How do you correct your athletes without them getting down on themselves? This is the real trick of coaching - knowing how to preserve your athletes' self confidence when you need to offer game performance feedback to them. Here is a list of ten ways for challenging your athletes while still maintaining their self confidence.



1) Set high objectives and make it a "we" goal

The best thing you can say to your athletes when they made a mistake is "I know your better than that." This simple phrase strengthen their belief that you have faith in their ability and that you know they are capable of performing at much higher level than what they are currently demonstrating. Then turn the challenge into a "we" achievement that lets the athlete know that together you will attack the problem. Making it a "we" project shows your athletes that you are willing to collaborate with them to help them improve.

2) Realize mistakes are not done on purpose

The errors athletes make are not done on purpose. Athletes want to play well, not only for themselves, but also for their coaches and teammates. Realizing your players errors are not deliberate can be challenging at times, but initially the best course of action is to encourage and support them to correct it.

3) Permit athletes to play through mistakes

Although it is not always easy, a great way to demonstrate your confidence in an athlete is to allow them to play through their mistakes. Give them a chance to self correct themselves within the game situation rather than pulling them out and immediately offering your feedback. Allowing athletes to self correct and learn from mistakes provides them with an opportunity to learn resiliency.

4) Do not tolerate excuse making

An athlete must take ownership for their success, they must also take responsibility for the shortcomings and own the corrective action. Taking responsibility for their success and failure develops a player's esteem and confidence. Taking ownership for their mistakes demonstrates a high level of maturity and, after correction, boosts a player's confidence. The successes they own develops a deep foundational confidence level in their ability that they will need when the inevitable series of short falls comes along.

5) Keep your feedback fact based and focused on the solution

Many times coaches can get caught up in the emotions of the moment. At times like these, the feedback is emotionally charged and can lead to statements the coaches wish they never said. Instead of focusing on the problem, help athletes focus on the solution.

6) Target the critique on the behavior, not the person

When giving criticism, make sure the focus of it is the athlete's behavior and not the actual athlete themselves. Criticizing the behavior allows a person to keep their confidence intact because their behavior can be changed and corrected. However, if you criticize them as a person, they cannot help but take it personally.

7) Sandwich the constructive feedback with positive reinforcements

A player will become defensive and tune out the feedback if the coach is always finding fault in them. By surrounding the constructive feedback between positive statements, the the player is more willing to listen and take corrective action.

8) Provide feedback in a one-on-one environment

Praising the athlete publically and offering construstive criticism in private, it does a lot to build their confidence. Conversely, when you criticize athletes in public, you embarrass them in front of their peers and raise their defensive mechanism. An athlete's pride in their performance is what get them through the tough moments

9) Reinforce past achievements and strengths

In addition to your praise, athletes can build their own self-confidence by focusing on their strengths and past accomplishments. One of the best things you can do is to remind them of how successful they are and provide concrete examples of this success. Refocus your athletes on their strengths.

10) Always provide hope

When it comes to your players, you must adopt a mind set of hope. The last thing you would ever want them to do is to give up. If a player ever senses you have given up on them, they will either give up on themselves or lose all respect for you and give up on you as a coach. A major factor in a player's confidence level comes from their belief that the coach has confidence in their athletic ability.