Probably my favorite coach of all-time: Chuck Heater, Marshall Defensive Coordinator
I posted this on CoachHuey.com quite a few years back. It is a paper I did for my Master's degree.
- What is motivation? – Coaching definition
- Players knowing you care
- Players getting better
- What is motivation? – Psychological definition
- Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self-actualization
- Motivating players to prepare
- Bringing out the best in others
- Believe in ‘em
- Hold ‘em accountable
- Give ‘em supportive feedback
- Cultural awareness
- Coaching styles
- Authoritarian – Coaching Matters study of 10 Top NFL Coaches
- Authoritative - Bill Walsh, Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, John Wooden, Chuck Heater
Coaching Styles & Motivation
Motivation is essential for success in coaching football and teaching. Success is a process that is driven and fueled by motivation, which can come from within the individual and from outside the individual. There is a wide range of coaching styles that have proven to be effective at motivating athletes at the high school, college, and professional levels, and I will investigate to determine the best method(s).
Motivation is essential for success in coaching football and teaching. Success is a process that is driven and fueled by motivation, which can come from within the individual and from outside the individual. There is a wide range of coaching styles that have proven to be effective at motivating athletes at the high school, college, and professional levels, and I will investigate to determine the best method(s).
The strength coach at Washington State once said, “In order to motivate kids, you have to do two things. The first thing is that the players have to know you care. The second thing is that they have to be getting better at what they are doing. If you do not care for them, they will not play for you. If you care about them but they cannot see any improvement in what they are doing, they will not play hard” (Browning, 2005, p. 71).
It is true that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. A good coach will ask questions if they notice that a player might have a problem at home, and players appreciate the concern, even if the coach cannot solve their problem. Jim Tressel explains how the word "coach" came to be used in an athletic context in his book, The Winners Manual (Tressel & Fabry, 1997, p.54). It comes from the word stagecoach, which was the major mode of transportation used by people before the automobile. Whether it was drawn by a horse or steam engine, the stagecoach took people from one place to another. The coach in athletics does the same thing—he or she is able to take people from where they are to where they want to be. This is the essence of what a coach truly is.
Players want to get better so they can be successful at their sport and so they have a chance to continue to play at the next level if they choose to do so. If a coach can get his or her players from where they are to where they want to be, his or her players will be more motivated. A coach must have both a sound strategy and a sound method of teaching fundamental skills so that players can see improvement. People want a good return on their investment—players don’t want to put a huge effort into something unless they see results. University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer says, “It is hard to motivate players when they give a great effort and the play is not successful. We tell our players, ‘If you do your job, we will score.’ That is motivation,” (Browning, 2005, p. 153).
The late Hall of Fame NFL coach Bill Walsh believed that in the future that only the most informed (knowledgeable) and most talented (having a demonstrated ability to teach) coaches will gain the respect of their players (Walsh & Billick, 1998, p. 204) and be able to best motivate them.
Motivation is usually defined as an internal state that arouses, directs, and maintains behavior (Woolfolk, 2007, p. 373). Psychologists explain motivation in terms of both internal factors, known as intrinsic motivation and external factors, known as extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the driving force within a person that causes them to do something. A person with intrinsic motivation will do something because they want to do it, not because they have to do it.
Extrinsic motivation is based on external factors, which can include rewards, punishment, and any other outside force that causes pressure to make someone do something. A person with extrinsic motivation will do something because they feel that they have to do it, not because they want to do it.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can exist at the same time. A person can want to do something and at the same time feel outside pressure to do that same thing. Both internal and external forces are driving the individual. Both coaches and teachers have recognized the need to use both types of motivation to drive individuals, because intrinsic motivation is usually not at the high level that it needs to be at in order to effectively drive behavior. Research shows that teachers must encourage and nurture intrinsic motivation, while making sure that extrinsic motivation supports learning (Woolfolk, 2007, p. 373.
Abraham Maslow proposed that people have a hierarchy of needs, in which lower-level needs (survival, safety, belonging, and self-esteem) must be met before higher-level needs (intellectual achievement, aesthetic appreciation, and self-actualization) can be met. The highest need is self-actualization, in which one is able to fully reach their potential. Helping others to fully reach their athletic potential is what coaching and teaching is all about, but lower-level needs must be first addressed. If a student-athlete is having problems at home, they will not be motivated to succeed in the classroom or on the practice field.
