We perhaps are all guilty of not thinking of how to approach people or players when they make errors and help them through this. What does it take to change a person's self-belief in what they do?
A good talk which can help people succeed in what they do.. An excellent approach in coaching others and yourself.
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I think "A sports psychologist" can be a pain in the arse. "The sports psychologist", however, the one who is a good fit and knows his shit, now that guy, he can help players in ways that are v.hard to measure with metrics.
They Do NOT grow on trees. Have you met many psychs? As Rick Sanchez says, they are often "agents of averageness"
Adjusting your self-confidence level, yourself, requires good intuition and some knowledge of your own minds patterns/habits/vibe. Self confidence under pressure can only be tested under pressure. You may think you have it, only for it to flee under stress. It is like a shadow in our far periphal vision, hard to define and focus. Confidence for batsmen in Cricket to me seems particularly nebulous
Randy we all have come up against "experts" and experts. Some are very good at what they do-- A natural fit in what they do.It is always tempting to get engaged in trying to help correct someone's faults. or difficulties. Is that the right way of going about it? I have to fight my natural tendencies to help say my kids with telling them what to do or train them. The best way to influence change is to tell them what they are doing right. Their self-confidence improves and so does their motivation to keep at it by improving always in what they do right. Telling them to do what they are doing wrong is a soul destroyer..We learn these skills from our teachers and parents. If they get it wrong so do you.
I have found with my kids that I need to compress the concept i am trying to impart into as few words as possible.
They don't give us adults too many minutes of actual usefull braintime.
Beware focussing them onto their own weakness'. It is a v.risky business. as it has the potential to increase the problem, or even lead to a loss of intrest, which is the worst outcome for kids Imo
A lot of parents really want to help their kid at footy, so they tell them how to improve, without knowing, for a fact, that their advice will help. If you haven't done it yourself, or had the knowledge imparted to you by someone who has seen improvement from specific advice, why do you think it will work. Shit is complicated
If you don't know, encourage, cheer and show joy when they ask what you think........
The natural impulse is to help. That is as great loving quality. It,s always about the how. I don't like seeing coaches focus on the negative of their players in pressers. That does more harm than good in trying to build mental strength for the next game
Tad, I coach a lot of junior football/soccer and to just focus on telling them what they are doing right doesn't solve many problems that they encounter on the field during games. If you only focus on positives, the negative aspects of their play become exacerbated and they never correct those issues.
Whilst I agree you need to find the positives, you need to address the negatives as much if not more to get that exponential improvement - say in soccer, you have a wonderful team, can score goals easily but don't focus or bother to defend because the coach has lauded their goal scoring ability. This then leads to opposition scoring - so your teams ability to score 1-2 goals a game is offset by the opposition scoring 2-3 goals because the coach has ignored that aspect?
Its how you address you the negatives is the key, question them as to why they made the decision they did and what they can do next time to ensure the same scenario doesn't happen again, "maybe you could do x or y, what do you think" - put the responsiblity on the kid to correct it by providing them the information to allow them to make better decisions.
focusing on positives all the time is what gives us this current entitled attitude amongst the younger demographic as none have ever been told that of their flaws.
A good coach is also a good sports psychologist imho but at the absolute elite level, a good psychologist can be just the tipping point from 2nd to 1st
Thanks for your reply Da Rock. I made a mess of trying to help my son as a lid with soccer. He was a good play maker. I was a side line parent amateur coaching screamer .My son eventually gave the game away
It can be tough for a parent on the sideline, giving what they believe is good advice or instructions to their kid on the field leads to extreme confusion in the kids mind "my coach told me to do x, but dad/mom/granddad is telling me to do something else, I want to please both but but but but.....shit!"
it can be hard - simple adage - let the kids play, the coach coach, and enjoy the game.....
Awesome reply Rock
Interesting you bring up cricket because having played at a high level, I find it difficult to find a tougher sport mentally than cricket. As a batsman, one mistake and your day is over. The next 6 hours are spent analysing your mistake and kicking yourself for it while for the most part you're happy your mate is out there making the most of batting on a road but deep down you're hating yourself for missing an opportunity. As a keeper no one gives a shit if you take 5 catches, but if you drop one, boy does everyone remember. I challenge anyone to find me a tougher sport mentally. I've got a few in mind but would be interested in what people think
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