As I'm taking a communications class right now, there are a lot of things I have learned in a short period of time. A lot of what I have read has been eye opening, but brought up the way coaches communicate with their players. Communication is key in every sport, so if the players have to know how, what makes the coaches any different?

I know coaches get bad reputations easily, and it happens basically everywhere; 10-15 min away in two small towns. Not every coach lashes out and throws themselves a pity party when something goes wrong or a player/teammate messes up, but I have seen it happen countless times.

As I was doing my reading I came across a section that talked about how everything someone says to us forms us into who we are. When coaches take a player out of the game because he messed up once, shows them that they can never mess up and if they do their is a consequence. Well newsflash that's life, we all make mistakes and no one will ever be perfect. There are a ton of major athletes that make mistakes, and a person is aware of a mistake they made, you don't need to make it worse by not giving them a chance to redeem themselves to show you that they are better than that mistake.

If a player isn't good at a certain part of the game I've seen a coach take them out, or they simply tell them not to do it because they are bad. That right there makes steam come out of my ears. If you tell someone that they are not good at something and to quit, that first of all ruins their confidence, secondly you just scarred that kid from ever wanting to try get better at it because you as a coach gave up on them. It has been proven that if a someone is treated poorly in a certain aspect, they perform poorly. Coaches aren't you there to help, not hurt? It's sad to see a grown adult talk down on a kid who just plays a sport they love.

Another thing that is very common is a coach screaming at the team or yelling because they aren't doing well and they won't listen to them. First off coach, you are in the wrong by screaming and yelling, no one will want to listen to that. It isn't taken lightly by the players, or the fans (yes the fans hear you). Coach you don't know just how embarrassing it is to watch that go on. Yes we all are human and get frustrated and yell, but to get your point across try taking a different approach. I'm sure you will get your point across better by taking the time to explain and make sure they understand what they need to do, instead of yelling at their faces on what to do. They are more upset that you did that, which causes a few more mess ups because they are so focused on making you happy (Here's to you coach).

If coaches just knew how to communicate better with their players, the games would go a little more smoothly and that there wouldn't be any back talk to the coaches. Communication is key in every sport, so if they players have to work on it, the coaches have the equal responsibility.