Written by As a coach, team organizer, or administrative representative you are constantly looking for ways to improve, be more efficient, and spend less time and energy on things you don’t have to. In this mindset you are really only looking out for the bad, the inefficient. We tend to do this as humans as well, if one aspect of our life is solid we won’t pay attention to it, and instead focus on the “bad.” This generates a lens through which we see the world, one of having the feeling of needing to improve or maximizing your opportunities.
As a player, if your coach only, or mainly, points out everything that you are doing wrong and now what you are doing correctly you’ll start feeling like you aren’t cut out for it, you’re not as good as the other players, and general feelings of not being or not giving enough. As much as we would like to rapidly improve, everything takes time and is just part of the process.
We have to start with what’s available to us, and in this case it would be the skill set that comes with each individual. Once we’ve highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of individuals we can start game planning a course of action that will be suitable for that athlete. But the important part is that we do this AFTER already knowing the athlete’s capabilities, and after praising their strengths.
If you see your (basketball) player make a nice move to the rim but they don’t end up finishing, a natural instinct would be to say “You gotta finish those,” instead of praising their play right before the missed shot. You might think that you are setting an expectation by doing this, by getting it into the players heads that they should be above where they are now, constantly hungry for improvement in any area. What this actually does is cultivate a strict environment where if the players don’t feel like they are performing up to the organization and their personal standards then they’ll start experiencing mental and physical fatigue.
We all need to understand that you should look for areas to improve or maximize within your organization, but it should be approached in a healthy, positive way. Toxic sports culture spawns from decisions made at the higher level, but it also comes from the coaches and players. If the coach demands too much, without giving a little back to the players, burnout is almost inevitable, and results will start to seem more scarce. Remember, it’s not about just shutting it out completely, but taking baby steps to see HOW you can improve. Next time one of your athletes does something you feel like they could improve, highlight what they did right FIRST, and then talk about where they can improve. They will be much more likely to actively listen to your feedback and correct it themselves.