Introduction to Coaching Sports

Chapter 1

Dimension of Coaching

Understanding the Dimensions of Coaching Young Athletes

The dimension of coaching is far more than blowing a whistle between the lines or on one half of the court or field. There are many aspects of coaching that need to be considered when one decides to take on the role of a coach. In the United States alone, it is estimated that millions of children under the age of eighteen participate in school and extracurricular programs. These programs range from all types of sports (Ewing and Seefeldt 2002).

There are multiple interpretations regarding youth sport, which include children who cheat, fight, and disrespect opponents and officials, coaches who encourage such behavior, and parents and fans who act inappropriately. Although these perspectives may be rare as we take a global look at youth participation, they are prevalent. Ultimately, it is the coach’s responsibility to curtail these behaviors by taking on a leadership role and understanding the various dimensions of coaching in today’s society. It is important that coaches should have an understanding of the framework, which provides guidelines, rules, regulations, organizing practice, and incorporating a fun environment. It is a coach’s responsibility to provide a safe place to practice, decrease the possibility of injury, increase enthusiasm, encourage prolonged participation, reward the effort in place of the outcome, where being competitive does not supersede an overall joyful experience for youth sport participation. Some data has pointed out that the traditional concept of coaching, teaching, and encouraging youth participants (O’Rourke, Smith, Smoll, and Cumming 2011) has been replaced by the concept of gaining victories, collecting trophies, and establishing a higher winning percentage, which is a reflection that the coach is better and claims modern wisdom. This ideology has caused some coaches to solely focus on winning and recruiting the best athletes regardless of their sportsmanship demeanor, which minimizes the concept of positive youth development and participation.

Please read the scenario below and make a decision how you would handle the situation?

Adam, your star forward, was involved in a loose ball, whereas he and the opponent were battling for the possession of the ball during a crucial point in the game. Adam was not only frustrated that his opponent gained possession of the ball but that he was not playing well and his team was losing. Adam, several plays later, throws an elbow and catches his opponent, who gained possession of the ball during the loose ball play, on the chin with his elbow. The officials miss the play and there is no call, and you, the coach, are so wrapped up in the game that you miss the elbow Adam landed on the opposing player. The next day, the opposing coach gives you a call and states that his player received a deliberate elbow from your player and the rules state that although an official may miss the play, if it is noticed in game video, the player initiating the elbow could be suspended. The statute of limitation for this non-sportsman demeanor is two days after the contest. The opposing coach calls and says that he will leave it up to you to enforce the penalty on your player. Upon viewing the game video, you clearly see the cheap shot Adam displayed. Do you suspend Adam the next game, or do you let him play?

Developing a Coaching Philosophy

The scenario described is one of many reasons why developing a coaching philosophy with clear-cut objectives is key criteria to establishing rules and bylaws that allow you to make informed decisions. You will be faced with challenging decisions as a coach, and your philosophy in conjunction with established coaching objectives allows you to address the type of issue above with a clear conscious.

There are many tough decisions you will need to make when you coach, particularly young sport participants. One dimension of coaching that I think is very important is establishing a coaching philosophy, which lays a foundation of how you will facilitate the team as a whole.

Establishing a coaching philosophy was one of my toughest challenges as a young coach. I was fragmented in my ideologies about structuring a practice, keeping the young participants engaged throughout practice, recruiting strategies, hiring practices, managing a budget, system of play, and implementing rules that govern the program. Your coaching philosophy should be based on the values and morals you hold and knowing the conditions of your own mind (Martens 2012). Uncertainty of your philosophy can lead to inconsistency of how you manage the team, which can destroy personal relationships and create chaos within a team. Ralph Sabock (1985, pp. 49–50) illustrated a good story, where a boy and an old man not having their own philosophy about an appropriate etiquette created uncertainty and criticism.

There was an old man, a young boy, and a donkey. They were going into town, and it was decided that the boy should ride. As they went along, they passed some people who exclaimed that it was a shame for the boy to ride and the old man to walk. The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions. Later, they passed some more people who exclaimed that it was a real shame for the man to make a young boy walk. The two, not having a philosophy, decided that maybe they both should walk. Soon they passed some other people who exclaimed that it was stupid to walk when they had a donkey to ride. The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right, so they decided that they both should ride the donkey. They soon passed other people who exclaimed that it was a shame to put such a load on a poor little animal. The old man and the boy decided that maybe the critics were right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed a bridge, they lost their grip on the animal, and the donkey fell into the river and drowned. The moral of the story is that without a philosophy, you may try to please everyone which could cost you your ass.

