A Coaching Philosophy
Some coaches get turned off by the word "philosophy." They cannot see how any one "philosophy" can have an impact on their daily problems and work. One's teaching or coaching philosophy, however, is actually a very practical matter. An analogy to one's philosophy may be equated to a pair of glasses that filter reality through one's personal experiences, opinions, values and beliefs. It has, therefore a direct influence on how we see and understand the world around us, what actions we take, and why we choose to behave in the ways we do.
In fact, every coach, whether aware of it or not, is following certain principles or his philosophy while coaching. It may seem reasonable to assume that the philosophy that directs the coach's everyday life thinking and actions would be also applied by her/him to coaching. Yet, this often seems not to be the case. For example, most coaches would agree that a less skilled child with little or no self-confidence needs special attention and time investment. Yet, who are the kids that usually get the most attention, the most playing time, the most praise?
Still, lets assume, for example, that a businessman discovered that the firm he is negotiating with was dishonest. He decides to do his business with another group despite the fact that he may end up paying more for essentially the same product. This may not sound like good business, yet many a businessman I talked to expressed willingness to stick to their principles even if it meant higher expenses. How many coaches do you know that would stick to principles of sportsmanship or fair play rather than win a game?
Obviously, we can readily see a gap between what a coach may think is the right thing to do in every day life situations, and the actions he/she ends up taking on the playing field.
Developing an Alternative Coaching Philosophy
Dr. Rainer Martens, a world renown sport psychologist and publisher, explains that the development of a functional coaching philosophy involves two major tasks:
- become a student of your own feelings and who you are, and
- prioritize and delineate your coaching objectives
Developing Self-Awareness
Children are great imitators. Therefore, you are more likely to shape them into your own image than into what you would actually like them to become. The coach is a very powerful role model. This is why it is important that the coach be honest as he/she evaluates her/himself and get in touch with here/his own feelings. The coach needs to discover whether he really likes who he/she is. A quick subjective self-awareness test would be to ask oneself "When I was a child, would I have liked to have my current self as a parent? As a coach? If the answer is "yes," explain to yourself why do you think the way you do. What is it that makes you a good parent, teacher, coach?
If you realize that you do not like everything about yourself, don't panic, nobody's perfect. The key factor is not for every coach to be a perfect individual. It is crucial, however, that the coach be honest with her/himself, and willing to take the appropriate steps to change for the better. Dr. Martens suggests that one such first step would be to form an open door policy and solicit feed back from the kids, assistant coaches and the parents. This, according to Dr. Martens means that the coach needs to learn to listen--to be attentive to both overt and covert communication patterns. Good listening skills ensure two way communications and thus decrease the "filtering effect" that often distorts the true message delivered by the other party.
Daniel Frankl, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Kinesiology and Nutritional Science
http://www.kidsfirstsoccer.com
danyf@adelphia.net
