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Jennings 1

Bradley Jennings

Smith

AP English IV

22 November 2016

Physiological Impact Coaches Have on Athletes

Everyone has someone significant that impacts their life. Coaches are often an important

mentor for student athletes. They are role models for the players that look up to them, and

therefore their job is much more important than it seems at first. Coaches teach various skills to

their players. These skills include athletic proficiency, life and self esteem skills, how to

communicate effectively with their teammates, handling failure and adversity, and the

importance of striving in school. This skill set that a coach teaches their athletes can impact their

lives significantly.

Athletic proficiency comes from long, hard hours of practice. Coaches use drills during

practice to help players improve their proficiency. Coaches take the problems that arise in games

and create practices to improve upon those issues. This players see that hard work pays off when

these problems are solved. The extended practices and work they put into sessions carry over

into games and they are rewarded with a win. Concerning athletic proficiency, coaches are

teaching athletes that you must work for rewards and nothing is given to you. This is an

important lesson to learn because it can be used outside of the sports world. One must show

dedication and efficiency in order to receive a promotion at work. This is also applicable to

school, where good grades are not handed out for simply attending class. Work must be put in to

see results.
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Coaches are looked up to for advice. Coaches not only train their athletes for proficiency,

but they also guide them in living a healthy lifestyle. Athletes do not always take care of their

bodies properly, especially at a young age. Coaches can have a major impact on how healthy

each player is. Coaches reiterate the importance of staying hydrated and fueling the body with

nutritious food. Sports nutrition enhances athletic performance by decreasing fatigue and the

risk of disease and injury; it also enables athletes to optimize training and recover faster.

Coaches can offer advice for fueling the body of an athlete, such as meals should include

carbohydrates, protein and fat. Fibre should be limited. If a coach does not promote these

things, the players will not perform well because the body will not have the essential nutrients it

needs to play at a high level. Coaches attempt to encourage healthy lifestyles which include

physical activity and eating healthy foods outside of practice and games. Lessons and behaviors

learned through youth sports carry into adolescence and adulthood (Draxten). If a coach

promotes a healthy and nutritional lifestyle at a young age, they can have an impact on the

player's life. Coaches stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle because it will not only benefit

them now as growing athletes who need certain nutrients. As an adult, coaches understand that

the way a young athlete fuels their body will affect their health in the future. If they can promote

this lifestyle early on, they will not only be creating better players, but also setting them up for a

longer, healthier life.

Life skills are essential to everyone, but not everyone has a person that can teach them.

Coaches are a great mentor when it comes to teaching athletes life skills. Coaches teach goal

setting, time management, decision making, and relationship building. Coaches can help athletes

create attainable goals and guide them to achieving them. Time management is essential to a

coach, and therefore they can easily pass this skill on to their players. Players are taught the be
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prompt and prepared, or else they will lose their starting position. This instills the urgency in the

team to arrive early, ready to warm up. Decision making is a skill that many players have on the

field but lack off the field. A coach can impact a decision that a player makes in a game, practice,

or the real world. Since players look to coaches as mentors, they appreciate their advice on

anything small or large. Players often come to coaches with problems ranging from how to play

better defense to figuring out what college to apply to. Additionally, relationship building is a

great skill to coaches because players have to get along with everyone on the team. Team

cooperation is essential for play to flow smoothly on the field. This is the reason why team

bonding exercises are so popular. The athletes will use this skill in their everyday lives when they

must work alongside coworkers on projects. These values are important to show to younger

athletes because they will utilize these values throughout their lives. Coaches must be the role

model on the team because players look up to them for wisdom it should come as no surprise

that many kids look up to and admire their coaches sometimes even more than their parents

(McCall). Teaching kids these skills will influence them for the rest of their life. The deployment

of life skills [from coaches] will help them with ways of thinking and problem solving, as well as

develop a greater sense of self-awareness and appreciation for others (Macmillan). Not only will

the athletes be better prepared for future endeavors, but they will be able to handle situations

more efficiently than before.

Coaches have to be able to boost a players self esteem. Teaching athletes to have a good

self esteem will help them perform better and learn quicker. Not only does boosting an athletes

self esteem help on the field, but off the field it gives them more confidence. Coaches build self

esteem by treating all athletes with respect, avoiding comparisons, and by modeling high self

esteem (Goldberg). An impact coaching has on boosting a players self esteem is they will be
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happier people, and they will be at ease in social situations. With a healthy self esteem, children

feel that they have positive characteristics and skills they can offer to other people, and they also

feel they are worthy of being loved and accepted by others including family and friends

(Morelli). Young people perform better in athletics and in school when they feel important and

worthy of praise. This feeling of confidence supplied by coaches will carry athletes as far as they

are willing to push themselves. It would be extremely hard to achieve great things while feeling

useless and lonely.

Another important skill coaches teach is how to communicate effectively with others.

