What makes a great coach? Quality Coaching Behaviours: Part III
Here we are, the third and final instalment in this first ever Guided By The Facts mini-series here at The Grassroots Gateway. We hope you have enjoyed reading as much as we have enjoyed writing these articles! We already can't wait for you to read our next piece of Guided By The Facts content. For now however, let's crack on and delve into Part Three of "What makes a Great Coach?"
NB - If you are reading this and thinking to yourself what do they mean by "third and final instalment" then let us kindly refer you back to Part One and Part Two of this mini-series. Once you've read them come right back and Part Three will be here waiting.
Let's get started then shall we? In Part Three of this series we are going to be examining Becker's (2012) final three behavioural qualities on "What makes a Great Coach?" which are: appropriate, clear and consistent.
#5 - Appropriate
Being an appropriate coach isn’t only about turning up on time and setting a good example; great coaches exhibit the right behaviours at the right time and know what to say, when to say it, and how to behave (Becker 2012). This all sounds well and good in theory, however being aware of the situation and acting accordingly is one part of it but this is a lot easier said than done, particularly in the heat of the moment.
Cast your mind back to a time when you thought to yourself ‘I think maybe I've overreacted here’ or ‘I’ve been rambling on a bit too long here, I wonder if they are still listening to me’ - in short the answer is they probably aren’t. Becker’s arguments find that in order to be an appropriate coach, you must be aware of 4 key things when trying to get an important message across to your team - think famous half time speeches from the likes of Benitez in the 2005 Champions League Final; the first key point is of course the "content", ie the things you are either doing or saying, the second is the "delivery" i.e. how are you projecting the information, the third is "timing" so when exactly are you behaving in this way and for how long, and finally the "quantity" or how much information you are trying to transmit.
A great coach, will strike a balance between correctly analysing the situation at hand and using the above guidelines appropriately. For example, imagine things aren’t going so well at half time, instead of bursting into the dressing room and rambling on about what is going wrong, a great coach would: firstly think about what they are going to talk about - it could be the mistakes that are being made - secondly they would take a step back and think about how they are going to deliver this information - angrily, calmly or in most cases passionately - thirdly, in this scenario the timing element is already established as it is at half time, and finally think about how much you want to say. But always remember that it is difficult both to say everything you want to say and for your players to take everything in.
In being a bit more concise and clear you will be amazed at how much more your players will retain and take on board and ultimately implement into the second half.
Being appropriate in football can be a tough job as sometimes your emotions can get the better of you. But thinking about the appropriateness of your behaviours before you act is seen as a common trait amongst great coaches. Becker concludes that whilst it is "clear that inappropriate coaching behaviours disrupt athlete’s; attention and mental preparedness, they may also have a negative impact on other psychological states such as increasing athlete’s; anxiety levels or decreasing their motivation" (Becker 2012; Baker et al. 2000; Bartholomew et al. 2009; Martin et al. 2009). So always think before you speak negatively towards a player.
#6 - Clear
As previously discussed, players can interpret their coaches actions and words in completely different ways. In order to combat against any confusion it is important for coaches to be as clear as possible when it comes to communicating with their players. Whilst it is impossible for a coach to completely control how their behaviours will be interpreted, Becker’s findings (2012) suggest a number of strategies that ANY coach can employ to be more clear:
Use language that is straightforward and easy to understand.
Be specific and concise when giving instructions.
Simplify information.
Give/Show examples particularly when explaining a more complex skill or drill.
Provide explanations for your actions.
Ask your players questions to make sure they fully understand you.
Avoid sending mixed messages.
(Becker 2012; Becker and Wrisberg 2008; Côté and Sedgwick 2003; Jones et al. 2003; Becker 2009; Pain and Harwood 2008)
Most of the above points are fairly self explanatory, however the 5th point can be construed as ambiguous. Imagine a scenario whereby the coach has taken a player out of the starting line up who has been starting every game recently. In doing this and not providing an explanation, the player may think the coach no longer believes in them or hasn’t been happy with their recent performances which could subsequently affect their confidence.
In being clear and explaining why you have made this choice you will not only put the players mind at ease but it also opens up the possibility for the player to ask questions. This is important as having an open communication stream will also lend itself to furthering your players understanding of the more intricate tactical and technical aspects of what you are trying to teach them as a coach.
# 7 - Consistent
The final coaching behaviour which is attributed to being a great coach is displaying consistency. Being consistent as a coach not only means staying true to your coaching values, but in conveying a consistent persona allows your players to better understand and trust in you. When a coach displays inconsistencies, "they risk the possibility of losing their credibility and their athlete’s; trust and belief in them" (Becker 2012; Gould et al. 2002; Jones et al. 2002), this can ultimately lead to poor performance and a lack of effort on the player’s; part. In being consistent with what you say, how you do things and who you are, you are building a consistent persona that your players feel they can trust. Think about it, you’d never take a player seriously if their behaviour and emotions were shifting from one day to the next. If anything, this would confuse you and cause you to become frustrated with them since you aren’t able to understand why this player was acting this way. So why would a coach choose to confuse their whole team and put their chances of success in jeopardy? It works both ways. But how exactly should you go about being consistent?
If a coach is to be consistent, they need to show "they have a strong understanding of who they are and what they value, and make a conscious effort to continually illustrate those qualities when interacting with their athletes” (Becker 2012; Voight and Carroll 2006). Ultimately the aim should be that a coach is genuine and is true to themselves and their values, and in being consistent in this way this is what players will look up to.
An example of this was shown in a study conducted by McCallister et al (2000) entitled ‘Teaching values and implementing philosophies: dilemmas of the youth sport coach’ by means of interviews found that grassroots coaches "emphasised the importance of having fun as one of their primary objectives" (Becker 2012; McCallister et al. 2000) yet when asked what their feelings on winning were "these same coaches appeared to adopt a win-at-all cost attitude" (Becker 2012; McCallister et al. 2000). Thus, their behaviour didn’t reflect their apparent philosophy. The worst part, as detailed by McCallister et al (2000) was that "the coaches were not even aware of the discrepancy between their words and actions".
Fundamentally, a coach needs to be consistent if they have their players best interests at heart. Not being consistent can only serve as a distraction to everyone involved as nobody is fully aware of the direction in which they are aiming.
"If coaches want their athletes to perform at their best on a consistent basis, then coaches should demonstrate consistent behaviours themselves" (Becker 2012).
Conclusion
It would be great if at this point we could all agree on these 7 behavioural qualities and try and implement them going forward. However, this is highly unlikely and virtually impossible. Many coaches are already set in their way of how they do things and in the end there is no blueprint for how a coach should act in order to be successful. These 7 qualities merely serve as indicators for those willing to learn and perhaps develop one or two of them further. We hope you enjoyed this first series of Guided By The Facts. Follow us on Instagram to stay up to date on our next series!