A big part of coaching is creating an environment where children can learn and develop.
You can find some top tips for each of the five tools below:
Explanations
1. Kneel down to eye level to draw the players in.
2. Make sure that your language is clear.
3. Focus on a small number of specific points and make it short.
4. Use vivid language and images that children can remember easily.
5. Concentrate on what they need to do, not what they need to ‘not do’.
6. Regularly check for understanding.
Demonstrations
1. Make sure everyone can see.
2. Know what angle you want them to see it from.
3. Decide if they need to see the full skill or only a specific segment.
4. Use cues, anchor words or images for the key elements to help focus their attention and increase retention.
Setting Up and Standing Back
1. Make sure that you are clear about what you expect from an activity.
2. Think through the design of your activity carefully. Detail is key.
3. Be patient. The children might not get it straight away, but if the activity is well designed, they will get plenty of opportunity to practice and get better at it.
4. Ask yourself the question: Do I REALLY need to step in here? If the answer is no, then don’t.
Questioning
1. Know what questions you are likely to ask.
2. Ask ‘what’ and ‘when’ questions. Even better, ask ‘why’ and ‘how’ ones to encourage deeper thinking.
3. Stay away from YES and NO questions.
4. Encourage a variety of answers and make sure they know that no answer is silly or stupid.
5. Give the kids time to come up with the answers. Be comfortable with silence until someone comes forward.
Feedback
1. Keep it to a minimum!
2. Keep it simple. Focusing on one element!
3. Keep it positive. Remove all negative emotions and don’t make it personal.
4. Catch them being good! Praise is very powerful!
5. Keep it solution-focusd. Tell them what they need to do, not what they have to stop doing.
You can find out more about the Coaches Toolkit by watching the videos below, or by downloading the resources about each tool.
