Written by Many athletes have experienced what it’s like to leave the court or field and prepare themselves mentally only to have coaches criticize them for a subpar performance. Players just need some time to think things through since they’ve heard enough. On the flip side, coaches feel compelled to speak frankly and point out shortcomings in the game.
Miscommunication
The coach won’t always be able to see everything that a player does, and vice versa. This often ends in misunderstandings that cause the player and coach to communicate poorly. Following a defeat happens to be the most frequent occasion when miscommunication develops since the coach and player don’t always agree on significant elements of the game. While coaches think their players could have done far better, some players will feel they have given it their all and disagree.
Fixing Broken Bonds
In order to be on the same page, coaches must place themselves in the position of the player. What has the player experienced? How must they feel? Mental and physical fatigue often play a big role in how a player interacts with their coach. If they’re exhausted, they’ll cut conservations short, if they aren’t conversations can be dragged out. Fatigue also heavily affects how the player talks with the coach, whether it be with a respectful attitude or irrational use of language.
While it’s not always the coaches fault, in order for the players and coaches to get along better, the players must also understand the coaches’ philosophies and put themselves in the shoes of the coaches. Players need to always keep in mind that coaches are older and more experienced than them, and they too have played the sport. This obviously has some drawbacks because not all coaches are helpful, but players need to learn to accept and follow advise in order to improve as athletes and as people.
Addressing The Flaws
Coaches need to be conscious of the way they handle losing after a game. Having the squad stay for a few minutes after the game ends to regroup and have a team meeting about what went wrong and how to improve on losses is the most popular strategy. It’s typical for some exceptional players to believe they’ve performed better than their peers, but everyone on the team needs to understand how the each player plays an important role and affects overall team performance.
Conclusion
In the end, it is completely dependent on each coach and their philosophies on how they feel that they should address a bad performance. Some believe in being harsh to mentally toughen players and others find a more lighthearted approach as to not harm them. These are just but a few strategies or facts that bring awareness to this dilemma.