Coaching 5-6 year olds

This group can be the most difficult but also the most rewarding to work with. Their attention span is very short so you will have to create drills that will keep them engaged. If you are working with a large group it would be a good idea to have a few assistant coaches so that you can break them up into smaller groups so they won't get bored and start to become busy (playing with grass, chasing each other, not paying attention, etc). Your approach to this age group will determine how successful you are with them. At this age most of your team will have been to school and have learned (to some degree) a routine. Use that to your advantage. Make your practices very routine and structured so that they know what to expect each day. Repetition is the key with youngsters. Even though you may be tired of seeing it and may not see any improvement that day, trust me, they are learning. Focus on the fundamentals.

If you are teaching them formations, be patient. They wont remember it at first or get it right all the time but the key is to drill them repetitiously until they can do it in their sleep. Focus on the one formation until they can break the huddle and line up without you saying anything. Once they can line up and run one play then you can expand. I like to use the same formation so they are familiar and don't have to shift around. I usually build my playbook around 2 to 3 formations. Keeping it simple will allow them to be comfortable running the plays so if I have to add a wrinkle, it doesn't throw them off. One of my favorite expressions is "inspect what you expect" so teach them what you expect (the play), look for them to implement it (run it correctly), and praise them when they do it right.

I will expound upon this at a later time but remember that patience is the key to making them successful. Keep it fun for them and remember, "Praise, don't punish."

What type of coach are you?

As mentioned in an earlier posting, picking your coaching style is very important to determining your team's identity. How you interact with them

The Motivator - The motivator is the team's biggest cheer leader. He/she is the positive, upbeat, "glass is always half full" type of personality. They are able to get the most out of their teams by making them believe they can accomplish "anything". Be careful not to

The Delegator - The delegator does just that, delegate. He/she relies on their assistant coaches to carry out the plan that they have come up with. One of the traps of this type of coaching style is to delegate too much and end up being a figurehead. The players won't respond to you if your other coaches are doing everything and they never hear from you except for breaking practice or game time. Be sure that even though you delegate, you are still an active participant with your team.

The Dictator - These coaches are usually control freaks and want to do everything themselves. There are obviously pros and cons to using this approach. Some of the pros are having total control over day to day operations (some people prefer this), the chain of command is clear (you are the end all, be all), and you get to take a ll the credit for wins and can blame no one for the losses ( you prefer it that way as well). The cons are possibly alienating your coaching staff and parents, not having support when you need it, and being overwhelmed because you are trying to do the job of many by yourself.

The Yeller - These coaches think that yelling at the players will get their point across. Depending on the age of your team, this technique could be useful, but only in spurts. A younger team won't understand because they are just out there to have fun and learn so you could run into issues with parents. I personally do not like this aproach. I feel like younger kids will try their hardest to do what you expect of them. Sometimes your expectations and their abilities don't match but they are not intentionally trying to aggrevate you. Older players may need more motivation but as long as you develop them more than yell, you will be on the right path.

Any of these approaches, could potentially work. Just make sure your style and your personality match. Being genuine is the key.

Youth Coaching Basics

One of the first things a youth coach should do is determine what his/her coaching philosophy is going to be. In other words, what type of a coach are you going to be? Will you be a motivator, a delegator, a dictator, a players coach, a yeller, or some combination of all of these. Your style will dictate how your team will respond to you. The next thought process should be around how you will get your message across to your players. Be aware that you must tailor your coaching techniques and tactics to the age level and group that you will be working with. The younger the age group the more patient and nourishing you will need to be. If this is not your strong suit then make sure you get older players that won't require as much coddling.

Write down your philosophy and keep it in a place where you can easily get to it. Periodically revisit it to make sure that you are staying in character or check to see if your philosophy has changed. If it has changed, it's ok, it happens. Time, experience, and increased knowledge can change the lens that we view our approach through. Just keep your eye on the ball and remember why you got into coaching in the first place. You are in for a great ride, enjoy it.