5 Common Mistakes Coaches 

Make

March 13, 2020 by Rhys Desmond, posted in Coach Education, Coaching, Masterclasses, MOST RECENT,
Sport Psychology, Teaching
Recently I had the privilege of helping teach a coaching course at my university institution to eighty
students, most of which had never coached before. Not only was it (hopefully) a valuable learning
experience for the students, it was also a great learning experience for me and my development as a
coach. Across the course, the students adapted well to the teaching methods of the course. However, a
few common mistakes could be found in nearly every single session that the students delivered. As a
result, I have developed this list of the most common mistakes coaches (not just beginners) often make.
This list should be a helpful reminder to all coaches on how to be better in their roles and ensure
participants get the most out of their experience.

1. NOT DEMONSTRATING

Many coaches make the mistake of simply explaining an activity or game without demonstrating. Not
only does the explanation eat up time and cause participants’ muscles to cool down, it also doesn’t do
the best job at painting the picture for all participants. Demonstrations are the best way to ensure that
all participants get a clear picture as to what they are supposed to do. Not only should the logistics of
the activity be demonstrated, rules, boundaries and method of scoring should also go into the
demonstration. Participants should also be actively involved in the demonstration, as the ball (or other
sporting tool) moves.

2. NOT PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO SAFETY 

Coaches sometimes get so caught up in what they are doing next, what their players are doing and how
they can intervene/give feedback, that they neglect to fully look after safety elements. Things like loose
balls, equipment, doors, benches, etc. need to be looked after. Ensuring the participants take off any
jewellery and that they have the proper equipment is also an essential element to consider before the
start of the session. As coaches or sport educators, safety needs to be one of our absolute top priorities,
but far too often gets pushed to the side.

3. RELYING ON “DRILLS” & NOT ENOUGH GAME TIME 

The best way to learn the game of any sport is to simply play the game. Recently there has been a shift
away from a “drills-based” approach in coaching to a games-based approach. One of the key things that
I challenged the students to think about throughout the course is how they could make their activities
more game-realistic, or if their activity was even worthwhile in comparison to simply just coaching
through playing the game itself. The old model of coaching would suggest that “drills” (which I told the
students were only for their dentists and Home Hardware) like skating in circles or dribbling through
cones help athletes learn the basic techniques and skills of the game. But is this really true? Is dribbling
through cones game-realistic? Can they not learn those same dribbling skills by playing the game itself
and having the coach intervene at key moments? Absolutely they can. That way athletes are able to
directly apply their learning to the game, and have more fun in the process. Coaches need to understand
that athletes play the game for the game! As a result, our practices need to be as game-realistic and
involve as much game time as possible.
This also includes warm-up activities, in which many coaches neglect to incorporate the ball or game-
realistic elements into and opt for a “lap around” or isolated dynamic stretching instead.

4. ELIMINATION GAMES 

One of the things that I kept harping on about in the course was my disdain for elimination games. Yet
they kept on popping up nearly every session. Elimination games are bad for many reasons. First of all,
elimination games do not give every athlete an equal chance at succeeding because they actively punish
athletes for not being as good as their peers. Who in an elimination game is going to be out first? Usually
the ones with the least amount of ability. And arguably, who needs to practice their skills most? The
ones with the least amount of ability. So again, this does not give every athlete an equal chance to
succeed.

Secondly, in some elimination games when participants are “out” they are simply told to stand off to the
side, sit down, or wait for their more talented friends to finish the activity. Again, this does not allow
participants the opportunity to actually practice their skills and learn, which is what practice is for!
Finally, elimination games are often not game-realistic and often involve every participant with a ball,
which can create unnecessary safety hazards for the participants. I think elimination games can be
useful for engaging very young children, but only if when they are eliminated, they aren’t actually
eliminated. If in ‘Octopus’ for example, they get their ball kicked away and they simply go and get their
ball and try again, that’s fine for younger kids. But ultimately, you can challenge your participants in far
better, more game-realistic ways than eliminating them in search of the very best.

5. NOT GATHERING EVERYONE’S ATTENTION BEFORE SPEAKING

The fifth and final mistake coaches often make is failing to gathering the attention of all participants
before beginning to speak. If you don’t have the full attention of the participants, it only takes more time
for them to learn the game or activity and more time for them to achieve the intended outcomes. It is
very important for the players to be paying full attention to the activity so that they can understand all
of its intricacies and so that they can remain safe. But this is not only the athlete’s responsibility to
listen, but the coach’s responsibility to get the full attention of the participants before explaining and
demonstrating. Coaches should also be mindful about their coaching position when explaining, ensuring
that their back is not turned to participants and that every participant can see what they are attempting
to explain.

So there it is! Five common mistakes that coaches often make in their everyday practice.