Athletes have to be able to communicate directions to each other whether verbal or nonverbal. If

a coach does not teach them how to communicate effectively, players wont be able to help each

other during games. Coaches communicate to players tin verbal and visual ways. Verbal is telling

the player what they need to do, while visual is showing them what to do. When a coach

effectively communicates with his or her players then they will be able to communicate

successfully as well. Appropriate communication is not only needed on the field but off the field

as well. Effective communication is needed in everything you do whether in your job or just

having a casual conversation. A healthy knowledge of communication skills increases your

ability to exchange ideas and thoughts with others (Lewis). The ability to get your point across

to others is a critical skill for everyone.

Coaches teach players how to handle failure and adversity. Coaches know players go

through a lot of stress and hardship. Coaches have to be able to deal with players who are going

through these things and help them. Coaches help players develop resiliency skills and mental

toughness. Vince Lombardi, a famous National Football League coach famously said, its not

whether you get knocked down, its whether you get up. Players have to be able to realize that
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they are not perfect. Coaches use these mistakes to help motivate their players to do better on the

next play. Life is not easy, and sports are a perfect metaphor for that. Some games are lost, some

games are won, and there is often a challenging road to get where the team wants to be. When a

coach handles these hard situations in a positive way, they show the team the proper way to face

adversity.

Failure is sometimes good in an athlete's life because it helps them realize that they are

not going to be given everything they want, and that motivates them to work harder to achieve

their goal. This helps them be able to embrace challenge and adversity as a requirement for

growth and achievement. The best coaches create environments that challenge limits and take

athletes places they wouldnt go on their own, and even create adversity from time to time for

this reason (Lavers). Coaches help players realize that this helps them in their lives outside of

sports. They will realize that they are going to make mistakes in school and on the job, and that

one mistake does not define who they truly are as a person. It is important for coaches to teach

how to handle adversity and failure because everyone has to cope with it. Everyone messes up at

some point, and being able to use it as motivation to be better is a skill everyone should acquire.

Michael Jordan once said, obstacles dont have to stop you. If you run into a wall, dont turn

around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

Lastly coaches teach about the importance of being a student athlete. Coaches understand

that most kids are not going to play professionally. Coaches, we need to understand that we

must develop student athletes and prepare them with a college education so that they too can be

professionals-even if they do not become professional athletes (McCall). They want to make

sure athletes are getting degrees and going to college.

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Some of these issues that youth players need to learn include valuing the

importance of education, developing positive relationships, avoiding

inappropriate and criminal behavior and drugs, following rules and thinking about

their futures. A key to getting these lessons across is setting a good example

yourself as a coach (Kuebler).

Coaches are the reason why some athletes stay in school because the coach is such a

strong influence in his or her life and values them receiving an education. Coaches make

sure that academics come first in the student athletes life. If a player has low grades a

coach will make them ineligible to play that week, or make them attend a study hall to

bring up the grade. Teaching athletes to stay in school is important because that is where

they are going to be successful in the future. Not everyone can become a professional

athlete, so it is essential that school comes first before sports.

Coaching is not just about teaching athletes how to play their sports. Coaches

teach them many more skills and values than just a game. They impact lives in multiple

ways. Coaching is a tough job and some are not up to the task of being a role model to

the athletes they come in contact with every day. Those who do become a coach hold one

of the biggest spheres of influence in an athletes life.

Works Cited
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Draxten, Michelle. "A Coach's Role in Nutrition for Young Athletes." Food Fuel for Best

Performance. University of Minnesota School of Public Health, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Goldberg, Alan, Dr. "Parents/Coaches Guides: A Coach's Guide to Developing Self-Esteem."

Competitive Advantage: Mental Toughness. N.p., 10 June 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Kohan, Patrick. "The Importance of Adversity in Growth and Development." The Art of

Coaching Volleyball. N.p., 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Kuebler, Michael. "Teaching Character and Life Skills along with Football | Youth Football |

USA Football | Football's National Governing Body." Teaching Character and Life Skills

along with Football | Youth Football | USA Football | Football's National Governing

Body. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Lewis, Aaron J. "Alabama Cooperative Extension System/Urban/MetroNews--The Importance

of Communicating Effectively." Alabama Cooperative Extension

System/Urban/MetroNews--The Importance of Communicating Effectively. N.p., n.d.

Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Macmillan. "Why Are Life Skills Important?" Why Are Life Skills Important? N.p., n.d. Web. 21

Nov. 2016.

McCall, Shedrick, Dr. "Coaches Impact Players Psychologically - Recruit804." Recruit804. N.p.,

01 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Morelli, Angela Oswalt. "Benefits of Healthy High Self-Esteem - Self Esteem." Self Esteem.

N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

http://www.bigwheelcoaching.com/the-growth-mindset-successful-athletes-by-brian-mcculloch/
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3805623/