Sport Coaching in Practice
Articles and Videos
Here is a collection of articles focused on the practical application of coaching. Covering a varied topic mix, they all relate to useful and relevant coaching issues, coaches face day in, day out. You may find our sections for our most recent articles, resources and materials, latest newsletters, or 5 Minutes with Bo Hanson video series valuable too.
Beyond the Podium With DISC: Coaching Coaches on the Path to Paris 2024
We delve into the world of high-performance coaching with David Robertson, High-Performance Pursuit Advisor at Own the Podium.
7 Questions Coaches Can Ask Athletes to Build Retention in their Program
We explore the optimal ways to maximize retention within a program by inviting coaches to ask their athletes 7 crucial questions.
Fastpitch Flyers Success in Sport & Leadership
The University of Dayton’s Head Softball Coach, Cara Clark-LaPlaca; and Executive Director of the Center for Leadership, Brent Kondritz Ph.D., share insights on building athlete leadership through role modeling, collaboration, and foundational self-awareness.
Shooting for Success: Excelling Team Performance Through Individual Contributions
The Ohio State University Director of Shooting Sports and Head Coach of Rifle, Ryan Tanoue; and Head Coach of Pistol, Emil Milev, share insights on building their coaching self-awareness, understanding dynamics, and consistency in leading their national championship winning Buckeyes.
Coaches Corner Podcast: with Liz Masen
In a recent episode of Canterbury Rugby’s Podcast, Coaches Corner, Liz Masen joins Riki Tahere to unpack the power of DISC Profiling and how better understanding your own behavioral tendencies and your players can unlock their best performances. While Liz talks all things DISC, Riki takes a deep dive into decision making, which sees the two discuss the key importance of understanding athletes on an individual level. We guarantee you’ll love this episode, by don’t just take our word for it! Have a listen and share your thoughts with us.
Chasing Victory in Volleyball: McGill-Toolen’s Rise from Contenders to Champions
Every successful team, coach, and athlete has experienced the disappointment of multiple losses on their journey to victory. So what did Head Volleyball Coach, Kate Wood do to get her team across the line to accomplish their ultimate goal of obtaining a championship win? We sat down with Kate to find out!
Fighting Irish Softball Take on a DISC Inspired Bake-off
Head Coach of Notre Dame Softball, Deanna Gumpf, and her awarded coaching staff share how their team challenge their understanding of DISC Profiling to go beyond the field and into a good old-fashioned bake-off.
The Fearless Coach: What We Can Learn from 12 Years in the Head Coaching Seat
Becky Carlson, Head Coach of Quinnipiac University Women’s Rugby, on her 12 years building the sport from the ground up and the importance of understanding others to help them understand themselves.
Coming off the Pitch: Four Decades of Consistent Leadership
Missouri State Head Softball Coach, Holly Hesse on her 35 years at the helm, what factors are crucial for program and student athlete success, and how to get the best out of the people around you.
8 Common Coaching Challenges and How Best to Manage Them
As coaches, challenges are inevitable, but that doesn’t always make them easier to deal with when they do arise. So, what are the most common coaching challenges? We explore eight potentials, why they occur, and the best strategies to implement when managing them.
Why Athletes Transfer: Our Guide to Identifying the Signs Before it’s Too Late
The athlete transition cycle is natural, but what happens when transition looks more like transferring? We explore why athletes withdraw from teams and programs, how to read the signs, and best to navigate this situation if it does arise.
The Coach-Athlete Relationship: Do I have to like my Athletes?
As a coach, do you have to like your Athletes? Is this a question you’ve debated in your head, or with other coaches? Well, we’ve got your answer!
Empowering your Team with Purposeful Recruitment
Melissa Phillips, Head Coach of the London City Lionesses on understanding yourself as a coach to provide the foundation for athlete self-awareness, and how she uses DISC to enhance team and individual performance through purposeful recruitment and positioning.