The quality of a team’s preparation is what causes a team to win or lose in the sport of football, assuming both teams are somewhat similar in talent. The legendary basketball coach John Wooden, who won ten national championships in twelve years at UCLA said, “In my coaching I informed every player who came under my supervision that the outcome of a game was simply a by-product of the effort we made to prepare,” (Jamison & Wooden, 1997, p.54). Coach Wooden also says, “Preparation is where success is truly found” (Jamison & Wooden, p. 53). One of my favorite quotes is by former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson, who said, “Winning ain’t no fluke. We got down and got dirtier than they did.”
Winning doesn’t happen by luck or accident, it is a result of quality preparation. Preparation is not easy—it is hard work. Motivation is essential to get players to work hard. The most successful coaches will be able to motivate their players to work hard so that they are prepared to win.
How preparation is structured is important in motivation. Two coaches, Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll, use this to their advantage. Much of what the Urban Meyer does at practice at Florida is to keep kids’ interest. He will start practice with an intense and competitive drill to create high levels of arousal, and this arousal will create the motivation needed to fuel athletes to have a successful practice.
Former University of Southern California football coach Pete Carroll used the same approach. Everything in his football program was about competition, and he wanted practice to be as competitive as possible. Competition is the best way to motivate and drive student-athletes to work hard, because competition is fun.
A big problem with practice is getting players to go full-speed. I have heard both Coach Meyer and Coach Carroll speak at coaching clinics and I have tried to incorporate competitive situations into practice. I have found it to be an amazingly effective way to get players to go full speed.
Motivation is somewhat easy during the season when games are being played each week, but it can be more difficult during the off-season. Many colleges do this, but Pete Carroll was the first one I heard talk about it. He split his players up into teams and had them compete against each other in an Off-season Olympics. I have not had the opportunity to try this, but I strongly believe it to be a great way to motivate players during what can be a boring and unproductive time of the year for many football programs.
The book, Bringing Out the Best in Others by Thomas K. Connellan, Ph.D. does an excellent job of explaining motivation and how to bring out the best in others using three key principles (Connellan, 2003, p. 37):
1. Believe in 'em
2. Hold 'em accountable
3. Give 'em supportive feedback
1. Believe in 'em
High expectations are not the key to success, positive expectations are. You can have high expectations—that is, expect a lot from people—but at the same time you may not believe they can actually succeed. Positive expectations means believing they can succeed. And you have to believe that in order to make it happen. Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” When we expect to reach our goals, it becomes almost inevitable that we will reach them.
Of course, positive expectations by themselves are not enough. They have to be communicated to others, they must be understood, and they must be accepted. They also must be communicated in a way that others will perceive as being positive.
We can orally communicate our expectations to others, but we also unconsciously communicate our expectations to others. According to research, large pupil size can indicate more favorable attitudes and expectations. We let others know what we think of them simply by the way we make eye contact, even if we don't realize it.
To bring out the best in others, every fiber in our body, every cell in our being must communicate positive expectations. All of our messages, spoken and unspoken, must be congruent. If there's a conflict between what we say and our body language, our body language has a much greater impact than our words.
Our expectations have a significant impact on the performance of others. If we expect the best from people, and if we communicate it clearly and consistently, people will respond.
2. Hold 'em accountable
The number one requirement for getting things done is that someone has to do it. This is obvious, but something that is often overlooked is that without accountability, nothing ever really gets done. Too often what you hear is, “That's everybody's responsibility.” Someone, some identifiable person, has to 'own' the goal. Although many may contribute in achieving the goal, someone has to be ultimately accountable. Anything that is 'everyone's responsibility' quickly becomes no one's responsibility. Lack of accountability simply paves the way to mediocrity.
How to make accountability work (Connellan, p. 57-58):
1. Establish Accountability – The first step is to assign accountability without assigning blame. Accountability is positive. Blame is negative.
2. Set Clear-Cut Goals – Be sure everyone understands the goal.
3. Develop an Action Plan – This is how you will reach the goal. Goals aren't reached by accident; they are achieved by design.
4. Engage – The more that people are engaged in the goals process (identifying goals, developing plans, and measuring progress), the more accountable they become.
How do you make people accountable without pointing the finger of blame? The key to accountability is to focus on the action, not the person. If you blame the player personally, he will not want to fix the behavior. That way you can get players to help you to fix the action. Negative words will tear players down, but positive words will build them up. We can critique a player’s actions, but we want to be positive in our communication with the players themselves.
