Monday Motivational Tip – Basic Baseball Coaching Tip
One of the first keys to successful youth coaching is allowing players to be themselves. Youth sports must be fun for kids and often, that fun is non-existent when coaches intimidate players to the point where they do not feel comfortable. Many youth coaches intimidate with their threats or threatening tone of voice, and often without them even realizing it.
This does not mean that coaches have to be friends with all players and that stern talk isn’t needed occasionally, but intimidating tactics as, making kids run when they do not perform well, benching kids for poor play and demeaning their effort and character goes beyond the boundaries of good youth sports coaching.
Coaching tips for helping kids feel comfortable:
- Allow and encourage social interaction among teammates
- Allow kids to show their personalities, as long as not disruptive to team attitude
- Tell a joke to begin practice and encourage a light-hearted atmosphere
- Smile, especially when they do something correctly for the first time
- Encourage questions
- Say something encouraging about players’ performances to their parents
Of course, there is a correct time and place for many of these suggestions, and simply being positive and optimistic helps kids be comfortable.
