Dealing with competitive pressure in sports...

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m currently studying to be a high school History (Social Studies) teacher. I have it on good authority that Social Studies teachers are always expected to coach sports.

So I’ve been thinking about what it will take to be a great coach - not necessarily the kind that has a 100% victory rate, but the inspirational kind.

I’ve been thinking about my own school sports career - I was a distance runner. I had a hard time dealing with the pressure of competition. I anticipate I’ll have students who face this and I’m wondering what to say to them. I never solved it myself.

So I’d like to know two things, fellow Dopers:

a) What are/were some things about your favorite coaches that make/made them great in your eyes?

b) What advice do you have for dealing with the pressure of competing?

I have a few ideas of my own, but I’d like to hear yours.

2

My coaches never settled for someone not giving their best, because they were cheating themselves.

No real advice on second, since I played team sports and I don’t think there is the type of pressure you are referring to in team sports.

3

Pressure of competition is energy that needs to be re-channeled.

Those same feelings are what one feels before an interview, before giving a speech, at one’s wedding, etc It’s how one directs that pent-up energy.
Weightlifters, sprinters, shot-puters, etc. need to concentrate that energy and use it to explode through the event.
Long-distance runners and basketball players need to calm down ahead of time and let that energy carry them, like a river, throughout the event.

4

Well, I ran x-country precisely because I couldn’t deal with the performance pressures that were put on soccer players (my “other” sport).

My x-country coach in high school was wonderful. He worked us hard, expected dedication, and wasn’t affraid to tell us if we weren’t working as hard as he thought/knew we could. On the other hand, for him it was all about us improving ourselves individually. If I improved my time over the course of the season by 2 minutes, I was a star, and it didn’t matter that I was just on the JV team and my time didn’t count towards the team score.

That attitude caught on with the whole team, and we were all supportive of each other, and of the girls’ team as well. That is not only a way to keep students happy, but it also is a way to make them good athletes. I’ve never worked so hard in my life and been so happy to do it then during the x-country season in high school.

My limits were challenged in a positive way, and I was never made to feel bad for not being the best. That’s the key, IMO.