Module 6
Coaching is all about communication. Successful
coaches are masterful communicators, and unsuccessful
coaches often fail not because they lack knowledge of
the sport but because of poor communication skills.
Communication is the process of sharing information,
thoughts and feelings between people through
speaking, writing or body language.
Effective communication requires that transmitted
content is received and understood by someone in the
way it was intended.
Goals of effective communication:
 To create a common perception,
changing behaviors and acquiring
information.
Three dimensions of communication:
1. communication includes not only sending
messages but also receiving them. Coaches
must be skillful not only at sending clear ,
understandable messages but also at listening
to understand what their athletes are
communicating in return.
2. communication consists of verbal and non-
verbal messages. Gestures of hostility, facial
expressions of joy, movements of intimidation,
and acts of kindness are all forms of non-verbal
communication
3. communication has two parts: content and
emotion. Content is the substance of the
message, and emotion is how you feel about it.
Six reasons for ineffective communication
1. The athlete, lacking adequate listening or nonverbal
skills, misinterprets the content of the message or
fails to understand it.
2. The athlete does not receive the message because
he or she is not paying attention.
3. The athlete understands the message content but
misinterprets the intent.
4. The messages sent by the coach are inconsistent
over time, leaving the athlete confused about what
is meant.
5. The content to be communicated by the coach is
wrong for the situation.
6. The message does not communicate what the
coach intends because the coach lacks the
necessary verbal or nonverbal skills.
Communication problems tend to occur more when
people are under stress or duress, when they are
passionate about the subject, or when the outcome is
very important to them.
Stress, passion and importance reign supreme in the
world of competitive sports, which is why
communication is such a challenge for coaches.
Ineffective communication is not always the fault of the
coach; the problem may lie with the athlete, or both
coach and athlete. But you can do much to avoid
problems of miscommunication by developing your own
communication skills.
Improving these skills will be discussed after you
evaluate what you currently have.
Coaching style and communication
1. Command-style communication
 Communicates in an aggressive way by
ordering athletes to do whatever he
wants them to do, often accompanied
by intimidating body language.
 This coaching style do most of the
talking and little listening, and when
things go wrong, they accuse and
blame.
 This style can be successful in sports for
a short time because the coach has so
much power but in the long term, it
drives athletes and others away,
destroys relationships and injures and
scars those who are victim to the
coach’s tongue-lashings
2. Submissive-style communication
 Allows others to dominate the
conversation. Submissive style coaches
seldom express their own view points and
will tend to express agreement, even when
they don’t agree.
 Particularly troublesome about this style is
the avoidance of difficult issues. They
disdain confrontations and conflicts, and by
avoiding them often let small hot spots
within their team turn into roaring fires.
3. Cooperative-style communication
 This style is based on mutual respect
between the coach and the athletes. They
communicate in a straightforward, positive
 and confident way and allow and encourage
others to do the same.
 Cooperative-style coaches are good
listeners, seeking to understand what the
other person is striving to communicate,
and thus, encourage a two-way
communication.
DEVELOPING YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS
1. Developing credibility when you communicate.
2. Communicating with a positive approach
3. Sending messages high in information
4. Communicate with consistency
5. Learning to listen
1. Developing credibility when you communicate
Communication credibility is reflected in the degree to
which your athletes trust what you say. At the outset,
athletes will give you credibility simply because you
occupy the prestigious role of a coach. From then on,
however, you maintain or diminish it based on your
actions and communication.
Coaching recommendations:
 Be a cooperative-style coach
 Be knowledgeable about the sport or at least
honest about whatever knowledge you possess
 Be reliable, fair and consistent
 Follow through on what you say you’ll do
 Express warmth, friendliness, acceptance and
empathy
 Be dynamic spontaneous and open
 Remain calm under pressure
2. Communicating with a positive approach
 The positive approach is an attitude that you
communicate in both verbal and non-verbal
messages. It is an attitude that communicates a
desire to understand, an acceptance of others,
and an expectation o mutual respect. This
approach helps athletes value themselves as
individuals.
