Fostering a sports team into a winning contender can be a tough task for a coach, despite the common misconception that the players take care of most of the hard work. Every knowledgeable sports fan knows that coaches play a pivotal role in a team’s success, which is why professional leagues and schools are willing to pay coaches so much for their contributions. That being said, here are 10 traits that winning coaches have in common.
1. Prioritizing Fatigue and Injury Prevention
This is a solid tip from a renowned Chicago personal injury lawyer. Focus on preventing injuries and you won’t have to deal with the costly and lengthy process of recovering from them. Good coaches protect their players by teaching and facilitating valuable injury prevention techniques in practice, during warmups, and through line-up decisions.
2. Strategic Preparedness
Winning coaches know the importance of showing up with a prepared game plan that’s tailored specifically to the opposing team’s style of play and key players. Try to deviate from the one-size-fits-all strategies and take a game-by-game approach instead.
3. Competitive Analysis
Studying opposing teams can help you devise plays and strategies that will let you achieve similar levels of success. In some cases, this can be as simple as implementing exercises and drills that other winning teams are already using.
4. Player-Oriented
While focusing on the team as a whole is certainly necessary, great coaches go the extra step of focusing on each player’s progress individually. Player-specific assessments can be delegated to assistant coaches and should take up a portion of every practice session.
5. A ‘Never Quit’ Attitude
A winning coach is never willing to throw in the towel prematurely because they believe that their team has what it takes to come back, even if it’s highly unlikely. By keeping your passion and head in the game despite a steep deficit, you can motivate players and potentially pull off a comeback that will boost team morale for subsequent games and throughout the season.
6. Versatile Resourcefulness
Knowing how to utilize your players and maximize their potential within the proper roles is a key trait for a proficient coach to have.
7. Flexible Creativity
Excellent coaches can come up with highly innovative strategies and responses in real-time in order to have a measurable impact on the momentum of a game.
8. Continuous Communication
A good coach communicates with players and staff on an ongoing basis to stay involved with the team’s development.
9. Inspirational Speaking
Coaches that can deliver powerful inspirational speeches before the game and at half time have the ability to instill a game-changing spark in players. Thus, every coach should work on their public speaking and motivational skills in their spare time.
10. High-Level Commitment
Finally, top-tier coaches take commitment to the next level by showing up to every practice early and working overtime to develop game plans that will propel their team forward.
Assimilate the Above Traits to Become a Better Coach
In closing, if you make it a point to get better at all the aforementioned attributes, you should notice a significant improvement in your team’s performance and record.