
If you win a soccer game 5-0, there’s not going to be much room for improvement. Losing offers players and coaches a chance to improve upon themselves that winning doesn’t offer.
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For kids to reach their full potential, they should become accustomed to losing at a young age. I believe there’s more leeway for this in playoff games but less-skilled players shouldn’t be tossed completely aside. They rather win by 20 then mix in players who don’t see as much playing time. This means the kids who aren’t playing much in the games probably aren’t going to see as many reps in practice either.Ĭoaches who take this approach either don’t realize what they’re doing to these kids or they don’t care. If coaches are only playing the best players in the games, it’s likely these players are also the focus during the practices. Right field in Little League baseball comes to mind.

These kids will still receive time on the field, but it’ll likely be the minimum and in positions that see less action. This can mess with the psyche of younger kids and give off the impression that they’re not good enough to be on the team. These bad coaches play only the best players and don’t have any regard for how it affects others. We’ve all come across the coach who has to win at any cost.

Berating others can make coaches appear less credible in the eyes of their players and lead to players getting down on themselves. Yelling in and of itself isn’t bad, but it shouldn’t be directed at players.Ĭoaches should utilize yelling so someone or the entire team can hear them, not to berate players. With all of that said, coaches shouldn’t be afraid to help players improve their abilities by talking with them.Ĭoaches should do this calmly and avoid yelling at their players. Negative reinforcement may encourage some players to better themselves, but it’s more likely to have the opposite effect on youth athletes. That’s the last thing that you want coaches to do for younger players who are either playing the sport for the first time or simply to have fun. While coaches who employ negative reinforcement are trying to help their players improve, they’re also likely taking the fun out of the game for many of them. Kids will continue to improve the more they play the sport. After safety, the priority of coaches should be to create an environment where players can excel and have fun. Be wary of bad coaches who are overly aggressive with young players. They should highlight what players do correctly and build upon those positives. For the younger age groups, coaches should build players up instead of breaking them down. This type of reinforcement, however, is much less useful with youth players who take most things at face value. Negative reinforcement isn’t the end of the world but it’s more effective with older players who can take constructive criticism and apply it to themselves. One potential indicator of a bad coach is someone who prefers giving negative over positive reinforcement. If they continue exhibiting these signs and the others I mention in this article, then respectfully addressing the situation could be in order. Coaches should be given the benefit of the doubt before anything is brought to their attention or the attention of a league official. Most coaches don’t want to wrong their players. When practices and games resemble work more than fun, there could be an issue with the coaching.

Some bad coach characteristics are: they consider winning to be everything, play favorites, disrespect their players and take the fun out of the game. So, what are some bad coach characteristics? If you ask a kid about some of their least favorite coaches, a couple of names usually come to mind. Sure, I had coaches that weren’t my favorite but I believe they all had my best interest at heart. I was pretty fortunate in my life that I never had any really bad coaches.
