As a Youth Sports Coach, Focus on Fun and Skill Development

As a Youth Sports Coach, Focus on Fun and Skill Development
By guest author: Adrian F Alexa


One of the most important things in coaching children is to focus on fun and skill development. Especially at very young ages, competition shouldn't be an essential issue, because kids should first of all learn to enjoy the game and have fun playing it, so they can grow to love it. How you conduct your practice sessions and manage to motivate your players can make the great difference between playing just for one season, or playing forever.

You should set your coaching philosophy based on the particular age group you're coaching, because children have both physical and emotional abilities according to their age. You cannot expect the same results from a 6-year old as from a 15 year-old player. As a youth sports coach, you will be working with children, therefore it is essential that you focus on fun and skill development.

It's normal as a coach to work towards winning as much games as possible, but when you're working with children, encouraging their best efforts is more important that winning every game. Their results will not define you as a coach, but the passion they develop for the game will. Every practice session should revolve around the kids' development, and having fun is a major factor in their progress. Concentrate on teaching skills and helping overcome difficulties, and always encourage each and every one of them. Everybody strives to win, but you must convince your players that a winner is a person who gives his best efforts, regardless of the situation.

Bare in mind that children are very impressionable, and as a coach you will also be a role model for them. If they feel that all you care about is winning, they will stop having fun and start feeling under pressure. Enjoying the game is essential for their skill development, and building their confidence is your responsibility as a coach. Give them plenty of positive feedback and make every kid feel he's an important part of the team, whether he's mastering a skill or still struggling to progress. Make the kids understand that making mistakes is part of the game, and as long as they put their best effort into it they will progress soon. As their coach you must help them learn from their mistakes, not punish them.

Last but not least, never use the scoreboard for feedback. Encourage them and give positive feedback judging on their efforts and dedication, not their wins or losses. And always remember, their best results will come when they're having fun.

Adrian is the editor of this article. He also started a new project about small plastic bottles. This is a website where you can also find out more about recycling of plastic.

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Coaches Behaving Badly! How To Avoid This

By Stephen K Reynolds

Just the other night we had a game and 2nd or 3rd inning the other coach who was at 3rd base and there was a cal at home where the batter went around on a pitch that he was trying to get out of away of. the umpire called a strike and the coach at 3rd immediately started to Question the call! the umpire told him that he called a strike and then the coach kept asking him why.

The manger for our team said you can't intimidate the umpire and then they started to get into it!
Shortly thereafter our manager told the guy to shut up and then it was out of hand. the field umpire that was an adult came in and told both of them to chill.

Later the Board President showed up then at the end of the game when everyone shakes hands the guy wouldn't shake our hands I said to the guy "you can't be serious" I was then asked to go and talk to our team. Other board members arrives and they talked for another 15 minutes.

My point is this: Stay cool don't keep asking the Umpire hoping he'll change the call! thats what the guy was trying to do! Our manager shouldn't have fired back either. Its a little league game for crying out loud. Coaching little league Youth baseball requires you to be an adult at all time! The players need to see better role models than this!

If you can't keep it in perspective then you need to get out of youth baseball coaching! This is about the players not the adults.

Hey remember to have fun and enjoy this great game!

Stephen K Reynolds is publisher of the LSR Unlimted "Free" newsletter which focuses on helping newcomers & seasoned pros learn the secrets to marketing in the ever changing world of the internet! He is also a youth baseball coach in Western Montana Working on the Internet allows him the freedom to coach little league baseball. For more information on this e-mail lsrwealth@gmail.com

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How to Build Self-Confidence in a Young Athlete

By Jay Granat

Every day, I get calls from athletes who feel that they are lacking in self-confidence. I am currently working with a skier, a swimmer, a bowler, a tennis player, a pitcher, a second baseman, a golf pro and two soccer players. All of these people are trying to believe in themselves a bit more and trying to elevate their self-confidence.

Yesterday,I got a call from a baseball player who is playing triple a ball for a major league team. He is worried because he has been in a hitting slump. In addition, he is fearful that his lack of confidence will prevent him from making it into the major leagues. Obviously, he is under some significant pressure and to make matters worse, he is doubting himself.

It is important to understand that players, parents, coaches and therapists spend a lot of time building youngsters' confidence. And there are many ways to help people to believe in themselves and in their physical abilities. I have dozens of them.

Bedtime is a great time of the day to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. When you get ready to go to sleep, you can use this quiet time to build yourself up instead of dwelling on all that went wrong earlier in the day or worrying about what could go wrong tomorrow.

Before you go to sleep tonight, make make a list of seven times in your life when you felt very comfortable and good about yourself. You can include a good grade, a great game, an award you won, succeeding at something that was difficult or working hard to master a task or to finish a difficult project. One of my patients loved to remind himself of how he felt when he learned to surf. Another, like to revisit his best basketball games.

A swimmer I worked with like to take herself back to her best times and to the meets where she touched the wall first at the end of the race.

As you get ready to go to sleep spend a minute revisiting each of these experiences and accomplishments. When you are done, just let yourself relax, have a good night of sleep and maybe dream about some of your goals your positive accomplishments.

Do this for three weeks. Stacking your positive memories like this on a daily basis can help you to build your confidence.

And, the next time you go out on the field or on the court, carry some of these thoughts with you and see if you start to feel more relaxed, confident and focused with this new frame of mind.

Jay P. Granat, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and the founder of http://www.stayinthezone.com He has written several books and developed several programs to help people perform to their fullest potential at sports, at work and at school. Dr. Granat, a former university professor, has appeared in The New York Times, Good Morning America, AP, ESPN, Golf Digest, The BBC and The CBC. He can be reached at info@stayinthezone.com. His books include Zone Tennis and Get Into The Zone In Just One Minute. He is also the author of How To Get Into The Zone With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, How To Lower Your Golf Score With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump and Bed Time Stories For Young Athletes. Golf Digest named Dr. Granat one of America's Top Ten Mental Gurus. He was recently featured in a documentary film on long distance running. Dr. Granat writes a weekly column for three newspapers. The method described in this article is included in Bedtime Stories For Young Athletes. http://www.stayinthezone.com/shop-stay-in-the-zone.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=66

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