Set the Tone
The start of a new season allows us to create a certain feeling, a certain attitude amongst our players and coaching staff that 'We are a tough team and you're gonna have to work awfully hard to beat us.
We're strong, fast, and crisp in our execution, so if you let up for even one second, you're all done.
' This is called setting the tone, and it is one of the most important psychological factors in being an effective coach.
When you set the proper tone for your season, you take a giant step in unifying your team.
Setting the tone is about more than just barking orders at your kids from the get-go.
It's there in the way that you carry yourself on the field, they way you handle setbacks and mistakes, and the way you celebrate successes.
It's a quality of poise that radiates from you even when you aren't saying a word.
And it's a constant task.
Your players are children, so they will be riding a wave of up and down feelings all the time.
Your job is to be the rock upon which they can build a stable and successful team identity, throughout the season.
Of course you'll have your moods too, but you're the adult! You have to keep yourself together and focus, which is not as easy as it sounds.
Have you ever seen Remember the Titans? Denzel Washington's character, the legendary Herman Boone, does a great job of setting a tone of strength and determination from the very first words he speaks to his players.
If you have not seen this movie, please do yourself a favor and see it.
Granted, it's about a high school team, but the lesson is the same.
Watch how the coaches work out their issues by being honest and forthright with one another.
Watch how they create a unified team out of a bunch of kids that were forced to play together for the first time in their lives.
By the time they reach the state championship, this team is practically unstoppable.
The coach programmed his team for success from the very beginning by setting the tone and constantly reinforcing it through hard work and discipline.
It's all an exercise in character building.
Show your kids how to be strong and tough.
They need you to be their prime example, at all times.
We're strong, fast, and crisp in our execution, so if you let up for even one second, you're all done.
' This is called setting the tone, and it is one of the most important psychological factors in being an effective coach.
When you set the proper tone for your season, you take a giant step in unifying your team.
Setting the tone is about more than just barking orders at your kids from the get-go.
It's there in the way that you carry yourself on the field, they way you handle setbacks and mistakes, and the way you celebrate successes.
It's a quality of poise that radiates from you even when you aren't saying a word.
And it's a constant task.
Your players are children, so they will be riding a wave of up and down feelings all the time.
Your job is to be the rock upon which they can build a stable and successful team identity, throughout the season.
Of course you'll have your moods too, but you're the adult! You have to keep yourself together and focus, which is not as easy as it sounds.
Have you ever seen Remember the Titans? Denzel Washington's character, the legendary Herman Boone, does a great job of setting a tone of strength and determination from the very first words he speaks to his players.
If you have not seen this movie, please do yourself a favor and see it.
Granted, it's about a high school team, but the lesson is the same.
Watch how the coaches work out their issues by being honest and forthright with one another.
Watch how they create a unified team out of a bunch of kids that were forced to play together for the first time in their lives.
By the time they reach the state championship, this team is practically unstoppable.
The coach programmed his team for success from the very beginning by setting the tone and constantly reinforcing it through hard work and discipline.
It's all an exercise in character building.
Show your kids how to be strong and tough.
They need you to be their prime example, at all times.
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