Trinity H.S. (KY) Football Coach Andrew Coverdale refers to accountability as “shared responsibility.” All players share responsibility in the success of the team. Players must know they are responsible for both their actions and their failure to act responsibly. If another teammate is doing something to hurt the team, the player must know that he cannot sit back and do nothing. He must accept responsibility and help fix the problem for the success of the team.
Now that you have the tools for establishing accountability, what are people accountable for? Goals. Goals create a proactive rather than a reactive mindset. They also create a focus. Too often people become so busy that they lose sight of what they are doing. Goals are what you expect to see accomplished by carrying out your action plans.
Jack Welch, the former CEO at General Electric, set his goals high, as he believed people have a much greater capacity of accomplishing things than they normally use. But, if goals are set too high, people become frustrated and give up. There is a concept called 'gradient stress,' in which the key is to bring people along gradually. Too many leaders try to accomplish lofty goals without any support in the form of positive expectations and positive feedback. This type of support is critical in helping people to accomplish lofty goals.
The danger in setting goals too high is that people will give up. Others believe it is better to set goals low, since success is motivating. The danger in setting goals too low is that there's no challenge and people lose interest. The maximum motivation seems to occur in the middle, where success is likely, but there’s still some challenge and risk involved.
The best way to set goals is to cover several goals at once. This provides both kinds of motivation: the satisfaction of meeting the easier goals and the challenge of trying to achieve more difficult goals. This can be done by getting players to agree to some reasonable goals and then getting them to choose two areas where they can really stretch themselves. Now they have some results that they are accountable for and they can experience some success with room for improvement.
Goals are important. Too often people fail to perform because they don’t know what is expected of them. The leader thinks that they have communicated the goals, but the reality is that many team members don’t really know what they are accountable for.
The third step in establishing accountability is to develop action plans. The action plan consists of the steps you will take to reach your goal.
The final step in establishing accountability is to engage. The more that people are engaged in the development of goals, plans, and feedback, the more accountable they become. Highly motivated team members will often set even higher goals for themselves than you would imagine. However, if they set them too high, they will not really be engaged. This is where the Inverted Motivation Curve comes into use.
If you have to be more involved in setting the goals, let the team members take the lead in developing the action plan. Ask, “What needs to be done in order for you to reach this goal?” Then work out the necessary steps together. Creativity and brainstorming come into play in the process of developing the action plan. There’s nothing too creative about setting goals. Make sure to put your action plan in writing so there’s no way anybody can misunderstand it.
The third step in establishing accountability is to develop action plans. The action plan consists of the steps you will take to reach your goal.
The final step in establishing accountability is to engage. The more that people are engaged in the development of goals, plans, and feedback, the more accountable they become. Highly motivated team members will often set even higher goals for themselves than you would imagine. However, if they set them too high, they will not really be engaged. This is where the Inverted Motivation Curve comes into use.
If you have to be more involved in setting the goals, let the team members take the lead in developing the action plan. Ask, “What needs to be done in order for you to reach this goal?” Then work out the necessary steps together. Creativity and brainstorming come into play in the process of developing the action plan. There’s nothing too creative about setting goals. Make sure to put your action plan in writing so there’s no way anybody can misunderstand it.
The message from most people regarding accountability is “Let me know what you want
me to do, hold me accountable for getting results, and then get out of my way” (Connellan, p. 77).
A great way to hold players accountable for performance is to videotape games and practice and grade players’ performance. Players can lie to their coaches and to themselves about their performance, but “the eye in the sky does not lie.” Players will be more motivated when their actions are held accountable for all of their teammates and coaches to see.
Boston , MA
A great way to hold players accountable for performance is to videotape games and practice and grade players’ performance. Players can lie to their coaches and to themselves about their performance, but “the eye in the sky does not lie.” Players will be more motivated when their actions are held accountable for all of their teammates and coaches to see.
2. Give 'em supportive
feedback
Feedback is information we receive that
tells us how well we’re doing. Feedback
helps us stay on track and make progress toward our goals.
Three types of feedback:
A. Motivational feedback – cheering for
your football team.
B. Informational feedback – telling the
score, down, distance, and yard-line.
C.