Coaching recommendations:
 Avoid sarcasm and put-downs but at the same
time, don’t sugarcoat athletes behavior by
falsely putting a positive spin on them.
 Emphasize what can be done, and avoid
language that dwells on problems; instead use
language that focuses on solutions
 Seek to build character not destroy it
3. Sendinges high in information
 A coach should provide evaluative comments
only when athletes clearly don’t know what is
correct or incorrect. If a behavior is good, praise
them for it and tell them what is good about it.
If it’s wrong, give them specific instructions on
how they can improve.
 Some coaches constantly give verdicts to their
players, telling them what they did right or
wrong------- usually wrong. But athletes need
more than to be told that they did something
wrong; they need specific information about
how to do it right. Successful coaches are not
judges, they are skilled teachers.
Coaching recommendations:
 Provide athletes with specific information
that helps them correct mistakes rather
than general information that judges their
performance.
 Be certain you understand the reason for
your athletes’ actions before you judge
their behavior.
 Focus your comments on the athletes’
behaviors, not on them as a people, to
avoid damaging their self-worth.
4. Communicate with consistency
Keeping your word is a form of consistency that will
enhance your credibility. When you are true to your
word, athletes learn to trust you. If you don’t
provide a promised reward, you lose the power o
use rewards in the future.
Coaching recommendations:
 When you promise to do something, be
sure to follow through
 Avoid gossiping and discourage your
athletes from gossiping
 Develop a sense of trust with your athletes
by being consistent and positive. Through
trust, you become a coach of character.
5. Learning to listen
Educators distinguish between two types of
listening– passive and active. Passive listening is
what we typically think of as listening--- being silent
while another person speaks. Although a passive
listening is sometimes desirable, it has limitation in
that the speaker is not sure whether you are paying
attention or really understands.
Active listening involves interacting with athletes by
providing them with proof that you understand. It
lets athletes know that you understand and respect
 their ideas and feelings, thus they will be more
willing to listen to you in return.
Coaching recommendations:
 Show the person speaking to you that you
are interested and you are trying to
understand.
 Express empathy, not sympathy by showing
that you care and respect what the other
person has to say.
COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
Verbal communication techniques
1. Double positive approach
 When you see a successful performance,
explain and demonstrate why the
performance is successful. Simultaneously
reinforce the player for good play while
establishing the correct points of technique
for the benefit of all players engaged in the
practice.
2. Question and answer approach
You can often achieve far more by asking
players rather than telling. By doing this,
you will achieve two objectives:
 First, you will elicit the correct technical
diagnosis;
 Second, by involving the players in the
discussion, you will encourage them to
develop their own powers of observation
and critical analysis. Getting players to
appreciate and develop their own
knowledge of the game is surely at the
heart of good coaching, and the question-
and-answer technique enhances this
3. The sandwich approach
 The 1st slice of bread: start off with positive
feedback (authentic praise of something
they did recently)
 The “meat of the matter”: provide your
constructive criticism Be brief (yet clear and
thorough) in your delivery of the meat of
the matter — the criticism you want to
share. Additionally, try to give them the
criticism in the context of how it can help
them reach their goals
 The 2nd slice of bread: end on a positive
note You can speak in general terms about
how much progress they are making. You
can compliment them on their
receptiveness to receiving constructive
criticism.
Types of communication
1. Visual communication
The ability to demonstrate well—is a priceless
gift. Model what you want to see. Not only does
a good demonstration provide a picture for
your players and prevents the boredom of long
verbal explanations, but it also adds to your
credibility.
Important characteristics of a good
demonstration:
 Simplicity—Emphasize only one major
point and perhaps one minor point
each time you demonstrate. Bring out
additional features in the next
demonstration.
