In game dugout lessons

I'm sure coaching is similar to other professions, in that so much of what we learn is through our interaction with others in the same field.  Though I may have heard earlier in my career as either a teacher or a coach, I remember an outstanding coach, Lance Hershberger of Indiana Tech, telling me about trying to get his guys to understand that coaching is a negative business.  In other words, athletes often need to be told about their mistakes so they can work on limiting them in the future.

I think that most good coaches are not only good teachers, but they are also pretty competitive people. Sometimes during competitive situations coaches expect their athletes to understand situations and execute according to what they have been previously instructed.  Unfortunately, especially for younger athletes who are still learning from new experiences, they repeat mistakes enough times that it becomes the mistakes that ultimately teach the lessons.

The fact that athletes can and do learn from their mistakes of understanding and execution does not eliminate the idea that correction from coaches isn't helpful, but as I have to remind myself sometimes, the way that the corrections are made during intensely competitive situations is in control of us coaches.

For coaches as well as athletes then, controlling our emotions......not allowing our emotions to control us, is a constant skill to try to improve!