Developmental feedback – corrective action taken when someone
isn’t performing up to standard. This is
where supportive confrontation of nonperformance is used. Coaches must confront nonperformance, but it
must be done in a way that creates commitment rather than grudging compliance
or outright resistance.
A.
Motivational Feedback
Coaches think they give plenty of
feedback, but it’s mostly informational feedback. When players say they aren’t getting enough
feedback, the coach can’t believe it.
But, the players need motivational feedback. We need to use information as the basis for
our motivational feedback.
Three types of motivational feedback:
1. Positive Feedback -
Cheer Loudly
2. Negative Feedback -
Boo
3. No Feedback - Say
Nothing
If someone improves, the coach can
acknowledge it, criticize it, or say nothing.
1. Positive Feedback
= Reinforcement
Positive
Feedback is energizing. It validates
your efforts and it makes you want to achieve even greater things.
2.
Negative Feedback = Punishment
Negative
feedback is also energizing, but in a different way. The result is often a renewed effort to
perform better, but not always.
3. No Feedback = Extinction
No
feedback is even more punishing than negative feedback. Making no response whatsoever to someone’s
good performance, even if it’s just a slight improvement, will extinguish their
motivation to do better. They’ve put in
the extra effort to improve, but it hasn’t been recognized. It is crucial for coaches to reinforce
improvements, even if the player isn’t ‘there’ yet. Why? Because once you get a behavior pattern
started, it takes only a small amount of reinforcement to keep it going.
No
feedback is just as bad with poor performance.
Ignoring poor performance will cause that poor performance to happen
again. The saying, “Whatever you
tolerate, you encourage and allow it to occur again,” is true.
Five Principles of Positive
Reinforcement (Connellan, p. 92):
1. Reinforce
immediately – the more immediate, the more powerful. End-of-the-year reviews aren’t very
effective, because they are too far removed in time. Let your players know as soon as possible
what they did right.
2. Reinforce any
improvement, not just excellence – by praising improvement, you reinforce the
formation of good habits. If you want
more improvement, you have to reinforce improvement.
3. Reinforce
specifically – be specific about what the person did well, not just what needs
to be improved.
4. Reinforce new
behaviors continuously – this is the best way to develop good habits.
5. Reinforce good
habits intermittently – once good habits are developed, positive reinforcement
isn’t needed as frequently. People will
begin to reinforce themselves once they reach a certain level of performance.
There is a problem with following positive
reinforcement with negative reinforcement.
You condition the person to wait for the other shoe to drop. After hearing, “It’s good, but…” people will
stop hearing the positives and just brace themselves for whatever comes after
the ‘but.’ Then your interactions become
basically negative.
The word ‘now’ is a more positive
alternative to the word ‘but.’ For
example, “That was a great job of making first contact; now let’s work on
keeping our feet moving and finishing the block!”
If a player is performing below what you
consider an acceptable level, the coach should get face-to-face with him and
reinforce him continually and stick with it.
The coach must reinforce every improvement the player makes, however
small. Once the player is performing well,
the coach can back off and let momentum do the work—but still surprise the
player with a good word or a pat on the back every now and then.
B.
Informational Feedback
Informational feedback is simply what it
says—providing information on performance.
As a rule, it’s best to have the individual measure and monitor their
own performance. The player will be able
to spot a problem before you can, which encourages self-management.
Feedback (Connellan, p. 106-107) should
be:
1. Goal-Related – A goal is a powerful
motivator. Informational feedback lets people
know what kind of progress they’re making towards that goal.
2. Immediate – It is important to give feedback
as immediately as possible after the event has occurred.
3. Graphic – A picture is worth a thousand
words. Video is even better.
C.
Developmental Feedback
There
are five keys in discussing performance issues in a way that elicits
commitment, rather than just excuses or grudging compliance (Connellan, p. 113-122).
1. Define the issue without pointing
fingers.
2. Ask for solutions and focus on solving
the problem in the future.
3. Explore options – brainstorming.
4. Reinforce positive responses from the
individual.
5. Close the deal and get the person’s
commitment to accomplish a task or achieve certain results.
Cultural Awareness
Most
of the players I coach are African American, and I am not. It is important that I be aware of the best
coaching methods for my players and be culturally competent. Culturally competent teachers believe in their
students, connect with their lives and cultures, and learn who they really are (Woolfolk, 2007, p. 190). Exemplary African American teachers are
described repeatedly by their students as having high expectations and a
demanding teaching style. They insisted
that students learn and refused to lower their standards, even if it meant
working extra hours with students after school (Woolfolk, p. 191).
