Five techniques I plan on using, and have used before, to ensure effective communication with my athletes are as follows:

1) I will try and make sure my verbal and nonverbal match up.  This is important because “50% to 70% of the information conveyed in a communication is nonverbal” (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.232).  In the past, I had a hard time with this.  I’d be upset, or surprised at my team’s poor play, or worried and then try and say something encouraging and I knew my body language was giving me away.  With practice I got better and internalizing the nonverbal messages that I didn’t want my athletes to receive.  I know it sounds devious, but to keep a jr. highers spirits up while they are getting beat on or they’re just not playing well is a delicate task. 

2) I plan on using concise and precise statements because, “some people talk too much, rambling on about things that bore or distract others…” (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.232).  There are times where I have caught myself doing just that.  This is a problem because young people tend to have a shorter attention span and I don’t want them to miss out on the message.  Weinberg and Gould suggest (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.235) focusing on one thing at a time and organizing my thoughts before speaking, which should help keep me from rambling.

3) Communication is a two way street.  I plan on continuing to listening to not just hear my athletes.  By using active listening, which is, “attending to main and supporting ideas, acknowledging and responding, giving appropriate feedback, and paying attention to the speaker’s total communication” (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.236), I will understand my athletes better and I will better gain their respect.  When I first started using active listening techniques I noticed how powerful it was to paraphrase what I heard from my athletes and see if I got the message.  I found out that what I heard was often not exactly what they were trying to say.

4) I also plan on trying to prevent barriers and breakdowns in communication between my athletes and myself.  Ways I can make this possible is by asking if they understood what I said and ask them to repeat the key points back to me, do my best to maintain a good relationship with them because, “good rapport and honesty need to be developed between individuals before effective communication can occur” (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.239), and respond quickly to fix things when I notice a breakdown.

5) Constructive criticism is a necessary part of coaching, and if done poorly, an athlete may be worse off instead of gaining from the experience.  As I’ve stated in a previous assignment, I’m a fan of using the sandwich approach to get a point across.  This is done by delivering the message in three parts: “1. A positive statement  2. Future-oriented instructions  3. A compliment” (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, p.244).  For example, “You are really doing a good job of getting into position for the spike.  Don’t forget next time to take a peak at the other team’s defensive alignment so you can place the spike in an effective spot.  Let me tell you though, you have some serious power when you do spike the ball.”

References

Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics