What Does Being a Good Coach Really Mean?

Everyone is looking for a good coach, but what defines “a good coach?” Parents want their kids to have a fun experience, but they also want them to learn something and improve their skills. Having a good coach can foster a long-term love for sports and physical activity just as much as having a bad coach can deter children from sports. A study from the University of Maine found that the dropout rate of youth athletes is 26% per year but improved to 5% when young athletes played for a qualified coach.

What does it take to be considered a qualified coach?

1. Successful coaches do everything possible to bring the best out of their players.

A coach should make it his or her goal of any interaction to leave every player better today than yesterday. Can you answer the question, “Who got better today because of me?” A good coach inspires people to take on difficult challenges and gives the guidance and encouragement players need to achieve the desired results.

2. The best coaches know that every player has a different style of communication and can deliver guidance and encouragement based on each player’s unique style and personality.

What looks like resistance, opposition, and stubbornness in some young players is often a lack of clarity or understanding. Quality coaches are concise with their explanations and precise in their demonstrations.

They also know that coaching is much more than managing a drill or activity. Coaches can take three or four minutes to explain a drill, but during the drill the “coaching” often sounds like this: “Okay, next up; Keep moving; Rotate; No, wrong direction; Too bad, end of the line.” That might manage a drill but there is no coaching or teaching. A good coach teaches a player why the action was wrong and how to improve.

Superior coaches are future-oriented. They not only teach players how to improve each skill, but they recognize when athletes have reached their goals and are prepared to introduce new skills necessary to progress to the next level of performance.

3. A desirable coach knows that if youth athletes aren’t having fun, they aren’t learning or improving.

Jennifer L. Etnier, PhD is a distinguished professor and Department Chair of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and author of many books including Coaching for the Love of the Game where she says, “A good youth coach is one who can reinforce the things that were done right during competition, regardless of the outcome, and help better prepare the athletes for the next event. A good youth coach ensures that every practice, competition and communication is focused on all athletes having a positive and enjoyable experience. Youth sports should be about having fun while learning to work hard for a common goal, to prioritize developing skills over winning, to persist in the face of adversity, to be a good sport, and to be competitive.”

Coaches at the youth sports level should focus on development and building confidence. If players are encouraged and believe in themselves, they will work harder and stick with sports longer. A coach that teaches sportsmanship, confidence, and leadership as much as he teaches athletic skills, is a coach you want on your team.