My time spent as a Graduate Assistant Volleyball Coach at St. Catherine University provided me with many opportunities to learn and grow as a coach. I have been challenged in ways I could not have imagined. One experience has inspired me to research more into the development of athlete’s self-efficacy. Since I began as an assistant coach, I have believed in these athletes and want to help them believe in themselves, too. The way the defined their success was strongly based on if they achieved the result they wanted, no matter the effort they put into the task. This left them feeling inadequate at times, and as though their efforts were insignificant. It required attention and energy from the coaches to continuously praise them and identify …show more content…
She began organizing weekly mindfulness sessions for all student-athletes to participate in. At the time, I was around 20 years old and had just suffered a season ending injury which would keep me sidelined for 10 months before I could compete again. I initially attended these mindfulness sessions under strong recommendation from my athletic trainer. She claimed I did not know how to breath correctly. I began attending these sessions and eventually began showing up on my own decision. After attending these sessions regularly, I found myself enjoying the game even more. I started taking my rehabilitation one day at a time, rather than getting overwhelmed by looking into the future. I was less impacted by things outside of my control such as my coach’s feedback, a teammate’s error, and even the fear of the future. This state of mind has benefited me on and off the court. Throughout the MAOL program, it was an area of focus for myself as I enter the world of collegiate coaching. Through my research, I found a connection from mindfulness and self-efficacy and from there, developed this action project. I hope to influence youth athlete’s lives by providing coaches some tools they can implement into their everyday practice plans without any prerequisite …show more content…
Many would define this word or position in many different ways. A strong definition I found comes from a unknown author, “true leaders empower you to do what you're afraid to do, don't know how to do, or have never believed you could do.” Similarly, when searching for a definition for the word or position for coach, many thoughts come up. Cote and Gilbert (2009) define coaching as “the consistent application of integrated professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge to improve athletes’ competence, confidence, connection and character” (p. 316). I believe both definitions are powerful, however, the way the individual in these roles executes their duties defines the position more than words. The definition that Cote and Gilbert lie out goes far beyond the X’s and O’s of the game. Coaches have an opportunity to develop the body, spirit and mind of each and every athlete on their team through their coaching. It is also coaches duty to keep their athletes safe. This does not only mean injury free but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually safe. It means each athlete concludes the season more confident, sensible, and capable than before it started. Implementing mental training into coaches’ tool box will help them in the development of their athletes physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Providing coaches with this tool will help them empower their athletes to do what they were afraid to do,
As I have asserted, coaching is far more than winning or losing. A coach is an essential cog in shaping qualities such as sportsmanship, competitiveness, self discipline, and work ethic. A quality coach can build a player up while a bad coach can tear them down. My goal as a coach was to always leave the player striving to be the best they could be. A good coach
Coaches should have an arrangement of fundamental abilities that they depend on to produce a positive outcome. Definition of a coach from the American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition (page 167) One who trains or directs an individual or team, to train or instruct teach a team. The goal behind coaching is to exhibit the ability to get the most out of everyone on the team. It should be a goal to bring out the greatest potential from every team member. It’s insane how many players do not even know their true potential. Successful coaches assess these individuals and the team to advance them to the next level of sports. "The Little Book of Coaching, Motivating People to be Winners" by Ken Blanchard and Don Shula (2001) gives a great acronym of the word C-O-A-C-H. The acronym breaks down as follows: Conviction Driven: never compromise your beliefs-Overlearning: practice until it is perfect-Audible-Ready: know when to change-Consistency: respond predictably to performance-Honesty-Based: walk your talk. This acronym should remind you of your job as a coach. A good coach
...ntial stressors when competing. According to Nicholls & Polman (2007), the capability to cope with stress plays a significant part in how well an athlete performs during and out of competition. In line with this research, the self-efficacy construct has been found to impact how an individual appraises a situation and the corresponding way in which they cope. Self-efficacy can be defined as an individual’s beliefs about their ability to attain a certain outcome which is further expressed in their views about their capacity to execute a specific behavior or task. Since stress is a consistent and defining variable in sports and life outside of sports, it is crucial that athletes develop ways to successfully cope with stress and effectively implement these methods in order to avoid negative effects in competition and in life (Nicholls, Polman, Levy, & Borkoles, 2010).
...the program was beneficial in improving the athlete’s confidence by enhancing his performance on the ice. His use of the new psychological tools presented afforded him the knowledge to refine his abilities on the ice in the areas of most concern to him.
