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Developing Player Confidence Through Constructive Coaching

The most challenging part of coaching a sport team is to correct your athletes without them getting down on themselves? The best coaches have mastered knowing how to preserve your athletes' confidence when you need to correct them. Here is a list of ten suggestions for challenging your athletes while still maintaining their confidence.

1) Set high intentions and make it a "we" goal

The best words you can say to your athletes when they made a mistake is "I know your better than that." This simple phrase reinforces the belief that you have faith in their talent and that you know they are capable of performing at much higher level than what they are currently demonstrating. Then turn the challenge into a "we" goal that lets the athlete know that together you will tackle the problem. Making it a "we" project shows your athletes that you are willing to ally with them to help them perform better.

2) Understand mistakes are not intentional

The errors players make are not done on purpose. Athletes want to play well, not only for themselves, but also for their coaches and teammates. Realizing your players mistakes are not done on purpose can be challenging at times, but initially the best course of action is to support them and encourage them to correct it.

3) Empower players to play through mistakes

Although it is not always possible, a demonstrate your confidence in an athlete is to allow them to keep playing through their errors. Give them a chance to self correct themselves within the game situation . Allowing athletes to self correct and learn from mistakes provides them with an chance to learn resiliency.

4) Excuse making should not be allowed

An athlete must take responsibility for their success and failure, they must also take responsibility for the shortcomings and own the corrective action. Taking responsibility for their success and failure develops a player's esteem and confidence. Taking ownership for their mistakes demonstrates a high level of maturity and, after correction, boosts a player's confidence. By encouraging players to accept responsibility, you are encouraging them to take ownership of their failures and success.

5) Keep your feedback factual and focused on the solution

Many times coaches can get caught up in the emotions of the moment. In these types of moments, the feedback is emotionally charged and can lead to statements the coaches wish they never said. The coach's feedback should be focused on the solution.

6) Target the critique on the behavior, not the player

When giving constructive feedback, make sure the target of it is the athlete's behavior and not the actual athlete themselves. Criticizing the behavior allows a person to keep their confidence intact because their behavior can be changed and corrected. If you focus on the person themself, they take it personally and feel humilated.

7) Sandwich the constructive criticism with positive facts

A player will become defensive and tune out the feedback if the coach is always finding fault in them. By sandwiching the constructive feedback between positive reinforcements, the player's defensives stay down and they are more objective in listening to the feedback.

8) Provide feedback in a one-on-one environment

Praising the athlete publically and offering construstive criticism in private, it does a lot to build their confidence. Conversely, when you criticize athletes in public, you embarrass them in front of their peers, which raise their defensive mechanism. An athlete's pride in their performance is the one thing you will be relying on when the going gets tough.

9) Remind them of their past achievements and player strengths

Athletes can build their own confidence by focusing on their strengths and past achievements. One of the best things a coach can do is to remind them of how successful they are and provide detailed examples of this success. Refocus your athletes on their strengths.

10) Never give up

When it comes to your players, you must adopt a never give up mind set. The last thing you would ever want them to do is to give up. If a player ever senses you have given up on them, they will either give up on themselves or lose all respect for you and give up on you as a coach. A major factor in a player's confidence level comes from their belief that the coach has confidence in their athletic ability.

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Youth-Athlete provides resources for parents, coaches, and young athletes including suggestions and tips for coaches that enable a successful season and a community for open questions.

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