Coaches-don’t talk so much! Recently I had the pleasure of observing some young and upcoming coaches. All of them are excellent players and all of them are great role models for the kids. All of them talked too much!
Picture this: Time out and your coach says:
Use the backhand lob z and be sure to ceiling ball when you do not have a shot. When your opponent is on the left they are going to shoot cross court so do not worry about the down the line. When your opponent is on the right they love to pinch so cover that. Okay? Any questions?
Say what???
Try this instead:
How do you feel about a backhand lob z? Feel comfortable using it?
Good, keep fighting. Let the game come to you! No need to force it.
Advice has to be short, sweet and important. It has to be things they can control and it cannot be things of experience that the coach knows. It can only be information an athlete can process, not information the athlete cannot handle.
The old adage of now what you say but how you say it applies here!