The process of becoming a great Coach requires a mix of intelligence, time, hard work, dedication, and knowledge of the sport that someone is coaching. Coaches have the opportunity to impact the players life in a huge way. Most players want to look up to their coach; because that is how influential that they can be in life. The goals every year of a coach is to win a conference championship and win a major championship. The goals vary every year for certain teams and coaches. A reason to become a coach could be the influence that coaches had on one’s childhood growing up, as coaches are usually looked at as great role models. (Foster)
I felt depleted, I thought that I had finally gotten the hang of my emotions on the court. In return she stated, “Mistakes will always happen, you can't ignore them, but you also can't get caught up in them. I know it is hard, but you have to learn because that is how you get better in sports if you want to continue playing.” This thought whirled around my head for the following months; if I wanted to really excel in volleyball I had to finally fix my attitude, for the better.
Coaching is not only showing a team what to do, but explaining to them why it is so. Each game, the coach is accountable for getting all 11 players on the field working as one unit. He's responsible for preparing his team for battle each week and for making sure his game-time decisions are flawless. The coach is not only the head of the team, but a leader for all the players. A coach must maintain a pristine level of emotion and discipline so that he is respected by everyone.
In order to see outcomes in this area of improvement, we as coaches must re-evaluate not only our athletes, but, in addition, our coaching styles. Of course, we all want to tell ourselves that we are great coaches and it's the athletes who are not following direction...
Lennard (2010) reminds us that the models merely provide an outline, a structure, and a direction. She also emphasizes the models are used to facilitate a method of exploration which is extremely important for client self-awareness and continual development. Coaching is centered on unlocking a person’s potential to maximize his or her own performance. Focusing on improving performance and developing skills is essential for an effective coaching outcome (Fielden, 2005). The use of a model can lead to greater insight and understanding by simplifying and clarifying this process.
Although therapy deemed very challenging, I’m thoroughly engrossed in watching the inner workings of the trainer building me to be strong again. During the rebuilding process I’m able to absorb several factors of how the human body works as well as notice the psychology required to strengthen a patient. Hard to admit, but during the recovery time the onset of struggling to maintain a positive attitude can become prevalent. Being sidelined from sports weighed on my psyche and negatively affected my grades as well as daily demeanor. This is where the mind strengthening from the trainer and having a strong faith truly came into
This statement from Dexter et al uses the term ‘equipped’, this does not necessarily mean that the coach has all of the correct concrete tools and experience to ...
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
Firstly, it is vital to note that anxiety, motivation, and concentration tremendously influence people's self-confidence and their performance at the long-run (Damon & Raedeke, P 188). Higher self-confidence reduces anxiety. The vice versa is also true. This is based on the fact that optimally confident sports people experience fewer doubts on self. Their worries reduce and give room for concentration in their activities. Additionally, motivated athletes are in a better position to strive towards achieving their goal. Motivation enables sports people to combat negativity and low self-esteem as they focus more on their goals other than obstacles. Therefore, it is fundamental to note that coaches and sports people must collaborate in finding any mechanisms that could stimulate and uphold self-esteem since it is, directly and indirectly, impactful to their
Motivation needs motivators to help athletes when they seem to have nothing left. Although in sports we want to see consistent plays, performance, and skills, motivation is something that is not consistent. “Athlete’s motivation is being permanently upgraded, developed and changed under the different environmental influences present during sports participation” (Baric, 2007). “Situational factors act interactively on athletes’ dispositions; the variations in sports behavior are the functions of personal characteristics (goals, skills, knowledge, personality traits, etc.) and the environmental influences (physical and social alike)” (Baric, 2007). Personal and environmental influence can make a difference in how an athlete gains motivation. Motivation from a coach or a parent can lead an athlete to either see the support in a negative or positive view. Screaming, yelling, body language, and tone of voice can really present what someone is saying to be considered either in a positive or negative light. As a coach, you have to understand how you are presenting yourself towards your team or athlete. Parents, teammates, and supporters have to analyze how they are coming off within a situation especially when you are trying to motivate someone. When you have a disconnection between your verbal and non-verbal communication, an athlete can take the information and motivation as a negative and not positively. Coaches as everyone else need to learn how to communicate with their athletes and team. Motivation is something all athlete should posse on their own, but sometimes athlete needs support. No championship or a game was won, because of one person it takes coaches, parents, supporters, trainers, and so much more to make an athlete want to win even if it is a backyard game. Motivation plays a huge role in what a coach can do not only in a leadership role or
The author has initially likened the term coaching to a sports team. In this context, the coach attempts to inspire the team to win games. Sport coaches help players realize their potential and motivate them to perform through discipline and teaching them relevant skills, techniques, and tactics. This is usually achieved through mutual communication and the fostering of meaningful relationships with the team members.