Keep in mind, you can refer to all previous sections to gain an understanding about the origin of perceptions held by the players. So, scoring poorly does not neccesarily mean you are a poor coach.
What needs to be done if the score is EXCELLENT 50-55?
Many coaches believe that a key to to possessing good team unison and cohesion, i.e. all players working together to achieve a goal is not only having a challenging goal to work toward, but also possessing a relatively unchanged team line-up over time. However, this is rarely possible. Players come and go for various reasons, changing the make-up and quality of some teams. Often, teams are successful one year, but not the next. (Turman, 2003).
The answer to this problem is increasing the individual's overall sense of belonging and morale within a group. A high level of interpersonal interaction creates a unique social environment, suggesting the quality of ths interaction breads team effectiveness and success. (Turman, 2003)
So, perhaps the two main ways for your players to feel as though their team is cohesive is to increase your chances of maintaining a regular, and unchanged line-up, or increase the positive interpersonal interaction in your team. Get your team doing things outside of your sport, i.e. building a puzzle, regular carpools, pizza nights after wins, etc. How your team develops together into a tight-knit unit is dependant on your actions and decisions as a coach.
What needs to be done if the score is GOOD, OR SATISFACTORY 30-49?
Often, it is the little things, or the ones that go unnoticed that can have more influence of your team's level of cohesion. So, as a coach, it helps to possess high levels of observation and awareness, as well as accurately made inferences. So, below are some things which many coaches believe to be standard behaviour in any team, but are often what may lead to a team's downfall on a given match day:
- excessive use of sarcasm
- teasing
- bragging up the abilities of other athletes (not just your own, but other
teams athletes too - whether they are a better or worse side)
- ineffective or no use of motivational speeches, or even pre-game talks
- over analysis of the opposition
- abusive language
- unusual coach/athlete relationship
- inequity (uneven attention/playing time/priviledges)
(Turman, 2003)
As mentioned in motivation, a previous section, if you communicate what you don't want your players to do, that is often just what they will do. So, if eradicating the above is ineffective or not having a sufficient positive influence on team cohesion, refer below for further methods to improve the positive interaction of your team and yourself.
What needs to be done if the score is UNSATISFACTORY OR POOR 11-29?
Below will list numerous strategies in the form of affirmative action, which is things that you and your team can do to improve motivation, rather than what you should not do.
- praise of effort by other athletes from you, many players often seek out
the approval of their coach and will work together to try and achieve it
- responsible ridicule of another team, in other words a way of 'breaking
the ice' with your players and seems to increase communication levels
- use of humor, as some things can become strenuous and dull
- emphasise each game is important, and that no regular season game is
any more important than a semi-final - it dictacts a uniform approach
- allow the players to work independantly, this way their interaction in
the sport is not always under your guidance, and they can then develop
their own interpersonal relationships
- provide your team with goals, refer to our links section for ways to set
effective goals, it encourages the players to direct their efforts one way
- use motivational speeches, this is flexible and up to your discretion
(Turman, 2003)
Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Poor
50-55
40-49
30-39
21-29
11-20
questions 77-88
