Sports Coaching Report
Coaching Styles, Importance of Effective Communication, Preferred Styles and Coaching Behaviour
There are three different types of coaching styles autocratic, democratic and laissez faire. The autocratic coaching style is the style of coaching that takes more of a telling role rather than an asking approach. Democratic coaching tends to invite the individual to participate in the session by encouraging them to take on a self coaching attitude and finally laissez faire coaching style tends to just have a more relaxed approach as there is less instruction or guidance and just lets the individuals get on with the sport. Overall there are both advantages and disadvantages of using these coaching styles, as different coaching styles are better suited to different situations and different individuals, however it is suggested that it's not a good idea to use laissez faire unless coaching elite performers. Throughout my coaching session I used 2 out of 3 of the different coaching styles. The main coaching style I preferred was autocratic, I used this coaching the most because I didn’t really know much about the skills of the individuals I was coaching. However I also used democratic coaching style after the first drill as I allowed them to decide their own groups and decide who was the most confident in the group, within the session I stayed clear of laissez faire.
To be an effective coach and gain the respect and trust of the individuals, coaches need a range of different skills, including leadership and organisation, communication, teaching and motivation skills. For leadership and organisation skills a coach needs to be well organised personally, be able to organise and direct other people effectively, be able to organise equipment and facilities safely and be able to demonstrate good leadership skills. Individuals within the session will enjoy a safe and well structured session if they know exactly what is expected of them. A disorganised coach is more likely to deliver a disjointed and unsafe session. Good coaches are always tremendous communicators they may not know everything but can organise and convey their thoughts well. Coaches must be able to communicate effectively with participants, parents, officials and others involved within sport. Sometimes a coach feels that because they possess the relevant knowledge and skills that they have to spend their time giving information and sharing their experiences. However listening is a vital part of effective communication too. Teaching skills improve and individuals performance within sport involves some teaching. A coach needs to help people understand new information and learn new skills. To do this a coach needs to select different teaching methods to suit the type of learner and the activity. Good coaches get the best from their participants by making the appropriate choices about what, how and when to teach a particular skill or technique. It is also important to progress in short, simple and logical steps from one part of the session to the next and at a pace that suits most of the participants.
Effective coaching behaviour involves 5 main things which are self reflection, communication, use of feedback, questioning/clarifying and managing the training environment. Within my session I mainly used verbal communication with the individuals I was coaching, I used it before starting drills and I also used through out to praise the players. Overall good communication skills are vital. A coach needs to be able to communicate well with individuals on the team. There is nothing worse than a player who will not or cannot listen because communication with your players is crucial. Verbal communication is what coaches use more than any other type. Because talking to players instead of at them, can be one of the most effective means of communication.
(Lyle,2002) defines coaching effectiveness as 'Identifying coaching effectiveness is an important but seemingly