Are You Making One of These Six Coaching Mistakes?

Mistakes are not desirable, of course, but they will happen and as a coach. Your job is not to beat yourself up over it, but to learn from it.

Here are the top 6 mistakes I’ve seen youth sports coaches make:

They Refuse to be a Student of the Game

Coaches, perhaps you talk a lot about kids who are coachable and encourage children to be teachable, but what about you? Are you looking for ways to better your coaching skills? Are you a student of the game?

The best coaches I’ve known were those who were always looking for ways to better themselves as a coach. They studied films, watched other teams play, went to clinics to learn from experts, and asked other coaches for advice. 

Even after 3 decades of coaching, my husband is still seeking to learn how he could be better as a coach. If you think you know it all when it comes to coaching your sport, then it just maybe that you’ve already reached your peak as a coach and it’s downhill from here.

They Try to Make Everyone Happy

Rule #1 for leaders: You cannot please everyone and if you try, you will not only stress yourself out, you will dilute your influence as a leader. People pleasers do not make strong coaches.

Instead of giving in to parenting demands so they will not be angry at you, focus on what’s best for the team. If you don’t have skin thick enough to do that, perhaps it’s best to hand over the reins to a coach who can.

They Focus More on Outcome Than Process

In youth sports, the primary objective is not winning, it’s development and fun. Winning is definitely a goal, but it should not be pursued to the exclusion of everything else. Youth sports is a journey and a process that shapes young lives. Winning at all costs ignores that.