Recognize Unsuccessful Effort
All coaches reward players who make the play. It sounds crazy, but to maximize team effort, reward players who try hard but fail to make the play.
 When a player makes the play and is cheered by her coach, she will tend to assume her coach is happy about the outcome, even if the coach stresses the effort involved. So look for great efforts that aren't successful!
This tool can transform your own negativity when a player fails to make a play. A coach who understands the power of this tool for building a team of gritty, relentless players will be less disappointed at failure because he will see it as an ideal teachable moment to strengthen his team's habit of effort.
Opportunities to reinforce unsuccessful effort abound in every sport. Find ways to incorporate this tool into yours today!
adapted from The Power of Double-Goal Coaching by Jim Thompson
To purchase books by PCA Executive Director Jim Thompson, please
visit:
Balance Sports Publishing
|
The 100-Point Exercise
The place where parent-athlete relationships usually start to go wrong is with goals. Parents often don't take the time to explicitly examine their own goals for their children, or ensure that their behavior is consistent with their identified goals...Nor do they consider that their goals may not match their son's or daughter's goals!
The 100-point exercise will help you meet these challenges. Try the following: Identify
your top five goals for your child's sports experience
Assign
points to each goal, in terms of their importance to you, so the total
points equal 100
Commit to ensuring your words
and actions, on and off the playing fields, are consistent with the
goals you've identified
The final piece to the puzzle? If your child is old enough, ask him or her to do the exercise. The similarities and differences you discover will serve as talking points for wonderful conversations that will help all of you get the most from your young athlete's sports experience!
adapted from Positive Sports Parenting by Jim Thompson
To purchase books by PCA Executive Director Jim Thompson, please
visit:Balance Sports Publishing |
Skill Development
It's Under Your Control
Some athletes believe that athletic ability is fixed - they either have it or they don't. Either way, there is not much they can do to increase their ability to compete in their sport. On the other hand, here's how competitors think: - their development is a process they control
- the commitment to learning leads to the development of new skills
- the commitment to hard work leads to improved performance
Athletes who are not great competitors attribute their failure to bad luck or lack of talent. Great competitors attribute success and failure to their own efforts, rather than the hand that life has dealt them. Commit today to thinking like a competitor! adapted from Positive Coaching in a Nutshell by Jim ThompsonTo purchase books by PCA Executive Director Jim Thompson, please
visit:Balance Sports Publishing |
PCA is a non-profit committed to transforming youth sports so that all athletes through high school age can benefit from the life lessons that are uniquely available through sports.
If you value
the ideas, tips, and insights we share in this 2 minute drill,
kindly consider making a donation today!
|
