Dealing with nerves as a coach
Quite a number of coaches have spoken to me this week about feeling nervous when they coach in front of parents because of the pressure they are under to get everything right all the time.
Quite a number of coaches have spoken to me this week about feeling nervous when they coach in front of parents because of the pressure they are under to get everything right all the time. It can be a difficult situation, especially if the session you are running isn’t working with the players.
There are many reasons for nerves and for things going wrong. I often point people to our Soccer Surgery column to highlight the problems experienced every week. It’s a really good starting point when coaches are looking for solutions to problems they are having with sessions. It isn’t just a case of putting on a session and it not working – outside factors will always affect your coaching.
This week I was coaching outside for the first time since the torrential rain that has blighted football pitches around Britain for months. There is so much more to do with a group of players when you’re outside, plus the parents cannot watch when we train indoors because there is no viewing platform. So I was back outside again, with a load of cones and poles and a gaggle of parents, all enthusiastically watching to see what I was doing.
One of the things to remember is that not only are you not alone in feeling nervous, but in the main the parents watching are not judging you, as they all want you to do well. So do your players, who really want your session to work because they are taking part in it. In fact, as long as they know what they are supposed to be doing in each activity they will help you make it a big success.
For me, it didn’t take too long for the initial nerves to disappear – and soon the actual act of coaching took me deep into the session and outside factors faded away. Focusing on what there is to do and on what the players are doing is a good way to banish any nerves.
When I got to the car after training I felt a great sense of accomplishment because the session had gone okay and I was back in the swing of things. A bout of nerves certainly makes you wise up to the session and just a bit of work in preparation will mean you know what you are doing and you don’t have to keep reading from the session planner.
Everyone in youth soccer coaching feels a bit nervous. This is especially so if you are coaching a group of players you don’t know – so let that fact alone help you to banish those butterfly moments.