The Coaching Career: The Philosophy Of A Career

One’s coaching philosophy might be the largest determinant of a coaching career. The coaching philosophy chosen by each individual is crucial to how a career can be defined, as well as how a team coached by this individual functions in both practices and competitive situations. The coaching philosophy set in place by the coach is the fundamental foundation of the program itself. It not only provides direction for the coaching staff and others surrounding the program, but it also sets a threshold for the athletes on the participating team. Depending on the coaching philosophy adapted, players may or may not be allowed to assume responsibility for their own actions and decisions. However, allowing them to make such choices will encourage them

The players want to feel that their coaches really do care about them, and are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to see them succeed not only at the individual level, but as a team as well. This is why having an athlete centered coaching philosophy is the gold standard of the practice today. Those coaches that truly take into account players’ input, feelings, motives

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Several studies previously conducted have shown a correlation between ideal coach philosophies and enhanced athletic performance/motivation. A study conducted at Augusta University looking at athlete motivation relative to coaching environment confirmed that communication and relationship between players and coach directly impact individual and team performance was studied in the fall of

2012. The goal of the study was to examine the female softball athlete’s perceptions of how coaching behavior and strategies impacted their motivation to play

The purpose of this study was to examine the coaching behaviors and philosophy of four high performance secondary school basketball coaches during their in-season practices. The coaches that efficiently communicated, maintained a good relationship, and cared for the development of the players both on and off of the court achieved the best results.

Katie Hawke:

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Their coaching tactics appeared to carry more weight with the team and led to better overall instruction of the group as a whole. Good teaching practices have been shown to promote active learning from the athletes, which may lead to a better competitive performance (Cruz, 2013). These two studies do not say that other coaching philosophies or styles cannot be successful, instead they simply suggest the positive benefits that adapting a player friendly philosophy can have on individual players as well as the team as a whole.

It is extremely important to develop a sound coaching philosophy in order to build relationships with players. The players must respect you as an individual and as a leader of their group in order to achieve team unity, and eventually