One dimension of coaching is that coaching in and of itself is challenging due to the many difficult decisions and dilemmas that come with the job. Developing a philosophy helps making the difficult decisions a little easier as opposed to not having one and problem solving on the fly. As one author stated, your philosophy, in conjunction with your knowledge of the sport, will save you from losing your ass. A coaching philosophy should describe your system of play, how you will train your participants, rules, code of conduct, short- and long-term objectives, and other aspects of coaching. If you participated in sports, you may have some philosophical ideal of how you live your life, how you play, the roles of teammates, coaching, and an overall subconscious perspective about playing the game. When you assume a coaching role, it is imperative that you have a coaching philosophy, and although they are lifelong and ever changing, it’s important to establish one.

Most youth, high school, college, and professional coaches have coaching philosophies that vary in dimensions as noted above. I would assume that after taking on a leadership role in a sport program and embracing all the responsibilities that come with running a program, a coach will have a concept of a philosophy or develop one in a hurry and the dimension thereof.

Shaka Smart, one of the best upcoming college basketball coach, emphasizes that being able to find meaning in your participation is critical. As a player, you choose to be in a program, and as a coach, you are chosen to run the program. Philosophically, as the player or coach, you are striving to become a better person. Coach Smart’s perspective is a part of a coaching philosophy.

One of William Brown’s past head men’s basketball coach for University of California at Pennsylvania and Division II men’s basketball Hall of Fame recipient’s philosophy is that emphasis must be placed on defense and at the end of the game it comes down to making stops in any sport. Defense travels with you on the road, and it requires great effort and mental toughness.

One’s coaching philosophy can have several objectives. One objective to consider is the skill of motivating participants, whereas you are trying to influence the direction and intensity of one’s effort (Clutterbuck and Megginson 2011). The ability to motivate people, coupled with implementing the technical or tactical knowledge of a sport or physical activity, is what separates the very good coach from the average one. Another objective to meet is instilling a competitive attitude within participants. Competitiveness is defined as a disposition to strive for satisfaction when making comparisons with some standard of excellence in the presence of evaluative others (Martens 1976, p. 3). Martens’s view on competitiveness is based on achievement behavior in a competitive context, with social evaluation as a key component.

Meeting specific objectives can be challenging, particularly when you find yourself in a situation where you cannot get your team to be motivated about competition or display a competitive demeanor. However, this is not the time to discard this part of your coaching philosophy principle. It may be an indicator that you need to search for a different protocol or way you would meet the objective of motivating or creating a competitive spirit within participants when issues arise. Below are some issues you could face as a coach:

Team is tired of practicing because it’s been a long season

Certain players are struggling academically and need more study time

You have young players that do not understand the work ethic needed to be competitive

You notice that your team has other agendas outside of the sport that seem to distract from motivation and competitiveness in practice and competition

Addressing these issues could cause you to evaluate your coaching philosophy and develop objectives that can be used to deal with these issues if and when they arise. You need some flexibility when establishing your coaching philosophy to ensure that it is not incongruous with values that participants and family members may deem important. One other important note is that your coaching philosophy will most likely change over the years if you stay in the coaching profession for a period of time.

Tubby Smith Coaching Personified

Tubby Smith, the legendary college basketball coach, was a recipient of the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching award in 2016. This award recognizes the lifetime achievement of coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standard of coaching success and personal achievement. When selecting the individual, the Wooden Award committee considers a coach’s character, success rate on the court, graduating rate of student athletes, one’s coaching philosophy, and his identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award (Krista Pirtle, Oct. 2016 lubbuckonline.com). Coach Smith has demonstrated through his coaching the importance of meeting these criteria with his teams, and that is why he is one of the most successful coaches in the business.

I had a brief conversation with Coach Smith when I took him to the airport after he presented at a Nike Coaches Clinic at College of DuPage. I could tell from our brief conversation that Coach Smith is a man with high integrity, and I believe that his coaching illustrates being a teacher. If you have watched him coach over the years, you can see that his players display good sportsmanship, which guides athletes in learning technical, tactical, and life skills. I also believe that his ideologies of life shape his coaching philosophy.

Coaching Personality

Understanding who you are and the uniqueness you bring to the coaching professions also helps young athletes understand who they are. Have you ever tried to describe your own personality as it relates to coaching? If you have, you probably listed adjectives, such as outgoing, funny, player’s coach, upbeat. Maybe some of these self-descriptive adjectives are based on how you reacted in various situations. When participants see you act with respect and a demeanor that is appreciated by others, there will be a tendency for your athletes to behave the same way. If you demonstrate good character in guiding your athletes through competitive experiences, you will likely build character in those you guide and mentor.

