What makes a good coach?

I was recently asked two questions about youth sports.

Question #1: What makes a good coach?

Question #2: What type of coach do you prefer for your children.

Question #1: What makes a good coach?

The first and most important thing is that good coaches coach the child and then the sport.  There is a difference between coaching the sport vs. coaching the child.    Every child is different.   They learn differently, they hear differently, they respond to teaching differently.   

Good coaches recognize that connecting with each child is what makes for good athletes, and great teams.

Some coaches only know what worked for them as players and cannot understand why everyone does not respond the way they did.     My son when he was 8 years old had a baseball coach that played at fairly high level but was not able to translate his experience as a player to being a teacher of the game.    This coach was an amazing athlete but did not have the ability to teach or be a positive role model.

There are coaches that try to make every player fit in a box instead of throwing the box away.    Instead of coaching to a players’ strength while working on the weakness, they worry to much about what the player can't do and judge them solely on that. 

A good coach is great teacher!   A good coaches make the experience not only a learning one but fun at the same time.

Question #2: What type of coach do you prefer for your children.

TEACHER!

Each of my children is very different and their needs are not the same.  However there are some common themes.

Coaches that use positive reinforcement are vital in building their confidence.    

Positive and truthful criticism is something that my children seek out.   This type of criticism makes my children more confident and less hesitant to try new things.

My daughter does well with coaches that keep it simple.   My son on the other hand wants not only the technical but desires the tactical reasoning behind everything.   He wants to know why he is doing things!