Coaching Principles and Best Practices. Laurel Whalen, MA Wayne State University

Transcription

1 Coaching Principles and Best Practices Laurel Whalen, MA Wayne State University

2 35 Million The number of kids who play organized sports each year 66% 1 in 68 52% Percent of boys (5-18) who play organized sports Percent of girls who play organized sports Number of children in the US diagnosed with ASD Minnesota Youth Sports Commission, 2013, Autismspeaks.org, 2014

3 Behind their parents, youth report that the most influential person in their lives is. Their Coach!

4 Be Effective A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on "x's and o's" as compared to time spent learning about people. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University, Men s Basketball

5 What is the biggest problem in youth sports today? ADULTS!

6 Youth sports are about kids. Develop a coaching philosophy Determine what you VALUE as a coach. How do those values impact the manner in which you coach and the decisions you make? What will make you feel successful at the end of a practice/ game/season? SHARE IT! Make your athletes and their parents aware of your philosophy. The most important thing for you to remember is that youth sports are about KIDS. You should design your philosophy with a kid-centered approach!

7 Understanding age-appropriateness Time Attention span Chunking concepts Level of difficulty Understand how growth and development impacts ability Physical and psychological differences are common Technical vs. Tactical skills Without technique, tactics will be unattainable Develop appropriate tactical schematics for your age group Expectations Competitiveness

8 Effective instructional techniques Avoid the L s: Lines Lectures Laps

9 Effective instructional techniques Differentiated instructional techniques Tell, show, reinforce Provide ample response time Use simple directions AWA For kids with autism, you may need to make additional modifications to your instructional techniques: Your directions should use only two words more than the athlete does when communicating ideally, you ll stay at 5 words or less. Use a visual schedule, if needed* Give them choices Define the physical space You may need to provide additional response time for athletes with ASD. Don t force eye contact with your athlete with ASD. Provide a learning environment that supports their sensory needs. *for more information on visual schedules, see the ASD module.

10 Set goals For your team: SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely By the league tournament, I will improve my driving accuracy and distance by hitting more than 60% of fairways and consistently driving the ball more than 150 yards. Help your players develop their own goals for the season. Work with them to develop realistic goals that fit within your expectations for them. Promotes buy-in Allows you to see what is important to them. For yourself: Create goals that will help you develop as a coach Evaluate!

11 If your goal is only To develop superstar athletes, consider this: Percent High School To NCAA Men's Women's Men's Ice Men's Football Baseball Basketball Basketball Hockey Soccer 3.30% 3.70% 6.40% 6.70% 10.90% 5.60% Percent NCAA to Professional 1.30% 0.90% 1.60% 9.70% 1.20% 0.70% Percent High School to Professional 0.03% 0.02% 0.08% 0.51% 0.10% 0.03% NCAA, 2012 To win, consider: At least 50% of all participants will be losers in every game.

12 Know your game Establish credibility Understand and practice league rules Use your resources Seek professional development opportunities/obtain certifications Athletes with Autism Training Paralympic Program Training Consult other coaches AWA When you are working with athletes with ASD, don t make decisions in a vacuum consult parents, teachers, and others with experience coaching athletes with disabilities.

13 Know your athletes Learn family dynamics Understand how your players want to be coached Know individual skill and fitness levels Children often communicate through their behavior. AWA Understand that athletes with ASD especially tend to communicate through behavior. Recognize cues and respond accordingly Depersonalize the behavior

14 Be a good manager Organized Effective communicator Consistent, reliable DWYSYWD

15 Be Intentional Knowledge is not enough to get desired results. You must have the more elusive ability to teach and to motivate. This defines a leader; if you can t teach and you can t motivate, you can t lead. - John Wooden, UCLA, Men s Basketball

16 Intentional skill development Don t just train for games. Start with fundamentals! Utilize activities that emphasize fundamental motor skills: running, jumping, throwing, catching, and striking. Incorporate activities that promote: health-related fitness (e.g., cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, etc.) skill-related fitness (e.g., balance, agility, etc.) As kids get older, more important to focus on sportspecific skills Mix up your activities make them fun and reinforce athlete effort

17 Intentional Feedback Timing make it immediate Feedback must be concise and consistent AWA Reinforce when the athlete does what we ask of them Withhold reinforcement when the athlete is off task. Don t reinforce approximations only reinforce the behavior/ skill/part of the skill, if it s correct! Encourage Be sure to provide as much positive reinforcement as you do constructive feedback Don t just use don t : Instead of don t talk in the huddle, try ask the offending player when you re talking in the huddle, can you hear me?

