Problems, comments or questions about this site?   Please email us at  webmaster (at) coachjerry (dot) com

Coaching Techniques for High School Athletes

What do you believe are the best and worst coaching techniques for training female athletes and male athletes in high school in order that they have fun but also win? What disciplinary actions should be done or not done when athletes lose a game or slack of during practices?

The successful coach will earn the respect of his or her players by treating the players fairly and with respect and consideration. The coach should encourage, recognize and reward individual improvement as well as team performance and improvement. Motivation through intimidation by the coach is unnecessary, improper and counter productive although many coaches employ this technique.

The coach should prepare all the players by teaching them sound, fundamental techniques and skills as well sportsmanship and ensuring that the players understand and play by the rules of the game. Too many coaches work with only the best players and ignore the less skilled. As a result not all players are prepared to play if needed.

In teaching young athletes, the coach should combine the use of effective demonstrations and drills with positive reinforcement and should avoid constant, negative criticism. One of the finest college coaches in this country, UCLA basketball coach John Wooden of UCLA, put it best when he said "Young players need models not critics."

The coach should also set obtainable goals for players to strive for during the season, goals that lead to individual as well as team performance improvement. By setting such goals, success is not limited to whether the team wins but is based on how the individuals (and hence the team) perform.

The successful coach must also understand that young athletes mature and develop at different rates and that there is a wide disparity in physical and mental capability for players of the same age. The coach should therefore be prepared to accommodate these differences in helping all players develop and improve. Since players react to learning situations in different ways, the coach also needs to understand and accommodate these differences as well, if the team is to reach its full potential. A fine high school coach I know is fond of saying "Not every player can do everything but every player can do something." The good coach will help and guide each
player to find how or where he or she can best contribute.

In order to have discipline, coaches must be firm, fair and uniform in their treatment of players when imposing rules and regulations for behavior. Team rules must be explained and understood by all the players at the start of the season. Players need to understand what the coach expects and requires and what the consequences are if the rules are not followed. It is extremely important that the coach be consistent in treatment of rule violators. Discipline is undermined if some rule violators are reprimanded and others are not.

Winning is often beyond the team's or the individual players control but trying hard to win certainly is not. Striving to win is the essence of sports competition and all players must understand that they are expected to try to do their best whenever they are given an opportunity during games and at practices. The coach should not tolerate less than 100% effort by any non-injured player and should replace players who perform in that manner as soon as it becomes apparent. Players who always give their best should be recognized and rewarded. Players who slack off should be penalized by losing playing time.