No Degrees of Separation for Technical and Mental Performance Coaching
Mental Performance Coach, Rick Sessinghaus, on using behavioral profiling as a foundation for effective coaching, producing championship winning athletes, and highlighting the strengths of each DISC Profile in golf.
The Key to Unlocking your Coaching Philosophy
When we look at leaders in any endeavor, we often see their success critically defined by their leadership philosophy, and when it comes to sport coaches it is exactly the same. Having a defined coaching philosophy is key to effective coaching (and leadership), but the process of developing and understanding your own philosophy is often sidelined. When your team relies on your performance as a coach as much as they do on technical execution for achieving a winning outcome, this process is a priority.
Sport Coaching Styles: The Four DISC Styles
As we all know, our personality impacts our behavior and as such has a direct impact on our coaching style. However, unlike personality, which is relatively stable, a coach’s style is a preferred pattern of behavior and as such it can be changed or adapted depending on the situation. Most of all though, a coach’s style can be changed or adapted if they are aware of their style preference and what style will give them the results they need.
Why Even the Best Coaches Need Coaches
Coaches are always evaluating performance, it’s a critical part of their role in order to be successful. Whether it be through assessing the scoreboard results of their team, individual athletes’ statistics, or even through the lens of their team’s culture. However, when it comes to evaluating their own performances, who should coaches turn to when they are looking to improve their own efficacy and skills?
Where Coaching in Theory Meets Coaching in Practice
Dedicated to his profession, four-time Olympic coach, now Program Director, Dr. Cam Kiosoglous focuses his commitment to build the depth of alignment between coaching research and coaching in practice through Drexel University’s Master of Science in Sport Coaching Leadership.
Getting the Most Out of Your Coaching by Looking In
Can a coach coach themself? It’s an interesting question to ponder. While the role of a coach is to constantly work with their athletes and team to develop and improve, and we know that coaches by nature and role can be excellent at developing others, what about when developing themselves?
Conversation about Team Culture
Creating and maintaining an effective team culture is critical to sustained success. So, if we define culture simply as ‘the way we behave around here’, we need to determine what is acceptable and what is not? But then as a coach, how do you sustain a culture or how do you deal with an athlete who acts in a way that opposes the culture you want?
Why Understanding Your Athletes Off the Field, Drives On Field Performance
Let me ask you the most important of coaching questions, “What style of coach are you?” As coaches we occupy a special, even privileged place in our athletes’ lives. On the surface, we are just a part of their athletic journey, but really, we often spend as much, if not more time with our athletes, than their family and close friends.
Accelerating Athlete Decision Making
The skill of decision making is closely linked to problem solving. For some athletes, making the right decisions at the right time is a well-developed skill, whilst other athletes find this process more challenging. Like any critical skill, the key to developing an individual’s decision making is to practice. So, where should an athlete practice their decision making? The answer is in training.
Why Effective Leadership Starts with Structuring Your Captain Selection Process
Captain or leadership group, how can you determine what the right structure for your team is? Who should be appointed as the leader and, what exactly does the person in the leadership role do? These were some of the critical leadership questions we unpacked in our recent open webinar, ‘Choosing Captains and Leadership Development Within Your Team’.
From Coaching on the Court to Coaching in the Classroom
“I rarely choose the easy route just because something might be hard.” It’s a simple and succinct statement of fact, but it also serves as a quick character portrait summing up Dr. Scott Douglas, a 2x NWBA Champion, 4x player for the U.S. Men’s World Cup Tennis Team, 3x Paralympian, coach, and Associate Professor at University of Northern Colorado.
Hardwood Hustle Podcast: with Bo Hanson
We’re excited to share Bo’s chat with hosts of the Hardwood Hustle Podcast TJ and Sam, along with longtime friend of Athlete Assessments, Lisa who introduces Bo on the episode.
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Learn more about Athlete Assessments
DISC Profiling
Learn how to master the people side of sport using DISC Profiling...
What We Do
We specialize in helping our clients create and sustain winning results...
Our Clients
See who we work with and read what they say about us...
