The GOOD COACH continuously catches his/her players DOING THINGS RIGHT,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling MORE CONFIDENT and MOTIVATED.
The BAD COACH continuously catches his/her players DOING THINGS WRONG,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling LESS CONFIDENT and DISCOURAGED.
The GOOD COACH treats his/her athletes RESPECTFULLY from the outset,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling respected and then respecting the coach in return.
The BAD COACH demands that players show respect just because he/she is “coach,” and in the process, treats his/her athletes disrespectfully,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling devalued and NOT respecting the coach.
The GOOD COACH understands that his/her RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ATHLETE IS KEY TO WINNING COACHING,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling cared about as a person and feeling understood, and, as a result, LEARNS FASTER and PERFORMS BETTER.
The BAD COACH is oblivious to the quality of relationship he/she develops with players and most often says and does things that are hurtful and insensitive,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling misunderstood, alienated and uncared for, and, as a consequence, has significant learning, motivational and performance problems.
The GOOD COACH “walks the talk” and consistently and clearly models in his/her own behavior exactly what he/she wants to teach athletes,
The ATHLETE responds by feeling motivated and learning faster.
The BAD COACH’S mantra is “do as I say, not as I do” and his/her words and actions are inconsistent,
The ATHLETE loses respect for the coach, learns that he/she can not be trusted and, as a result, has both learning and performance problems.
The GOOD COACH creates a safe environment for his/her athletes to make mistakes and fail because he/she understands that failure is the foundation of success and what’s most important is the learning and development of the athlete.
The ATHLETE responds by learning more, having fun and consistently performing to their potential.
The BAD COACH creates an unsafe learning atmosphere, getting angry demeaning and impatient because he/she believes that winning is far more important than the athlete’s learning and development.
The ATHLETE responds by feeling scared most of the time, being afraid of taking risks and making mistakes. As a consequence, he/she stops having fun, loses their motivation and begins to have significant performance problems.