Managing Behaviour
When coaching children there will always be challenges with some individuals in terms of behaviour, so how do you deal with it?
Here are some golden rules which I feel are fundemental to create the right enviornment and not let it effect the coaching session.
1) Prevention is better than cure!
Planning the session and preemting potential triggers for poor behaviour - analyse the session and see if there are certain players who when put together misbehave. Next time don't put them together and see if this changes the session.
2) Manage the behaviour not the individual
What is making them misbehave, are they engaged? If not why not? Speak with them and explore if there are any other factors effecting them?
3) What is best for the group?
Sometimes it might be to ignore the behaviour, other times it may be to talk to the group as a whole, and finally it may be best to speak to the individual and/ or parent? The most important thing to consider is do not let it effect the session and flow. The misbehaviour is normally a sign of attention...consider how you address this?
4) Don't shout!
Losing your temper will not have a great effect if it is every week. Try to stay calm and think about how to keep the session flowing. If you feel it is time to talk to the group about behaviour - be honest! Explain how you have planned the session, you want them to improve and the behaviour is effecting the success of the session. Do they really want the sessions to stop?
5) Reflect
It is always good practice to reflect on every session to 'pin point' what went well, and what could be done in the future to make it even better. Make behaviour and attitude part of this and see how if you change your style, intensity, selection etc. what effect does this have?
We all have good days and not so good days when we are coaching, just remember that you are managing the session and therefore what ever happens is under your control!
Keep smiling and learn from every experience - that way you will have a tool box to deal with any given situation in the future...
