Rating your coach: The Seven Qualities of Great Coaches
By Wayne Goldsmith for Ratemycoaches.com
The concept of Rating or Scoring coaches and their coaching performance is an important one. After all, athletes are “rated” and “scored” every time they compete so it’s only fair that coaches are also subject to some sort of measurement, evaluation or assessment process.
The challenge is how to rate and score coaches?
It is easy to rate and score football players. You can count the points they score, the tackles they make, the passes they complete, the yards they run etc.
It’s easy in basketball too. You can count the points that players score, count their passes, tally their defensive plays etc.
And it’s really easy in sports like track and field or swimming to rate or score athletes by measuring their time, the distance they throw things, how far they jump and so on.
But things are a lot more complicated with coaches.
A coach may have a great win / loss record but may not be skilled at communicating and engaging with their athletes.
Conversely, a coach may have outstanding communication skills and engage effectively with their athletes but may not see their coaching skills reflected in their actual win / loss record.
Coaching is a very complex, complicated and challenging profession which takes only moments to commence but a lifetime to master. It is more of a passion than a profession – even for those coaches fortunate enough to make a living from blowing a whistle, yelling out instructions or running up and down the sideline in pursuit of excellence.
Coaches change lives. The value of a great coach is so much more than merely teaching an athlete how to hold a racket or kick a ball or swim a lap: they change lives, they provide opportunities for athletes to realize their potential, they help expose and grow character, they teach life lessons and they make an impact on the lives of all those they coach: an impact which often lasts well after the athletes hang up their boots, put down their rackets and throw their mitts in the closet.
It is difficult to rate and score someone who, if they are good at what they do, does a lot of things that can’t be measured.
How, for example do you measure “integrity”?
What does “honesty” look like?
How would you score “sincerity”?
What value would you place on changing a life?
So to help you rate and score your coach, here’s a coach evaluation tool based on some of the qualities of great coaches and great coaching.
Sit quietly for a few minutes, think about your coach, about what they do and how they do it and work through the 7 Coaching Qualities of Rating Sports Coaches.
How to rate or recognize it.
1 = Worst, Never
2 = Rarely
3 = Sometimes
4 = Most of the time
5 = Best,
Coaching Quality
1) Knowledge of the Sport
How well does your coach know the sport? How much experience do they have? How good is your coach at judging talent? Do they have a good background?
2) Character
How does your coach present himself/herself as a whole -- during competitions, during practice, and elsewhere? Does your coach have good sportsmanship?
3) Communication
Does your coach communicate well with the team? With players? With parents? With any other important people?
4) Individual Focus
Does your coach effectively coach you as an individual? Does your coach have a good relationship with you? Do they care about you as a person?
5) Team Building
Does your coach foster teamwork? Does your coach motivate your team well? Has your coach brought your team together?
6) Training
Is your coach's training effective? Does your coach focus on building skills during practice?
7) Competition
Does your coach prepare for competitions well? If applicable, does your coach make effective in-competition adjustments? Does your coach help your team learn from competitions?
Score Each Quality with the above scale with 1= Worst through 5 = Best
Just as there is no perfect model of what makes a great athlete, great coaches come in all shapes and sizes, from many different backgrounds, social situations, cultures and education levels.
What they do have in common is the commitment to help each and every athlete they coach realize their full potential as athletes and as human beings: and that is something of immeasurable value…it’s priceless. What they also have in common is their ability to consistently demonstrate these 7 coaching qualities: and it is this consistency which often determines how well they “rate” as coaches.
So give it a try – the 7 Qualities of Rating Sports Coaches: How does your coach rate?
Wayne Goldsmith www.sportscoachingbrain.com