Authoritarian and
Authoritative Coaching Styles
There
are a wide range of coaching styles that have proven to be effective at
motivating athletes at the high school, college, and professional levels. Coaching styles range from authoritarian (low
warmth, high control) to authoritative (high warmth, high control). Both groups are firm in establishing rules
and procedures, but authoritarian styles are more harsh and controlling, while
authoritative styles allow more input from their players.
NFL head coaches have traditionally been
very authoritarian in their coaching style.
In a sport as violent and forceful as football, the most beneficial
methods of motivating and disciplining athletes are commonly based on
intimidation. There are two types of
intimidation—physical and psychological, each requiring that the head coach
have the authority and power to enforce a strict rule of conduct (Adler, 2003,
p. 320).
The
book concluded that, “an overly threatening, intimidating demeanor, as well as
a hostile disposition and gruff nature, are critical—perhaps
mandatory—qualities for any coach who hopes to achieve greatness at the NFL
level” (Adler, p. 326).
There
were exceptions to book’s conclusion, most notably Bill Walsh, who used more
psychological methods to get his players to do what he wanted them to. He believed that a coach’s managerial style
is a direct reflection of an individual’s personality (Walsh & Billick, 1998, p. 190).
I
have heard this advice repeatedly from coaches and I can verify it myself with
past experience: “Be yourself.” Don’t
try to copy the coaching style of someone else, because your players will see
right through it.
The
athletes of today are different than those of the past, and traditional methods
of motivating these athletes must be modified.
Athletes today will no longer blindly accept and follow the commands of their
coaches. Athletes today want to know why.
If a coach can effectively communicate why, he will be able to get the player
to do he wants. If the coach cannot give
a good reason why, he will not be able to get his players to do what he wants.
I
coached a great athlete who ended up being a two-time All-State RB and playing
at the collegiate level. It was my first
year at the school and he always asked me “why” when I told him to do
anything. It was frustrating at first,
and I thought he was being disrespectful, but he really wasn’t. He needed to know the why in order for him to be motivated to do what I told him. Once I began to build a rapport with the
player and he started to experience success with doing things the way I told
him, he would do whatever I asked of him and more.
The
2007 Super Bowl showed how coaching styles and motivation are changing in the
NFL. Both Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis
Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears used authoritative styles in
motivating their players. Tony Dungy
said this after the Colts victory, “I’m proud to be the first African American
coach to win this. But again, more than
anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian
coaches, showing you can do it the Lord’s way.
We’re more proud of that” (K,
2007, 1).
Dungy
and Smith’s faith impact everything about their coaching. Bill Walsh, who was a mentor to Dungy, noted, “Tony and
Lovie are professionals, and I think that’s what players want. There are some
coaches who are screamers in the NFL, but not as many as there used to be. The
players just can’t see the real value of the coach if he’s continually harping
at them and harping at the media and harping at everybody else. The coaches who
continue to be so animated that they distract everybody are usually coaches
without a lot of confidence. The confident coach can plot out what he needs,
how his staff should function and people respect that.”
Walsh continued, “Tony and Lovie take
a more civilized approach to it and they can reach more players that way. But I
think in both of their cases they’re pretty darn firm when necessary, but they
don’t go public with those things. Both are very knowledgeable about the game
of football and how to deal with people. I hope this style is what survives
rather than the coaches who run amok whenever they’re tested on the sideline,
and the players see that they may have a madman on their hands and they may
have to overcome it.”
Leonard Moore runs the
African-American studies program at Louisiana State University, and he
considers sports part of the curriculum. He has spent time studying coaches,
including Dungy and Smith. “By them being African American men, I think Tony
Dungy and Lovie Smith understand the culture of the hip hop generation,” Moore
“I think Dungy and Smith see their
role not only as coach but as mentor, father figure, and friend. Kids of this
generation don’t want to be yelled at. I
think you lead by example. In the black
community, we’re big on this thing: ‘I don’t care what you say. I’m going to
model what you do.’ So I think by Tony
Dungy and Lovie Smith being very calm, cool and collected, players realize,
‘Maybe I don’t have to be loud and go off the handle. Maybe I can have some control over my anger
and my emotions.’ That's what I see from
Dungy and Smith” (K, 2007, p. 1).
