What is the meaning of coaching/coach? Many writers, experts and even journalists word a lot of definitions on what is coaching and coaches. They all had a common definition, and there are some words that must be present such as: leader, motivator, father figure or even mentor, towards a group of individuals. The writer of this post, after research and debate, came up with a simple definition; which is a Coach is someone who use science based training to improve his/her athletes based on their abilities and stages of development to unlock their full potential.
According to one expert Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.
ROLES OF A COACH
1. Be a leader – Coaches must be the head of the whole system present.
2. A listener – Coaches must develop the art of listening so they can fully understand the athlete.
3. A planner – All coaches must be able to plan and design a safe and fun filled sessions for all his athletes, based on their chronological and biological age, strengths and weakness.
4. Provide a safe environment for all his athletes, where making errors is seen as part of the learning progress.
The writer has mentioned most of the functions/roles of a coach depends on the region, age of athlete, gender and culture.
As mentioned before, coaches have his/her roles and functions to fulfill, but they also need to have coaching skills such as the following:
1. OBSERVATION SKILLS
2. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
3.DEMONSTRATION SKILLS
4. FEEDBACK SKILLS
5. ANALYZATION SKILLS
These 5 components are very important for coaches, therefore our next coaches corner document will be on how one can develop each of these coaching skills.