 Reasonable goals.—Your
demonstration should always set goals
that are within the ability of your
players.
 Talking while demonstrating—This
enables you to draw attention to key
points while you are actually
demonstrating them.
 Refraining from over demonstrating—
Restrict demonstrations to one or two
repetitions. You may occasionally need
to demonstrate a skill three times, but
four or more demonstrations will
usually bore your audience.
You may find the following strategies
useful:
Always try to rehearse in private. If you
need a server, practice with that person. If
the server makes a mistake in the actual
demonstration, don’t try to compensate;
stop and try again. Before you demonstrate,
say to the group, “I may need two or three
attempts to get this demonstration right.” If
you alert the group to the possibility of
failure, it won’t be a disaster if you fail.
Furthermore, this implies that the players
too must be prepared for failure and that
failure is not necessarily a bad thing. Of
course, succeeding the first time is a bonus.
Stop after your third unsuccessful attempt
at demonstrating. Don’t keep on failing! If
 you are not successful by the third attempt,
start the players working with a comment
such as, “sorry, it’s not going well for me
today, but you can see what is needed!” No
one is perfect, and the players would rather
practice themselves than watch you fail. A
sincere coach has nothing to fear from an
occasional failure.
What do I do if I simply can’t demonstrate?
The ability to give good demonstrations is a
priceless asset. There are limits, however,
and no one who is seriously interested in
coaching soccer should be discouraged by
an inability to demonstrate. You would not,
for example, expect every track coach to
sprint 100 meters in under 10 seconds!
What matters most is that you know what
should be done and why and can get that
knowledge across to your players.
If you do not feel confident enough to
demonstrate, consider using:
o Preselected demonstrator—Select a good
performer, take him to one side, and have
him rehearse the skill or movement several
times. Then let this player demonstrate for
the entire group.
o Discovery approach—With this method you
introduce the topic and start the group off
without an introductory demonstration. For
example, to coach accuracy in passing, you
might start with the players in pairs passing
to each other, or you might organize mini-
games of 3v3. As the players pass, watch for
players who pass accurately; then stop the
practice and ask the accurate passers to
demonstrate for the others.
o Group challenge— This method is very
useful when coaching restarts such as free
kicks and corners. Give small groups of
players the same task—for example,
working out an attacking free kick. After a
set period of time, let each group
demonstrate in turn. In this way you will
produce a number of tactical moves to
discuss with the players. Further, you will
have challenged your players’ initiative.
o Visual aids.—Coaching videos, handouts,
and charts are useful, but you must use
them with care. Examine them in advance,
and show only sections you want students
to see. Showing a video of a complete game
can often be a waste of time, for example—
be selective.
2. Physical communication
Such as shaping, involves guiding players’ limbs
through the correct movement. This is more
important when coaching younger players.
Young children must discover how to perform
new skills, and they learn more by doing and
feeling the correct pattern or shape of the
movement than by listening.
For example:
 When teaching the correct positions for the
foot and knee in the push pass, especially in
the follow-through. Similarly, it is invaluable
when teaching players to relax the foot or
thigh when controlling the ball or to tense
the muscles in the neck and shoulders when
heading the ball.
 This technique affords a special advantage
when coaching smaller children. To shape a
movement, you often have to kneel in front
of the player with your eyes on the same
level. Youngsters really respond to being
coached by someone who is literally on
their own level rather than someone
towering above them and perhaps talking
down to them in more ways than one.
Brett Bartholomew – performance coach
“Coaching is teaching. And one’s level of
effectiveness in teaching is not evaluated solely
by what they (the instructor) knows, but rather
by what their students understand.”
To ensure that communication is effective,
coaches need to ask themselves:
1. Do I have the athlete’s attention?
2. Am I explaining myself in an easily
understood manner?
3. Has the athlete understood?
4. Does the athlete believe what I am telling
him/her?
5. Does the athlete accept what I am saying?