The Surprising Deficiency in Youth and High School Sports Coaching
There is a lot to love about those who coach youth and high school sports. The vast majority of coaches are the salt of the earth.
The vast majority are more than coaches, they’re leaders, mentors, and motivators. What’s more, youth and high school coaches also serve as important catalyst for changing lives for the better.
With that said, there is still one surprising deficiency in most youth and high school sports coaching.
Sports is 50% to 90% Mental
If you ask any coach what percentage of sports is mental, you almost always get an answer that it’s somewhere between 50% and 90% mental. However, if you were to evaluate a youth or high school coach’s practice routine you wouldn’t agree.
Coaches spend less than 5% of any given youth or high school practice on developing mental skills. In effect, this means that in a 2 hour practice, the typical coach will spend about 6 minutes on mindset. Even with that 6 minutes, it’s still likely only touching the surface with a motivational speech or a mental thrashing about focus.
Unfortunately, most coaches will tell you they don’t have enough time to set aside for the mental side of the game. Coaches always feel an urgent need to drill the basics, teach their system, and get kids in shape. Therefore, there is no time for the mental skills such as:
- Visualization,
- Imagery,
- Meditation,
- Positive self-talk, and
- The four domains of emotional intelligence
An alternative reason not based on lack of time is lack of knowledge. Coaching is the ultimate “full-circle” profession in that how you were coached has a big impact on how you coach. As a result, if a coach’s coach didn’t coach them up on the mental side of sports, it’s unlikely that coach will coach mental skills.
Regardless of the reason, whether it’s lack of time or lack of knowledge, this is something I hope to see change with the next generation of coaches.