Have you ever guessed how the deficiency of soccer coaching and playing experience relate to the proficiency and confidence of a coach? Let me present different facets of a coach’s personality that may be said to be the qualities of a coach.
Personality: Experience is a good thing but nothing works more than the personality. A coach’s personality has a direct bearing on the success of a coach, whether the end-result is a fun game without any physical and mental pressures or the creation of a consistently strong team.
Knowledge of the game: It’s imperative for a coach to be ready to learn new strategies and latest techniques in soccer. Understanding of the game’s rules, strategies, and tactics is a basic prerequisite for gaining player’s respect.
Enthusiasm and Interest: During a soccer training program, take the role of a salesperson. Once they like the session, they feel motivated. It’s also important to be open to a player’s needs with respect to team objectives, irrespective of their age. Being open to questions from players will guarantee their interest in the game.
Persistence and Patience: It is bad to ignore the inability of the player to perform soccer drills. A player does not want to learn anything new when he or she does not perform well. Setting goals that are unreal leads to frustration in players. Therefore, be patient and persevere as players try to motivate themselves in moving from one session to another.
Ability to manage priorities: Work out a step-by-step technique of learning that caters to the requirements of all the players in the team. While soccer coaching, the players should get ample opportunities to put into practice things they have learnt. Only once each player has learned the skill necessary, move to the next skill.
Single-mindedness: A coach must show special interest in the skills and social and moral behavior of every player. If you remain sensitive to their needs and aspirations, you will surely win them over. To develop into a great player, strength of character in victory as well as in defeat lays foundation for a player’s success.
Understand the learning process: A better understanding of the learning process will help in effective player and team development. Motivate the players to do exercises that aid in alteration of their thinking and acting.
Stimulate the players to learn soccer skills through participation, demonstration, and guidance. The learning process ends only when the kids do what they have been taught. Learning needs experience and not just teaching.
Imagination: Make situations that challenge the player’s imaginations, bring them pleasure in performing tasks, and serve important game drills. Inspire the players to make their sessions enjoyable and interesting.
In your own interest, use these soccer coaching attributes and you will see yourself rise to the heights of soccer coaching. You can lay your hands on loads of relevant information pertaining to coaching young players in form of newsletters, articles, and videos by subscribing to our youth soccer coaching community.
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: Youth Soccer Practice.
