"Creating a High Performance Coaching Style"

By Bo Hanson - 4x Olympian, Coaching Consultant & Director of Athlete Assessments

Sports Coaches all have a preferred coaching style. A coaching style is a way of behaving. Coaches spend most of their time using their preferred coaching style. Sometimes this style works well for them. Sometimes it doesn't. Knowing what your coaching style is and being able to change it, is critical in order to appeal to the different types of athletes that you coach. Using a style that is incompatible with your athlete's needs will result in you becoming frustrated that the athlete is not making changes and it will also result in the athlete becoming frustrated that they are not being coached effectively. The problem is, so often I have seen the incorrect coaching style used with the previously mentioned results yet no-one knew why the problem was occurring. The coach just gave up and the athlete left to be coached by someone else or they left the sport altogether.

If you are the Coach, are you the leader?

First, recognize that as a coach you are a leader. As a leader you have certain amounts of power. Your power will essentially come from two sources: "position power" and "personal power." Position power is just what it sounds like - you're the Coach so a certain amount of power comes from being anointed by the Club, College or Team Management for this role.

But personal power comes from earning it, from developing it. Position power is a starting point for coaching an athlete or team, but personal power enables a coach to go from a coaching style that considers the needs of the athlete first and then fits the style of coaching required to these needs. Personal power is also based on coaches building respect and credibility in the eyes of their athletes. It is well known that a critical condition for an athlete to change their technique is the amount of credibility the coach has in the eyes of the athlete. For example, if the athlete's previous coach has taught them a certain technique and it is deemed ineffective, then unless the athlete's current coach has greater credibility than the athlete's old coach, there will be no change in technique. This is because the athlete does not believe in the new coach as compared to their belief in the old coach. Building the credibility is about showing your desire to adapt to the athlete's need (see previous article on Do You Have Adaptability) and then show your expertise in the athlete's eyes.

What is interesting in sport today, is the amount of information on topics critical to performance such as nutrition, sports science and bio mechanics. Yet show me the same depth of information on how to build effective relationships and rapport with your athletes. Business has recognized the need to develop the management and leadership skills of its people years ago. In sport many people still seem to be caught up with training programs and sports science. Believe me I know this is important. I won three Olympic medals and used every piece of sport science and bio mechanical help I could, but it was the ability of my coach who really enabled me to be my best. Actually, by the end of my career, my coach could do everything a sport science tester did and he understood the bio mechanics of my sport to a degree that exceeded many experts in the field. What my coach did better than any other coach I have seen, is his ability to build rapport with his athletes, establish enormous credibility an d develop the highest level of respect. To us, he was (and is to others today) a coach who was athlete centered, where he adjusted his style to suit the needs of his athletes. I guess that is why he is Head Coach of one of the largest nations in the world. Personal power--in essence, your skill in dealing with people--is increasingly crucial to you and your role as coach.

In short, if you respect your athletes' individuality, their essential differences, they'll feel like they're on a winning team and will work harder, better for you. But you must empower them rather than just seeking power over them. You can do that by learning to listen, observe, and talk to them. And then adapting so they'll feel important, wanted and highly valued, this will build their self-esteem and that will increase their confidence in themselves. We all know the results that genuinely self-confident athletes can achieve.

Using the CoachDISC profile, enables you to identify your coaching style. When your athletes also complete their AthleteDISC profiles, the information you get will enable you to use the correct style with each athlete. Coach behavior should be a way to connect athlete understanding with the concepts and skills the coach is trying to improve within the objectives of the session (Hall & Smith 2006). With each of the four behavioral styles outlined in the AthleteDISC, there's a different way to communicate, connect with, provide feedback and motivate and counsel them.

Discover more information about the AthleteDISC profile for athletes and CoachDISC profile for coaches. Or contact us to find out how we can help you further develop your coaching.

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