Look beyond the chess match.
Every athletic contest consists of two parts; the physical skills that athletes perform and the mental comprehension of how those athletic skills fit into the contest.
Coaches are intellectually engaged with sport long before they become coaches.
Talking and thinking about sport is what we know best. We have watched more games than we ever played or can ever coach. Each of us is a fan before becoming a coach and as such, we are conditioned to talk about the game, argue its finer points, and yearn for our favorite team’s constant victory.
Translating our love for the game into effective coaching requires effort.
Transferring physical skills to children is a daunting task.
Becoming successful youth coaches goes far beyond an intellectual comprehension of the games you watch now or the ones you played in your youth.
T-ball illustrates the point.
T ball players play a game that looks like tumble weeds in a storm. You cannot coach T-ball by simply explaining the game. Your coaching skills must reach beyond conversation and include fun, physical development, motor skills, and an understanding of the game’s process. If not, you will have this experience.
I have seen kids run to third base rather than first base; run past first, swing around second and triumphantly share third base with another team mate who has already watched two players pass her and run to home plate. I even watched a kid leave the ball park and head for his house when the coach said to run home.
The bottom line to this thinking is the need to break any game into small understandable components and have fun with each element and then adding a new element as the kids are ready for it.
You cannot teach kids to play by talking. You teach kids to play by playing. That will make all the difference and move you away from boring, ineffective, or worse, “no fun”.
Popularity: 3% [?]
