Before I get into this, I just thought that I would clarify that I am not going to state any names, or the sports these coaches were involved with, so that no one is potentially offended and no fingers are pointed. All of these coaches had good intentions and were nice guys, they just did not execute well as coaches.
Now that I have cleared that up, let me get into the point of this article. As a student athlete, I have experienced both the good and bad of coaches, especially due to being from a small town. When you live in a small town, there is a smaller pool of coaches to pick from, especially with the schools. Unfortunately, this can lead to a higher percentage of “bad” coaches. Anyway, having experienced poor coaching, I have learned what it feels like and how to handle and overcome it. So, I thought I would share some advice for child and teenage athletes stuck in the same situation.
- Keep your head up. Not matter how undervalued, unused, or even simply un-coached you may feel, remain confident. If you give up on the coaching, you can only make the situation worse. Remaining confident will help you, especially if you are given the chance that you deserve. If you lose faith, there’s a chance that the coaching staff will notice, meaning you are then completely out of luck with them.
- Find someone you can talk to. If your coaches aren’t helping you or aren’t using you when you should be used, find someone (preferably an adult) with knowledge of the sport who you can get advice from, work with, and get honest feedback from. Hopefully, you can apply their feedback to the situation and work on improving yourself or doing what is necessary to be used.
- Retain an honest image of yourself. If you aren’t used, this may actually be because you aren’t as talented as the next guy in line. Keeping an honest image of yourself will prevent you from becoming disheartened with your coaches, when there is not actual reason for it. Sometimes, it is simply a lack of talent on your part.
- Whatever you do, don’t question your coaches. Insubordination will do nothing good for you. Questioning leadership will only make the situation worse for you. Remember, a team is a chain of command.
Sometimes, as a student athlete, you will be put into situations where the coaching is simply bad. If you end up in such a situation, feel free to follow the advice in these tips.