Coaching Techniques- Help?

[Brittney White]

I also feel like when I coach I sometimes put to many negatives and need more positives. But how should I do this if I feel like I need to fix what the girls are doing wrong...

 

[omgitssydthekid]

The good old crap sandwich...one good thing, the bad junk, and another good thing to finish it off. In that order (:

 

[fcsg_lightning]

I also feel like when I coach I sometimes put to many negatives and need more positives. But how should I do this if I feel like I need to fix what the girls are doing wrong...

don't try to tell to much negative!
but if they need to do something different say "Try". helps a lot because it doesn't sound that mean...
just remember to tell positive things too, like "that was clean" or something like this. even the smallest things help =)


and the sandwich tecnique is also really good.

 

[Lolo]

What I find with a lot of coaches is that they only tell the athlete what they did wrong. I find that it works a lot better if you tell them what was wrong, in a constructive way, then offer them three points on how to fix it. That way they know that yes, what they did wasn't quite right but theres other things they can try in order to improve it..rather than just sitting there lile "Awh man I suck"

 

[RSY Cheer Director]

Good advice! I also feel like sometimes I'm dishing out out too many negatives, and I'm working with 4 to 10 year olds so I don't want to discourage them. I have to remind myself to point out to positives as well. I love the "Sandwich" technique!

 

[APACoachKourtney]

What's a good way to get high school aged girls motivated


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[CoachB]

I also feel like when I coach I sometimes put to many negatives and need more positives. But how should I do this if I feel like I need to fix what the girls are doing wrong...

If there are too many negatives, then it's likely that the skill is a bit too hard for the athlete to accomplish correctly. Take them "back to the basics" so to speak until they can show "perfection before progression." You could also break the skill down into smaller parts (or drills) until they are able to get more positives than negatives.

A classic example would be teaching a handspring. Let's say the athlete is dropping their knees forward, their head back, and "worming" down the landing, but they are getting the HS over. (YIKES!) In this scenario I would take the athlete back to drills (jumpbacks, jump ups, snap downs, etc.) to create the muscle memory needed so the brain doesn't have to focus on 8 different "negatives." Now, in whichever drill they're in (say a jump back) I can focus on many more positives (and do the compliment sandwich if you like- "Hey, great job pushing through your toes." "Let's try to push your hips a little more to the ceiling next time, but way to keep your head in."

My athletes often look at or Level 5 athletes or the gymnasts in our gym and say something like "It's so easy for them!" And my usual response is to point out how many drills they have done. Muscle memory is HUGE in making progress. Unfortunately it seems so many athletes are under a time crunch. "I have tryouts next week and I need my back handspring NOW." I can't stress enough that the better the basics are, the faster an athlete will progress, and that's a constant in our gym and something we constantly are having to remind kids and PARENTS of.

Perfection before Progression. That's the key.