Tony Dungy told his
players, “A
lot of people say I’ve got to make you afraid—afraid of being cut, afraid of
me. I don’t believe that’s true.” He explains, “I have always believed that if
you tell people what needs to be done, they will do it—if they believe you and
your motives for telling them. I knew
these guys would see right through manipulation, but would respond to
motivation” (Dungy & Whitaker, 2007).
The Bible explains
the servant leadership model used by both Dungy and Smith in Matthew 20:25-28: “25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the
rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their
authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be
different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27
and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give
his life as a ransom for many’” (1996,
Matthew 25:25-28).
Instead of using fear as a motivator,
the Bible teaches that love is a better motivator. John Wooden says, “Pride is a better
motivator than fear. I never wanted to
teach through fear, punishment, or intimidation. Fear may work in the short run to get people
to do something, but over the long run I believe personal pride is a much
greater motivator. It produces far
better results that last for a much longer time. Remember, pride comes when you give respect.”
“The most essential thing for a leader
to have is the respect of those under his or her supervision. It starts with giving them respect. You must have respect, which is part of love,
for those under your supervision. Then
they will do what you ask and more.”
How do we give respect?
“You must make it clear that you are
working together. Those under your
supervision are not working for you but with you, and you all have a common
goal.” (Jamison & Wooden, 1997, p.
114-117).
I played for a coach in high school who
yelled a lot, and he motivated us through fear.
We did what we had to do for him, but we weren’t motivated to go out of
our way to do more. Tony Dungy says, “A
good leader gets people to follow him because they want to, not because he
makes them” (Dungy & Whitaker, 2007). Servant love is what makes people want to
follow a leader.
I believe that if a player knows that
you genuinely care for him and his success, he will not only do what you ask
him to do, but he will exceed that by finding a way to do even more.
Authoritative Motivation -
Chuck Heater
The
best up-close look I have ever had at authoritative motivation was when I was
able to sit in a Defensive Backs position meeting with Chuck Heater at the
University of Florida during their 2007 Coaching Clinic in the middle of spring
practice. I expected to learn some
technical aspects of football, but what I got instead was the opportunity to
see a master motivator at work. I was so
blown away with how he communicated with his players that I wrote down much what
he said word-for-word.
Coach
Heater showed the previous day’s practice film to his position players, and he
saw a player make a good play on Special Teams.
He said, “Hey, good play there on Special Teams. Coach Meyer notices that stuff.” The young player perked up at the thought that
the Head Coach would notice his performance, which certainly motivated him to
continue that behavior.
He
then saw a player who wasn’t giving it his best effort. He very calmly addressed the problem in a
non-threatening way, and said, “My biggest issue with you on that play was your
hustle. What do you think? Could you have found a way to make that
play? That really surprises me. That’s
not who you are.” He then went on about
how the player usually gives it his best and how surprised he was, and finally
he said, “I bet next time that doesn’t happen.”
Later
he saw a player on film that was using improper, lazy technique on his stance
and backpedal. “Your pads are too
high. Get down like the athlete I know
you are.” He then listed the key
fundamentals of having a good stance and backpedal: bent knees, bent waist,
chin over toes, and staying low. Then he asked the player about the critique of
his technique, “Am I being too harsh?
You can see it, right?”
I
wasn’t sure how the player would react, but he nodded up and down and I could
tell he was really listening, and that he had a desire to improve.
Young
athletes do not respond positively to feedback unless it is worded
correctly. Coach Heater was able to use
the last two instances to critique the players’ effort and technique without
critiquing the person. People don’t
respond well when they feel like a finger is being pointed at them. Not only was Coach Heater able to critique
performance without critiquing the person to make a point, I could sense that
the players knew that he was on their side and it was almost like he was their
biggest fan. He was able to get his
players to want to improve and be the best they could be.
Players
were motivated because they knew he cared for them. They also knew he was a skilled teacher able
to help them achieve their personal and team goals. He believed in his players, he held them
accountable, and he offered supportive feedback. That’s what great coaching is.
References
Jamison, S., & Wooden, J. (1997). Wooden. Lincolnwood (Chicago), IL:
Contemporary Books.
Walsh, B., & Billick, B. (1998). Finding the winning edge. Champaign , IL
Woolfolk, A. (2007). Educational psychology (10th ed.). 
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