18 Intentional Feedback Be a coach, not a cheerleader Celebrate small victories, not just the outcome of games Progress is in the eye of the beholder AWA You may have to make athletes with ASD aware of their successes Progress with athletes with ASD may seem slow compared to typical learners.

19 Encourage Mistakes Don t create an environment that makes kids afraid to make mistakes. Performance decreases the more you focus on just the outcome. The more winning is emphasized the less likely kids are to take a risk, to try, to set themselves up to possibly fail. Create a supportive environment that allows for mistakes to a point gently allow for failure to foster learning.

20 Use your sport to teach character Sports don t develop character, good coaches who foster the right environment do Be deliberate in talking about sportsmanship, teamwork, and responsibility. Help children understand the transition of skills they learn in sport to other aspects of life. Great job coming to practice on-time and prepared today! I hope you do the same for school tomorrow too!

21 Use your sport to teach character Contribute to developing positive self-esteem and confidence Provide activities that are optimally challenging and intrinsically interesting; Foster an environment that allows participants to feel accepted by their peers, and connected to adult mentors; Place your emphasis on personal achievement and group cooperation AWA Social behaviors must be taught for athletes with ASD Create healthy opportunities for the athletes with ASD to practice social skills through sport (e.g., How to be on a team, How to win and lose, How to wait your turn, What to do if a teammate gets hurt, etc.).

22 Have fun Let kids PLAY Engage in team building activities Accept kids motivations for participation (fun, friends, fitness, participation) Motivation for participation might be different for AWA ASD. 65% Children who participate in sports to be with friends 90% Children who would prefer to play on a losing team rather than sit the bench on a winning team 71% Children who said they wouldn t care if no score was kept in games

23 Be a Role Model The most important role models in people's lives, it seems, aren't superstars or household names. They're 'everyday' people who quietly set examples for you--coaches, teachers, parents. People about whom you say to yourself, perhaps not even consciously, 'I want to be like that. - Tim Foley, Retired NFL Player

24 Respect the game AWA Respecting officials, coaches, parents, and athletes Teach good sportsmanship Maintain composure win and lose graciously Model the type of behaviors and comments your want your team to display Be aware that athletes with ASD may repeat verbatim your comments

25 Be human Take your coaching hat off after you ve left the field. Share some personal information about yourself so that the kids know you as more than just their coach. Kids don t care what you know until they know you care!

26 Be Safe Sports are vital to this country and it s a responsibility for us to make sure that young, talented kids are able to participate as safely as possible and that we are doing our job, both as parents and school administrators and coaches, to look after them the way they need to be looked after. That s job number one. President Obama, White House Healthy Kids & Safe Sports Concussion Summit

27 Be conscious of: Weather Facility/Field conditions AWA Address sensory needs within practice and game environment Be aware of sensory issues and then make plans to address or accommodate sensory needs in the environment Create visual boundaries Equipment Athlete pairings AWA Especially critical for pairing athletes with ASD with an appropriately sized and skilled teammate.

28 Hydration Readily available Sports drinks Not necessary for young athletes, unless it encourages them to hydrate! How much do your athletes need? 1 cup of fluid every 15 to 20 minutes of strenuous exercise. That means that you need to schedule water breaks during practice (and more often than this if its hot outside). Don t use salt tablets! They can cause dangerous side effects and are unnecessary (and most children will replace salt with their normal diet).

29 Medical/behavioral concerns Injury concerns Don t just walk it off. When in doubt, sit out. A good guide from the National Institute of Health for information on children s sports injuries: child_sports_injuries.asp Medical concerns (e.g., low blood sugar, medication issues, etc.) Behavior management plan

30 Travel Communication with family (e.g., rides home, practice times, etc.) AWA Make sure appropriate person picks up/takes home athlete with ASD Transporting children

31 For questions or to receive more information, contact: Dr. Suzanna Dillon Wayne State University or whatever else you are closing your other presentations with.