Title: How Coaches Influence Athletes | SportsRec
Headings: How Coaches Influence Athletes
How Coaches Influence Athletes
Encouragement
Leadership and Individual Performance
Leadership and Teamwork
Ethical Considerations

Content: Encouragement
Most people consider a coach’s primary job to be encouraging individual athletes, as well as the team. Top-notch coaches help produce winning players and teams. How coaches create an environment of encouragement is the key to successful coaching and player performance. Gone are the days of brow-beating athletes into optimal performance, which typically leads to burnout. Athletes who experience burnout often see their coaches as individuals who routinely display negative behaviors and lack empathy. Coaches who maintain a positive attitude and environment can better motivate and encourage athletes. Leadership and Individual Performance
Coaches can have a huge impact on athletes’ personal lives and goals and how they perceive themselves and their community. Individual athletes look to coaches for leadership and encouragement beyond the sports environment, and this also carries over to athletic performance. According to Athletic Insight, the relationship between a coach and a student-athlete determines overall motivation and stress levels. Coaching behavioral practices based on Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Wooden’s "Pyramid of Success," such as hard work, compassion, cooperation, loyalty and enthusiasm, can lead to positive leadership and can influence individual athletes toward personal growth and success.