Watch Your Language!

Language is one of the most powerful tools we have.  The way we compound words together, our tone, and what we attempt to communicate transcend a meaning that can be extremely powerful.  Do me a favor; I want you to think of someone who has impacted your life in a positive manner.  Someone who has changed the way you think and/or the way you act.  I guarantee you, that special mentor was someone who spoke and it demanded attention from you; whose language hit you deep inside of you.  That's the power that a coach has with his/her players.  The way coaches communicate with their players IS the difference between success and failure.



At the end of the day, there is only one way that coaches are judged, by the way their players perform during competition.  For a player to execute, he/she needs to be on the same page as the coach; they have to speak the same language.  When training, coaches have to choose their words with the utmost care as the wrong message can mean months of undoing bad habits.  Using the correct message, it will be ingrained in a player's brain and advance his/her developmental process rather quickly.  So how can we do this?

Be Precise

A coach should think of how he/she can express a PRECISE message with as little words as possible.  That's the challenge!  Are you as a coach able to share your ideas to a player as specific as possible, but yet, using as few words as possible?  Let's do an exercise. Take a look at the video below and tell me the most important thing that the player needs to work on.  Ready?......GO!

What was the one thing you came up with?  Or was it many?

-Did you say contact point?  
-Extension of the right arm?  
-How about the stance they were using?

Did you say all three? Maybe you said even more.  Remember "Paralysis by analysis".  Don't shove months of information in a session.  The player above had a problem with his contact point.  By tackling this single issue, he was able to correct many of the other ones.  The correct and Precise language was used when he was told to hit the ball at belly button level.

Coaches need to pick the most important problem and work with that barrier until it is corrected.  Once it is rectified, then the coach and player can attack the next biggest problem.  Many times, by working on the most present problem, some of the other ones are corrected.  Remember, that development is a marathon and not a sprint.  Be patient with the player and he/she will yield the results you want from them.

Avoid Generalities!

Ok, so we have attacked the problem of using too many words (commands) at once.  Now let's tackle one more issue, Generalities.  Most coaches are guilty of this, me included.  Generalities are used when coaches are frustrated, can't think of an answer to a problem quickly or just don't know the answer.  By using generalities players can also become frustrated and confused as they themselves are not given a Precise answer.  Would you tell your spouse or son to go to the grocery store and pick up dinner without actually telling them what dinner would be?  Probably not.  This happens on the court all the time.

Imagine a coach feeding ball after ball telling the player to "hit the ball into the service box"?  What would that produce?  The answer is, well, we don't know.  The player can get the ball into the box just by process of elimination from what they have done, or he/she can become very frustrated as there is no real instruction on how to do this from the coach.

Now picture this one, and we have all been guilty of this, "MOVE YOUR FEET!"  What kind of advice is that?  A coach might say that to a performance player that has been playing for many years and the he/she still could be confused.  What does "move your feet" really mean?  We can all picture it in our heads but we might all come up with different ideas, like:

-Move into a square stance
-Move into an open stance
-Take 6 steps instead of 2
-Take 10 steps instead of 4
-Take longer strides to the ball
-Take shorter strides and more adjustment steps to the ball
-........................................
Man!  As you see, it could mean infinite about of things; the possibilities are endless.  It is a phrase we have all heard before and said more out of frustration than anything.  So how should a coach speak to a player that really is not moving or who might not be working?

i.e. "He champ, on that ball I want you to take it as an open stance instead of that closed you used!" 

 This example is clear, concise, to the point and most importantly PRECISE!  It refers to the incorrect technique and the appropriate correction that the player must make.


i.e. "Hey kiddo, what I want you to do now is to take the same large steps to the ball, but as you get close, go into adjustments steps before your loading phase."  

Here is another example where a player might be taking too many large steps and not enough adjustment (rhythm) steps to the ball.  By using the correct language, we have stated what PRECISE adjustment the player must perform instead of a frustrated response that doesn't give the player the specific instruction needed to make the correction.


Here are some of the most overused Generalities we have in coaching today.  See how you can be more precise with your players:

-"Move your feet"
-"Watch the ball"
-"Hit the ball"
-"Get it in"
-"Don't do that"



Now see if you can break these down using as few words as possible, but relay the PRECISE meaning that you want your player to acquire.

Communication can be the difference between a player winning and losing.  It can be the reason why a coach will keep his job or why a player moves to someone else for coaching.  Make sure that the language you use with you players is Precise, Concise, and Clear and the results you want out of your player will be very positive as you are speaking the same language.