In this day and age of mega salaries for professional athletes in any sports, it is unsurprising that many still consider talented players the key to any successful sports team. Owners of professional groups and fans commonly forget that the effective sports coach is the most important person. Instead of spending obscene amounts to lure the best players to the club, owners of sports franchises should invest the most optimum quantity of money in an effective sports coach.
He will determine the success or failure of the team. But what exactly does an effective coach possess? How does an effective coach deal with his players? How can the sports coach plan and conduct his campaign such that his players and team ultimately reach their peak performance in sports? These are some of the questions we will explore in a good coach in this article. If you were to study the history of effective coaching, you would not fail to notice that these coaches often produce very cohesive teams.
Teams have a common goal, and players put the team and others before themselves. There is something magical about a team built on successful team spirit; all effective sports coaches know this. That is why it is paramount that the coach creates a strong team spirit and cohesion right from the start. More than anything else, it is a team that knows the true value of teamwork, team spirit, and team cohesion that will produce the most successful results and performances at the end of the day. Sports coaches do not need star players who play for themselves. They need players (not necessarily the most talented) who will die for the team. With these players, the coach can do wonders. Hence, for any aspiring person who wants to be an effective sports coach, build a team first before you train a team.
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When teamwork and team spirit are no longer an issue, the sports coach can focus on preparing a solid team for competition. To be successful, thorough preparation for sports competitions must be the main aim of a coach when it comes to training the team. Specific plans must be made for the season and when and where the team breaks for their off-season. No details must be spared to prepare the team for competition. In every training session, the effective sports coach must let everyone know his own goals for that session. He must also dictate the number of repetitions each player must do for their drills. In effect, he is reducing practice and competition to a science. As in science, the more certain the input is, the more obvious the result will be. So when he decides even what time players must sleep before games, he is not overdoing it. An effective sports coach does well by being prepared on all fronts.
One of these fronts that sports coaches must ensure that it is at its optimum is in sports psychology. He must include in his plans target setting as a group, mental imagery practice, relaxation training, visualization training, cognitive psyching methods, constant affirmation training, and so on. All this sports psychology training must become part and parcel of a player’s regime that he breathes, eats, and sleeps on. He must ensure that players believe this aspect of training. Players who do not believe in this approach to sports must be weeded out right from the start. This explains why the effective sports coach must begin preparing by building the best team with the most common goals and perspectives in sports. Sports psychology, more than anything now, will determine whether an effective sports coach can produce results.
Knowing and executing the fundamentals of the game is also important. No matter how simple these skills are, players must understand their importance and perform them to their best. The sports coach must strive to ensure that his players master these basics fast until they become habits to the players. He will always have these skills practices regularly included in his training plans. Suppose at any time these fundamentals are forgotten or taken for granted. In that case, he must return to the beginning and tell the players about the basics of the game, without which peak performance in sports will not be possible.
Another important thing that sports coaches pay attention to is their opponents and their team. Only when the effective sports coach understands his opponents and his team will he come up with the right game strategies to win the game? In this respect, the coach must consider his job to seek out scouting opportunities for his opponents and their strengths and weaknesses. Once that is known, he can derive the most creative and effective tactics from overcoming his opponents and ensuring his team is on top. The old maxim of “know thy enemy and thyself and victory is assured!” always holds in sports.
And finally, part of knowing his team is the management of his players. Every team will be different. Therefore, an effective sports coach needs to be able to handle his players individually under differing circumstances. The job will no doubt be easier if the team is first built right from the start. That is why the first factor is important for an effective sports coach. Being an effective sports coach requires more than a passion for the sport or game. The sports coach must build a team from many individuals, prepare them thoroughly, instill sports psychology concepts in the players, work on the fundamentals, study his opponents and crew, and manage his players effectively. Only when the sports coach masters these few areas will he be successful in achieving peak performance in sports.
Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore. He has a degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in the UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball, and rugby teams in Singapore Schools. He is a sports development officer in Singapore schools and an active contributor to sports training articles to improve athletes’ performance. He hopes to enable people’s success by inspiring them with true sports motivational and inspirational stories.
