Coaching young children to develop their sporting skills can be more challenging due to their short attention span, immaturity, and underdeveloped bodies. Apart from these, children of young age are experiencing hormonal imbalances that create personality changes, which oftentimes make them suddenly shift from one mood to another. The need to implement a different approach also demands for children coaching objectives adaptive to the athletes’ juvenile interests.
Children coaching objectives must always provide opportunities for fun, inter-personal relationship and development of physical skills related to sports. While nothing beats the exhilarating fun of a winning streak, the coaching objectives must be more focused on developing the players’ spirit of discipline and attitude in pursuit of their goals.
Basic Coaching Principles in Fun Exercises
• Kids are always on the lookout for fun. They can be enjoined to practice more actively if they feel they have fun instead of feeling obligated to do rigid drills. If they do not enjoy the practices or matches, they need to be forced; but, if there is fun in what they do, they will come on their own and do the routines.
• Patience is not one of children’s virtues. They do not like to wait in lines thus avoid practicing in line formation. Soon enough, the kids are going to be impatient and start misbehaving as they wait for their turn. Avoid drills with long line-ups. Maximize their ball touches by making short turnabouts to keep the young players busy all the time. Make sure the ball touches their hands or feet before they lose their attention.
• Be a moving target. Illustrate the proper procedure by demonstrating all moves while doing the explanation. Participate actively in all phases of the training.
• Keep lectures short but complete. Kids cannot be expected to remember everything especially if they feel hot under their seats during long sessions. Make sure to deliver important points in brief talks. Emphasize developing techniques than speed.
• Keep an eye on individual skills and concentrate on developing each. For example, if one player is good at dribbling, another excels in shooting, etc., assign them in positions where they can best apply their skills. This does not only develop their skills, but it can also ensure more winning games for the team. Develop skills in other children by breaking down the training into smaller components to allow them to practice in areas where they are less skilful.
• Refrain from keeping statistics or ranking. Let the kids have fun before, during, and after a game. Confronting them with individual footings can only dishearten them. It is the coach’s job to put the kids in equal standing.
• Incorporate new moves every session, but make sure they master the previous ones. However, avoid putting several moves because they may be too young to put together everything successfully. Make sure, though, there is always new to drive boredom away.
As the kids improve on with their skills, they are soon to develop their own style in the playing field. At the beginning of the game, the coach may have to give some directions to the players. Nevertheless, as they progress, the kids can find their own way through the court. A good coach needs to remember it is not his game. It is just an opportunity to encourage the children to perform their best in a contested arena. It is likewise important that parents are behind the children coaching objectives to avoid conflicting views and to ensure their full cooperation. It is vital to bring to the forefront of the game that, in general, the coaching objectives are meant to create wholesome athletic fun in the context of a competitive spirit with some wins as added bonus.