Many theorists have attempted to define personality, and many have come to an agreement on one concept: uniqueness. In essence, personality refer to a blend of characteristics that make a person unique. You can think of personality in various structures that are divided into separate but related levels (Hollander 1967, Martens 1975). Three personality levels that coaches can define that may bring a deeper understanding of their own uniqueness are psychological core, typical responses, and role-related behaviors.

Personality Structures (Dr. Thomas E. Reed Photo)

The most basic level of one’s personality is the psychological core. It includes your attitudes, interests, values, motives, and beliefs about yourself and your self-worth. It is the centerpiece of your personality. It’s who you really are, not who you want others to think you are. One question you may ask yourself is, are your basic values shaped by your family morals, do your friends influence these values, and how does religion play a part in your ethics and moral (Weinberg 2015 and Gould 2015)?

Typical responses are ways that we learn to adjust to the environment, or how one respond to the world around them Typical responses and your psychological core coincide with each other.

Typical responses can be a good indicator of your psychological core. For example, being calm and non-expressive on a consistent basis could be a sign that one is introverted and shy. However, although you have a calming demeanor during certain activities could be mistaken that you are introverted. It may have been that the particular situation caused you to be calm and non-expressive; the calm demeanor may not be a typical response in other situations.

One of the changeable aspects of personality, whereas your behavior changes as your perception of the environment changes, is termed role-related behavior. You may play a different role based on the situation. On any given day, you may play a different role of AAU travel team coach, graduate student, employee, husband, or wife. Each one of these situations cause you to act differently. For example, you may exert a more passive personality if you are sitting in the classroom as a graduate student as opposed to being on the sideline or field coaching.

Do I Know Who I Am?

Now is a good time for self-reflection. As you read each of the following questions, reflect for a few moments and then answer in the spaces. Take your time to clearly think about who you are. These questions may assist you in understanding your self-concept (how you perceive yourself). Your beliefs about yourself may not be realistic because it could be based on how you perceive other people responding to you.

Do I truly know who I am?

What do I want to do?

Where am I destined to go?

Does my behavior align with my goals and objectives?

Can I be proud of myself?

Do I enjoy what I do?

As you evaluate the questions above, take some time to answer them. Here are five additional questions specific to coaching and note what you think:

What are my purposes for coaching?

Am I coaching for the right reason?

Are my goals and objective clear?

How do I measure being a good coach?

How do I become a better coach?

Form 1.1: Knowing Your Personality Structures

Instructions:

For the first role listed, rate yourself based on your attitude, values, interest, motives, and beliefs about yourself and your self-worth (psychological core).

Then rate yourself as you respond to the world around you (typical responses).

Next, rate yourself as your behavior changes as your perception of the environment changes (role-related behavior).

Use the rating scale (negative self, neutral self, positive self) and rate each item as it relates to the personality structure (psychological core, typical response, role-related behavior).

Permission granted from R. Martens, 2012, Successful Coaching 4th ed. (Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics). Available on line at www. Humankinetics.com Successful Coaching.

Part of your coaching philosophy may entail developing athlete’s skills mentally and physiologically. However, your success as a coach can be strongly related to the perception you have of yourself. The knowing your personality scale can be helpful in identifying some characteristics that possibly can assist you in identifying and changing ineffective patterns of behavior.

Insight Personality Discovery

Part of building a coaching philosophy may be utilizing several concepts, in conjunction with knowing your personality is your insight personality discovery. How much of yourself will you share with your athletes? At the very start of the self-awareness journey is Insight Personality Discovery, a psychometric tool based on the psychology of Carl Jung. This concept could help coaches understand themselves, understand others (athletes), and make the most of the relationships building as a whole.

I personally believe that coaches should be somewhat transparent and not be detached from the athletes. Building trust and respect is a key component of a coaching philosophy, and if the goal is to produce the best product, athletes need to have confidence in you and themselves. Athletes should know how you feel about what they say and do. Sometimes, you need to take risks in your relationship with your athletes, and it is difficult to do that if you do not understand your own personality and more challenging to develop your coaching philosophy.

Some of psychologist Carl Young work was based off Hippocrates’s ideologies. Carl defined four temperaments based on colors: cool blue, earth green, sunshine yellow, and fiery red. As I describe the meaning of each energy colors based on Carl’s ideologies, I will make a connection on how they can help you develop your