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Common Mistakes that

Rookie Coaches Make

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Introduction

Many new coaches enter the profession with high aspirations and confidence that they will become successful coaches. They feel that since they played the sport at a high level or that because of their enthusiasm success at the coaching level will be easy. They think that coaching is all about the X’s and O’s and all about winning. Yet they struggle their first few years unless they have a solid mentor or a solid coaching program with their AD. They struggle because they make a lot of the common Rookie Mistakes.

Here are the top12 Mistakes Made by Rookie Coaches.

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1. The Rookie talks about winning. The Veteran talks about playing the game the right way. There are a lot of shortcuts coaches can use to get the W. It could start with the recruitment of athletes to the college, manipulating the transfer rules for HS or poaching players from other clubs to play for your club team. Most leagues have policies and these should be honored by the coach. During games coaches can do certain tactics that may not be ethical. They may tell their players to continue something against the rules because the referees are not calling it. They may allow their players to verbally abuse, talk trash to the other team to gain an advantage. Maybe their other teams main player is the focus of more physical play. All of these methods may help the team win but at what cost? Playing the game the right way is a reflection on the coach. It reflects on their integrity and what they are teaching their players. If a coach takes advantage in order to win, that’s a pretty strong message that the players take with them. Is that the message we want to give our players?

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2. The Rookie talks about their win-loss record. The Veteran talks about their players. Great coaches develop personal relationships with the players. They figure out what makes each player tick, how each is motivated. They show that player that they care about them. It takes time and an effort on the part of the coach. In the end, this is what we will remember as coaches. We forget the wins and losses, but we don’t forget the players. Many coaches feel that their ego and status is measured by their won-loss record. They feel that if they have a winning record, their coaching ability is validated. They are a better coach than coaches who have mediocre records. They are focused on their records and on winning. It drives their ego system. However by doing so they miss the opportunity to connect with their players.

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3. The Rookie tends to allow players to blame others (players, refs, coaches), while the Veteran teaches accepting responsibility and the meaning of “my fault”. Dean Smith once wrote something along the lines of “the victories belonged to the players while the defeats belonged to him”. The coach who likes to blame others, maybe the refs, maybe a player or two...those are the coaches that don’t take responsibility onto themselves. Perhaps the coach needed to work with certain players more or help to prepare for the game better. To admit those shortcomings is something that is hard to do. it is much easier to look outward and blame others. It takes a veteran to be able to look inward and see their own shortcomings.

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4. The Rookie wants to do everything and be the one in charge of everything. The Veteran develops and trusts their assistants. The Rookie micro-manages his assistants. The Veteran oversees his assistants. The Rookie hires less knowledgeable assistants, the Veteran surrounds himself with the best people. The Rookie wants to control everything. The Veteran will ask the team to design uniforms, choose footwear, and even contribute to practice and game plan strategy

5. The Rookie coaches using the Command Style of coaching while the Veteran uses more of the Cooperative Style. The Rookie will coach through intimidation. Will yell and scream at players. The Veteran has a sense of humor and has developed a relationship w/ each player. The Veteran knows that each player in motivated differently and knows how to motivate each player. The Rookie corrects players negatively. The Veteran attaches something positive with the comment of correction.

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6. The Rookie is more apt to bench a player immediately for a mistake, while the Veteran will not embarrass the player but even use the situation to build the player’s confidence. The Rookie coach doesn’t realize that by benching a player when they make a mistake will create a culture of fear in the team. Players will know that if they make a mistake, they are coming out of the game. Players will then play to “not make a mistake” vs “playing to execute their skills”. The Veteran will take a player out of the game for instruction, 1v1 time with the coach, a moment to see how they can improve their play, explain ways to improve their mistakes and immediately get them back in the game to give them the opportunity to correct their mistake/improve their play.

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7. The Rookie focuses on the starters. The Veteran also works with the “role players”. It is easy to work with the players who quickly pick skills up and are able to execute them. Coaches get that sense of accomplishment and validation to their coaching abilities by seeing players improve quickly. They may get frustrated by the weaker players who need more time to learn the skill. They may look down on these players and not give them the 1 on 1 time these players deserve. Thus the skills “gap” between starters and bench players grows. Eventually the coach will need to have these bench players step up during a game to replace a starter but without enough attention the bench players will falter. This begins a downward spiral as the coach will now become even more frustrated with the bench players. The veteran coach knows, understands and believes in the old adage about “you’re only as strong as your weakest link”. The veteran also knows the importance to the team that the bench players provide. Team chemistry, work ethic and hustle are determined by the bench players.

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8. The Rookie tends to hand out MVP and high scorer awards. The Veteran believes in “practice player of the year” and “defensive” awards. It’s so easy to focus on the main contributors on the team but it takes a conscientious effort on the part of the coach to focus on what really matters. Create awards that are based on hustle, heart, effort, team work instead of ability. The Veteran also focuses on the bench players in interviews with the media. The Rookie talks to the media about their star players, while the Veteran talks about their role players and the contribution of their subs.

9. The Rookie hopes their team has good leadership. The Veteran teaches and develops excellent leadership. The Rookie assumes that captains, elected by their teammates, will automatically be leaders. Chances are the players picked the best players to be the captains; not the best leaders. Without any help from the coach, these captains will not develop into good leaders.

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The Veteran gives the captains opportunities to lead. The Veteran works with the captains and involves them in running the team. The Veteran establishes daily communication with the captains on how they can become better leaders. The Veteran uses both captains and seniors to communicate the importance of their contributions.

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10. Half-time and pre-game talks are intense with the Rookie while the Veteran keeps them short and concise. The Rookie always tries to cover every aspect/situation/possibility and their talks are long-winded and ineffective. The Rookie focuses on all of the negatives and mistakes. The Veteran is focused, clear, concise and simple. The Veteran focuses on ways to improve and factors that the team controls. The Veteran discusses what they need to do to succeed while the Rookie discusses ways that they are failing. 11. The Rookie conducts practices that are boring and lack imagination while the Veteran’s practices are constant motion and energetic. During practices, the Rookie has drills with long lines of players waiting their turn; lots of standing around. The Rookie uses this Traditional Approach and practices tend to get very boring and monotonous quickly. The Veteran has players in constant motion, getting more touches, reps and are usually in game-like situations/activities. These practices are more energetic, engaging and fun for the players. The Veteran is always talking with players, calling out their names.

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12. The Rookie focuses on teaching X’s and O’s while the Veteran focuses on teaching life lessons.

The Rookie feels that knowing the x’s and O’s will make them a great coach. They think that by having the best plays they are going to win. The Veteran focuses on teaching life lessons like effort, commitment and teamwork. Now the Veteran will also teach the X’s and O’s but teaches “whole-part-whole” and how the x’s and o’s fit into the system.

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