Give your players your confidence.

It is important that a player knows his coach believes in him. The ability of a coach to give his confidence to his players is one of the most important skills a coach needs. Giving your confidence to players helps to build their own confidence in themselves. It is a foundational block to building a positive team culture.

To be successful in building the confidence of your players you must demonstrate you are interested in and willing to invest in their long term success. The work you put in towards helping them develop will help motivate the players to work hard for the team.

When I observe training sessions, watch matches and speak with coaching colleagues I am sometimes struck by the negativity present in assessing player performance. It seems to me there can be too much emphasis on a players current limitations and far too little focus on a players potential abilities.

Mistakes are learning opportunities for the players and by extension teaching opportunities for coaches. When a coach over reacts to a player mistake he is in effect eroding that players confidence. Isn't the wiser course of action to look for signs of progress, to praise successes no matter how small and to encourage the player to build upon these?

If you can encourage, enable and instill enthusiasm in a player over the course of a season you will witness that player grow, improve and develop at a steady pace. By the end of the season a markedly improved player should emerge. Such is the power of letting someone else know you believe in them.

It has been my observation that the coach who first starts criticizing players and substituting players for mistakes made is far more likely to see his team lose than is the coach who is first to compliment and encourage good play. It's just that criticism is rarely positive and when done in front of peers (and spectators) it is degrading and potentially harmful. I believe most times players recognize when they have made a mistake and certainly do not need to be immediately reminded of it.  If the player does not recognize his mistake, it is your training of the athlete that is to blame.

Good coaches make note of player mistakes during games so they can address them during the next training session as part of the individuals and team's long term seasonal plan.  Coaches often use film review sessions in an effort to "help" their team. What if that film review session consists of nothing more than critical review of player performance?  Do you think that player will leave the session feeling good about himself and eager to return to playing?

What if the film session is presented with patience and poise as a teaching session to learn from mistakes? What if good plays are celebrated and held up as examples? That same philosophy holds true when coaching on game day. If you want positive results, accentuate positive play. When mistakes occur, encourage the player to move on.  "Next Play!"  Address the mistakes through technical and tactical training during the next training session.

Confidence can be a fragile thing.  One negative remark can negate a lot of praise. Young players seek validation of their worth and a steady diet of negativity can leave them feeling beat down and devalued.  When a player makes a mistake shouldn't the idea be to help him overcome it and not further beat him down for having made it?

Think about it coach.

If the majority of the communication you have with a player is negative can you hold a realistic expectation for that player to play confidently and towards his full potential? 

Give the players your confidence in them and you will be rewarded with confident play from them.