The importance of knowing your players

Whatever the sport, the relationship between coach and players is crucial to the athlete’s sporting success and personal development. To build a relationship of trust, it’s important to know your players well.

To help your team progress, it’s important to understand your athletes, so you can motivate them when necessary to excel. Communication is the key to success.

It’s vital to know your players well both off and on the pitch. For players, knowing that you care about them as a person and as a player is very beneficial for the trust they will develop towards you.

Take the time to listen

A good way to make initial contact and get to know each other is to take the time to discuss topics other than sports. Take the time to sit down with each of your players and ask them a few questions to get to know each other.

Take an interest in their answers and ask them for more information about their response. The aim isn’t to interview each player and ask them the same questions, but rather to establish the basis of your relationship.

Here are some simple questions you can ask them:

• Your favourite TV shows?
• Your favorite books?
• Your favorite music?
• Your interests or passions outside sport?
• Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• Your favorite meal?
• Your favorite subject at school?
• Do you have a pet, and if so, which one?

These questions may seem trivial, but they show that you care about their personal development and are invested in their future.

Find out more about the most commonly used methods, and see how you can optimize your registration process to lighten your workload.

Send a form

The start of the season is the ideal time to get to know them and discover their expectations. Depending on their age and level, you can ask them to fill in a short questionnaire at the start of the season to find out more about their physical skills and goals.

Here are some questions to include in the questionnaire:

• Your position?
• Your strengths?
• What would you like to improve?
• What motivates you?

Taking notes

For the first few practices, you can draw up a little chart like this one to get a general idea of your team.

The benefits of getting to know your players

The connection you can develop with your players can make you a resource they can trust. You need to take the time to get to know each of your players, so you can communicate easily and intervene quickly and effectively when problems arise.

A coach’s main objective is to help his team progress, and to achieve this you need to know your players well, so you can see the whole picture and intervene effectively with each of them so they can progress at their own pace.

MonClubSportif facilitates communication and follow-up between coach and athletes. You can get feedback from athletes at the end of practices or games to develop your chemistry.