Chapter #2 - Coaching: Developing Your Teams
Winning Program

Here's a summary of this chapter....

Coaching is a demanding and rewarding position. Demands include time and effort. Rewards include the development of athletes' physical, mental, emotional, and social skills and the opportunity of participating, having fun, and learning to work together for a common goal. Coaching requires many technical and personal skills in addition to a sound coaching philosophy. It involves planning to win and learning from defeat. Coaches teach the skills of the game and, more importantly, make these learning experiences challenging and enjoyable for the players and themselves.

Successful coaches do not seem to have any specific type of personality, they are as individual as the general population. However, all good coaches have certain qualities that allow them to perform effectively. These qualities include dedication, enthusiasm, and humor; the ability to teach and lead; the ability to communicate effectively; good planning and organizational skills; and knowledge of the sport. Coaches will make mistakes, but with each of these mistakes comes an opportunity to understand what happened and to learn.

Three Player Development Phases of Roller Hockey

General Rules of the Game

Rules are defined by the sanctioning organization and league which each team plays under. If you have no rules, then there are no boundaries for the game, and it basically results in a free-for-all. Rules are not made to impede the game, but to define it. The coach should obtain a copy of the rules prior to each season, study them, and make sure that each player has an understanding of them. The rules of the game are actually very simple, the team with the most goals at the end of the game wins! How your team obtains more goals than your opponent is the question that keeps all coaches searching for the perfect system.

Planning for a Successful Season

Team success, which usually reflects coaching success, depends on effective planning. A good plan eliminates and controls problems that inevitably arise by serving as a reference point during the season. Developing your plan can be done in a day; improving upon it can take a whole season. Initially make your plan generalized, with few details. As the season progresses, revisit the plan and incorporate desired details.

The Coaches Toolbox

The Siller Player And Team Evaluation Profile (TM) is a series of coaching tools consisting of several checklists and worksheets. These tools are designed to provide essential quantitative and subjective data that will aid the coach in team planning, player assessment and improvement, and evaluation of the competition. Several checklists and worksheets are provided in this and subsequent chapters and each focuses on specific criteria required to scout, develop, evaluate, and improve player ability. Completed checklists and worksheets are shown throughout each chapter. The Coaches Toolbox (TM) contains a blank copy of each checklist and worksheet and is designed to be used by the coach to help plan and monitor a very effective season.

Contact Greg Siller @ Pro Learning Systems