|
Hockey Tips: Motivating Your Team
By Paul Lubanski
Quite often at clinics that I host, I will hear coaches lament “I just can’t seem to motivate my team to play as hard as they should...and I just do not know why.”
Then, of course, they will ask me for specific tips and ideas that may be of aid. I always answer each query of this nature in precisely the same manner. I ask each coach to give me an example of not only “what” is being said to inspire and motivate, but “how” it is being communicated.
In other words, I find it necessary to hear the exact words being used and the tone/cadence in which they are being delivered. By doing so, I can judge the coach’s performance – if you will – and make adjustments accordingly.
The point here is this: Top-level coaches are every bit as much “performers” as educators/teachers. As such, the very best coaches see themselves as going on-stage EVERY time they address their team. So, just as it would be for professional actors/actresses, coaches must plan not only what they want to say, but actually rehearse their “lines” before hand.
Furthermore, the more educated and prepared coach will have an easier time in his/her acting role because preparation typically breeds confidence. And confidence in your message (that can be felt and seen by the audience) is the absolute key to its potential success.
My challenge here for my fellow coaches is to develop your own methodology for readying yourself to inspire your team. And then work diligently to shape and mold it to fit YOUR personality. Continuously practice the delivery of the message until you have a mental template established in your mind that you can call on at will.
And, again, remember, the more natural you sound and appear, the higher the probability that your message will be ingrained in your team’s mind.
Paul T. Lubanski is a lead instructor for USA Hockey's Coaching Education Program in Michigan. He is also the State of Michigan Coach-in-Chief for USA InLine Hockey. He is available for private individual or group coaching and/or player performance enhancement sessions as well as for motivational speaking presentations.
You can contact him at 248-592-9640 or via email at paul.lubanski@primenewswire.com.
| 
