It is impossible to label any coach as just one style. A good coach will know how to treat each of the different athletes to get the best out of them. Good coaches need to have certain parts off all these characteristics and use all the different types of coaching in there sessions. Coaching is not only about the different styles, the character of the coach is important as well as it will have an effect on the final outcome of their athlete. A coach must set a good example for their athletes by showing among others, strong morals, patience a respect for all aspects of sport. This will encourage the players to do the same, making the sport more enjoyable for themselves and the people they play against.
This means that a coach should not only be able to improve athlete physically but psychologically also. Sport is very emotional but a coach should be able to teach their athletes to control those emotions for a better performance. A coach must teach fair play and has a responsibility to withhold their own emotions to portray a cool, calm and sporting image in order to show the correct image for sport.
A coach’s ability to take a session is one of the most important abilities to have. They need to understand the needs of every single athlete in the session along with taking responsibility for the equipment, practice area, safety and time schedule. They need to fit in a warm-up and cool-down in the session along with time for the athletes to feedback. The coach is the main aspect behind what goes on in a training session and a good coach’s session will be well organised and run smoothly. Within this, a coach needs to have the ability to adapt their plans according to the needs of the group. Any coach can write a session and read it off to the athletes but a good coach will notice if an athlete is doing something wrong and change the drill or practice to fix the problem.
A good coach will be able to change their style of coaching when changing from a individual to a group situation. This is important because the coach needs to make sure everyone in the group can hear and see the instructions. This means that the body language should be good and positive so that the group feels more confident in themselves rather than not understanding through lake of good communication. “Coaching is communication”. (Anon)
So, the answer to the question “where would these players be without the correct training and coaching”? Is that players would never be able to reach the heights they have today with out the correct coaching. This is because a coach is to an athlete is similar to a parent. A coach will help an athlete through situations and nurture them into top athletes. Never pushing them too far as to not lose the fun in sport. Every coach makes mistakes as no one is perfect, but successful coach will have all of the abilities mentioned above but most of all a genuine love for sport and coaching.