What Every Coach Should Know About Criticizing Players
Coaches take vastly different approaches to criticizing their players. Some coaches nit-pick constantly during practices, some not at all. During games, some coaches “instruct” their players to tears from the sidelines. Some coaches go entire games without saying anything.
Coaches have different styles, and they maintain different theories on what works. But some forms of criticism are more effective, and some more appropriate, than others.
Some coaches yell more than others from the sidelines. It doesn't mean they're coaching better.
Despite the room for interpretation that coaching style allows, most good coaches believe in the same fundamental characteristic of effective criticism: good communication. Although coaches need to adapt their criticisms to fit different age groups, different genders, and different circumstances, they should always work to communicate with their players as clearly and directly as possible.
Coaches of younger teams, U6 to U10, have the most straightforward task. They need to compliment constantly. Criticism should hardly exist. Coaches need to stay positive and complimentary to engage kids and promote success.
Colin Schmidt, a longtime youth soccer coach and currently the Executive Director of a nonprofit soccer program in the Bay Area, suggests that coaches of players U6 to U10 keep criticisms positive, more like suggestions than critiques.
“You shouldn’t tell players what not to do,” Schmidt said. “Instead, it’s important to phrase your criticisms in an ‘if … then’ statement. For example, ‘If you want to kick the ball more accurately, then try using the inside of your foot. Like this…”
Coaches of older, more competitive, teams can differ more in their critical styles. Some coaches of elite club teams, for example, have gained reputations for being tough on their players.
Many coaches at this past summer’s National Youth Championships admitted that their criticisms could seem destructive to an outside observer. But these coaches also explained how such harsh criticism could be both effective and appropriate. They stressed one word: honesty.
Marc McElligot, Director of Senior Coaching for the Eclipse Boy’s Soccer Club, from Illinois, explained how communicating honestly with players on a regular basis allows coaches to give direct, though seemingly harsh, criticisms during the heat of battle:
“People sit here on the sideline and they see and hear the way things go on game days, and sometimes we’re really getting on kids, and people from the outside look and think, ‘how do these kids play for these guys.’ But the most important thing is that we spend a lot of time talking to our players. We’re honest with the players and we talk to them – at practice, after practice, on the phone, and in games – we talk to them. And if you’re honest with them and really communicate with them, then you can build a comfortable relationship. And then you can get them into a situation where you can really drive them [to improve].”
Many elite college coaches share a similar fundamental philosophy about criticism.
Janet Rayfield, Head Coach of the University of Illinois women’s soccer team, also stresses individual communication with players.
“Every athlete responds to criticism and compliments differently,” Rayfield said. “You have to be able to tailor your coaching to get the best out of each one … No two players are exactly the same and I tell my team from the beginning, ‘I will do my best to treat you all fairly but that will not mean that I treat you all the same because you are NOT the same.’”
This is a coaching philosophy that doesn’t pertain only to college-age teams.
Jason Dewhurst, the Director of Coaching for the Stars of Massachusetts Soccer Club, which fields girls teams from U10 to U18, also suggests that coaches need to know their personnel to criticize effectively.
“You’ve got to treat some players differently than others.” Dewhurst said. “Some girls need an arm round them or a quiet talk. And others need a stern word. They’ll respond to that. Especially girls, you have to understand them. A lot of girls don’t react well to shouting. They’ll go into a shell and you’ll lose them. You need to talk to them individually.”
Treating each player differently, however, can prove a monumental task. For many successful coaches, this is the ultimate challenge.
Rayfield suggests that team success hinges on getting the most out of each individual player:
“It is the human element, the ability to get the most out of a player, a teammate, an employee, that really can make the difference in a player reaching their potential and a team being successful.”
Illinois Women's Coach, Janet Rayfield, hugs player Paula Faherty at Illinois Soccer Stadium in Champaign.
Rayfield states that coaches need to set expectations and goals for individual players as well as for the whole team. She uses expectations to challenge players, not to degrade them.
“A coach’s job is often to challenge someone to do more than they think they can, to be more than they think they are can be,” Rayfield said. “A coach’s challenge is to make sure that the criticism is accurate – that you are correcting the action, the mentality, the behavior, and not degrading the person.”
1 Comment
February 20, 2009 at 11:50 pm
[...] During halftime and after games, coaches have the players’ collective attention. Players can reflect on their performance and on what they can improve. Even during these breaks, however, coaches shouldn’t overload the players with instruction and criticism. [...]