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Developing Com Skill

This document discusses the importance of communication skills for coaches. It notes that communication involves both sending and receiving messages through verbal and nonverbal means. Coaches must be able to clearly communicate expectations to athletes, while also listening to athletes. Nonverbal communication such as facial expressions and body language convey a large portion of messages. Coaches should be aware of the emotional impact and interpretation of their messages by athletes. Effective communication is key to creating a successful environment and high performance in sports.

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MayMay Dequiña Mercadejas
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124 views4 pages

Developing Com Skill

This document discusses the importance of communication skills for coaches. It notes that communication involves both sending and receiving messages through verbal and nonverbal means. Coaches must be able to clearly communicate expectations to athletes, while also listening to athletes. Nonverbal communication such as facial expressions and body language convey a large portion of messages. Coaches should be aware of the emotional impact and interpretation of their messages by athletes. Effective communication is key to creating a successful environment and high performance in sports.

Uploaded by

MayMay Dequiña Mercadejas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Excerpts
Human Kinetics / News and Excerpts / Excerpts
Good communication skills are key to successful coaching
This is an excerpt from Sport Psychology for Coaches by Damon Burton and Thomas Raedeke.
What Is Communication?

Communication is the act of expressing (or transmitting) ideas, information, knowledge, thoughts,
and feelings, as well as understanding what is expressed by others. The communication process
involves both sending and receiving messages and can take many forms. Verbal communication is
the spoken word, while nonverbal communication involves actions, facial expressions, body
position, and gestures. Communication can occur in one-on-one or group settings, and in written
formats (e.g., printed materials) or in visual formats (e.g., pictures, videos, and observational
learning). And it involves not only the content of a message but also its emotional impact, or the
effect the message has on the person receiving it.

Sending and Receiving Messages


The very word coach suggests that individuals in this profession send many messages. Coaches
need to be able to clearly communicate expectations, goals, standards, and feelings to their
athletes. They instruct, encourage, discipline, organize, and provide feedback. And although we
tend to think of effective communicators as being able to send clear messages that are interpreted
as intended, communication is a two-way street that also involves receiving messages. For a
coach, this means listening attentively. Athletes need to be able to communicate their goals,
frustrations, and feelings to their coach.

Nonverbal and Verbal Channels


As a coach, you can say a lot without uttering a word: A frown, a look of disbelief, a disgusted
shake of your head, or a smile can communicate quite a bit. In fact, communication experts
suggest that between 65% and 93% of the meaning of a message is conveyed through tone of
voice and nonverbal behaviors (Johnson 2003). Thus, in addition to becoming aware of the words
you use, it is essential that you become aware of your tone and nonverbal behaviors so that you
understand the messages you are sending to athletes.

Lou Holtz tells a revealing story about his coaching experience at Notre Dame that highlights the
importance of developing self-awareness in becoming an effective communicator. His recruiting
coordinator developed a video to send to potential recruits. Holtz thought it did a great job of
selling the program but wished it included some clips of him having positive interactions with his
players. The recruiting coordinator said he had looked and looked but could not find any. This
comment took Holtz completely by surprise because he prided himself on being a positive coach
and sending positive messages (Janssen & Dale 2002). This experience helped Holtz become more
aware of his interactions with his players and discover a pathway for becoming a more effective
communicator. Like Holtz, many coaches are often unaware of the messages they send
nonverbally.

By the same token, athletes also communicate nonverbally, and coaches can learn to be more
effective listeners by becoming astute observers of athlete’s nonverbal communications.
Understanding the nonverbal messages athletes send is a passport to greater understanding of the
athletes you are coaching.

Content and Emotional Impact


When communicating, coaches tend to focus on the content or the substance of the messages they
send: "Run hard"; "Follow through strongly on your shot"; "Fake before you pass"; "Practice with
intensity." In doing so, they believe that the information is objective and that athletes will always
receive the message as intended. That belief is far from the truth. When receiving messages,
athletes may not share the same perception or hear the same message the coach thought she was
sending. For example, by saying, "Tomorrow we are going to make sure to get this defense down,"
a coach may mean, "We’re going to focus on the technical aspects of the defense to perfect our
execution," but an athlete may interpret it as, "Tomorrow’s going to be a physically tough
practice." Communication problems arise if a coach assumes athletes are interpreting a message
exactly as the coach intended. Thus effective communicators focus not only on message content
but also on how a message might be interpreted by-and might affect-the receiver.

Beyond message content, then, communication also involves the emotional impact of the message
on the athlete. How do your athletes perceive and react to the content of your messages? Failure to
recognize the effect the message has on the
Importance of Communication in Sports

By Bo Hanson – 4x Olympian, Coaching Consultant & Director of Athlete Assessments

Communication is the Key to Success

importance of communication in sports

The importance of communication in sports cannot be understated. It is said to be the key to


success in both the sport and business world. Now yet another study has proven it! European
Leaders recent research showed that poor communication is responsible for reduced performance
in the business world. The study emphasized why it is so important for senior management to be
able to communicate effectively, with 41% of employees believing communication improves
productivity and performance. In the sporting world it is no different. Better communication from
Coaches will result in a positive impact on performance.

“There is no single element of the coaching process that is more important than communication”-
Spink, 1991

“Being an effective communicator is a distinguishing characteristic of expert Coaches” – Bloom,


1996

Coaching and senior management staff must have the ability to communicate effectively to foster
a successful environment, no matter what sport they are a part of. Despite this, little time is
devoted to helping Coaches become better communicators, even though there have been countless
studies which emphasize the importance of successful communication.

importance of communication in sportsOne study interviewed high-level teenage athletes who


suffered burnout and found it was not physical exhaustion which most contributed to burnout.
Poor communication was found to be the leading factor which contributed to burnout in the young
athletes. The lack of communication created a perceived low level of personal control over the
situation in which they trained (watch Bo Hanson speak on the subject of Burnout in Young
Athletes here). This poor communication left athletes feeling stressed and unable to cope as they
deemed their environment to be controlling and overly pressured. The study by European Leaders
also noted the importance of managers being able to identify what motivates their employees.
This allows managers to try to make work more engaging, resulting in employees feeling more
motivated to create a better performance.

Importance of Communication in Sports

Being able to communicate effectively is not limited to how your athlete is feeling. Effectively
conveying the goals of the team for the season is also a critical aspect of communication. The
study by European Leaders demonstrated that 68% of those surveyed fail to understand their
company’s vision. As a result, employees felt less engaged with their company and their
performance was not at the highest possible level. If your team does not understand the goal for
the week, season or year, they may also feel disengaged with the team and therefore less likely to
produce a peak performance (Read why engagement is so crucial in our article on “Do your
Athletes Care?”)

One of the most worrying findings from the survey was that only 36% of those surveyed believed
they were working to their full potential. Although we would hope this number would be much
lower, this figure is indicative of the potential lost when communication skills are not utilized.

importance of communication in sportsImproving communication skills is a relatively inexpensive


process which can improve performance dramatically. At Athlete Assessments we understand the
importance of successful communication, which is why our Personal Effectiveness Program is one
of our most popular events.

Communication skills are so important to success in both business and sport, and this has been
demonstrated in countless studies. Improving on the communication skills of the people in your
team or business is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to develop your overall performance.
This little bit of effort can result in a massive improvement, which may become part of your
competitive advantage. Don’t let it become your competitions!

More information on how to imp

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