The Skills You Need to Be a Good Sports Coach
Are you looking for a career that you can not only feel passionate about but will allow you to actually make a difference in people's lives? Do you have a love of sports and enjoy teaching and encouraging others to take part in sports? If so, a career in coaching could be a natural fit for you. For many, the idea of becoming a coach, and getting paid to do a job you love, seems too good to be true, but with the proper skills and training, it’s very much a reality.
Here we’ll take a look at the skills you need to excel as a coach and make it your dream career.
Be a Great Listener
While you may think that coaching involves you telling players what to do, you also need to be a great listener yourself. You need to be able to truly listen to what your players are telling you so that you can identify areas of weakness, doubt, insecurity, and confusion. On the flip side, players will also have a different spin on situations, which can help you to better tailor the plays and training.
Be an Excellent Speaker
A big part of the job as a coach is to teach and motivate, so this means you need to have excellent speaking skills. You need to be sure and confident when you speak, inspire action and attention from your players, and be able to articulate what it is you want them to do.
Understand How to Critique Players in a Constructive Way
In order for players to improvise, it's up to you to watch what they are doing and look for areas that could use tweaking. You must then be able to accurately explain what it is you want them to do, explain why, and do so in a way that feels like constructive criticism.
Know When to Push Back
Everyone knows that a coach is meant to help and inspire players, but there will also be times when the coach needs to be a bit tougher and really challenge the players. The coach needs to hold players accountable when necessary so that they can be challenged.
Prepare Yourself with the Best Schooling
While a passion for sports and skills to play and teach the game is a big part of being successful, so is the proper schooling and educational background. The Ohio University masters in coaching education is a program that is recognized at the national level and is known for preparing high-level coaches. Ohio University graduates will learn what it takes to motivate, teach, and inspire players so that they give their absolute best.
A career in coaching is one that is filled with all kinds of challenges and rewards. Having the opportunity to teach people about the sports your feel so passionate about, inspire them, and motivate them is something that you can achieve with the right skills and training.