in whatever sport you love lies in honoring the game that so many before you loved and excelled at. Excelling and honoring the game means having respect for everyone involved with the sport. Giving respect to your coaches is something I learned from the beginning. Being respectful and having a positive attitude learned at a young age is something completely taken for granted until you have adults who can neither adapt nor be flexible when something does not go their way. Sport is a form of education in that it teaches you similar life lessons that will be useful for far longer than the amount of time that you spend actually playing it.

Coaching, however challenging, is a great way to influence the lives of others while also building their character. For as long as there have been sports, there have been people teaching the sport to the players and making them better at it. Coaches must have certain qualities in order to obtain success. One must also look at a coach’s motivation for his job, his passion for what he does, his methods for coaching, and how he became a coach in order to fully understand him. There are many questions someone may want to ask a coach about his profession if they are interested in coaching. Some questions would include: Why did he choose this as a profession? How did he get into coaching? What does one have to do to get a job as a coach? How

My topic is similar to yours. I have always been intrigued to examine the relationship between coach and athlete. In my experience, I have found coaches who provide positive support and are constructive with their criticism are more enjoyable to play for and give the athlete a more positive experience. Coaches that come across as condescending seem to push kids away from the game. It is important that the student-athlete has a positive experience, especially student-athletes at a young age. I feel if a student-athlete has a negative experience at the interscholastic level he or she will be less likely to stick with the sport.