When coaching high school soccer, it is the behavior and approach of the coach that has a major impact on the performance of the players. A coach should prepare a course that stresses the development of a positive winning attitude with a view to have a mentally tough team.
The coach plays an influential and a key authority figure in the player’s career. The body language, attitude, and expressions of the coach can shape, reinforce, or damage the players self esteem and confidence.
With respect to coaching youth soccer, mental toughness is all about meeting challenges with a positive outlook. Therefore, the coach must be the starting point in both practice and competition.
In order to make sure that the coach does not get either too high or too low, he or she should pursue a disciplined post match routine. A competent coach will draw on ideas, narrative, and symbols, videos, and like that to shape the collective outlook of the team and ready them to be mentally strong on the playing field.
In football coaching, the coach should aim at building a mentally tough team by demonstrating his or her ability to cope with emotional setbacks in spite of personal feelings.
If the coach shows an unwavering belief in the team’s ability to achieve despite the obstacles, then the team has a framework for building the same mind-set and will become increasingly motivated.
In coaching high school soccer, another critical area for which the coach is responsible is handling mistakes and failure. How strong the players feels motivated to correct the mistakes made is largely dependent upon the coach’s reaction to failure. The coach has two choices.
Utilizing failures as an opportunity to give feedback to the players and guiding them towards their improvement can be opted as the first choice. The players should be persuaded to recommit themselves to the challenge with improved inspiration.
Second, use failure as evidence of the player’s inadequacy and proof that they cannot meet expectations. This emotional overreaction will de-motivate the players.
Players can be made psychologically strong by accommodating the accountability for their judgment, stances, and actions and rejecting all probable excuses. During the course of soccer coaching, coaches can help by questioning and listening rather than always tell the players what they did wrong. The players should be encouraged to talk about their better performance which they could deliver.
This can be referred to as self-reference. The coach can encourage the players by encouraging the players to self reference. Instead of giving the players a definition of the situation, the coach can ask the player his or her reactions. For example; “How do you feel you played?” or “Why do you feel you behaved that way?”
This way the players must think through and account for his or her reactions which are a vital part of the learning process.
Whatever methods that you’ve just learnt, go ahead and start applying in coaching high school soccer.
The information in the form of videos, relevant articles and newsletters, that are posted on our youth soccer coaching community can help you in brushing yourself as a good coach, hence, subscribing it is advisable.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Kids Soccer Drills.
Tags: Coaching high school soccer, coaching youth soccer, football coaching, soccer coaching