coaching the female athlete

Coaching the Female AthleteStefanie A. Latham, Ph.D. Follow me @stefanielatham stefanielatham@yahoo.comhttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/stefanie-latham/44/899/65

No they are not just like the boys!

There is a difference!

• Coaching Education has not kept up with advancements in women’s athletics

Percentage of Women's Teams Coached by Females

58% 54%47% 46% 44% 42% 39%

0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%80.0%90.0%

100.0%

1972 1978 1984 1990 2000 2002 2005 2010Acosta & Carpenter, 2002

90% PLUS

High School Athletic Participation

2,806,9983,046,997

3,666,9173,960,517 3,879,214

294,015

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

1971 2001-02 2009-2011

2010 National Federation of State High School Associations

GirlsBoys

Back to is there a difference…

• Not many coaching books or research articles in academic journals on gender differences in athletes

Differences

• Initial thoughts are we are just like them, we can do anything they can do…….

Can they (we)?

• Maybe, but we just do it differently• Different ways to success…

Quote from dissertation data

• You know how girls can hate their female coach, but they probably wouldn't ever hate their guy coach like they would their girl coach? He could be as rude as hell and we'll be like, "it's just his personality", but if it’s a girl coach we're like, "Oh she has something against me or she hates me"…Like male coaches can be really rude and mean and we can get over it, but when female coaches are that way, you pretty much just think they are assholes, and you can’t get over that… My AAU coach [who she said was male] was kind of like my high school coach was, like I described earlier, but everyone still thought he was a good coach. But my female high school coach who had the same personality, no one thought she was a good coach. They both knew the game really well and knew the skills and stuff and they both had kind of the same personality, but my guy coach was still thought of as being a good coach, I guess we just didn't take his crap so personally. (Michelle)

Physical differences from previous literature

• Women are:– Are shorter– Are lighter– Have more fatty tissue– Have less muscle mass– Have less hemoglobin– Have lower blood volume– Have small stroke (heart) volume

My recent follow up study

• N= 40 so far….not published, work in progress

• Qualitative interviews

Key Findings

–Males participate to compete and for status

–Females participate to compete and have fun

–Mentioned having fun a lot, males didn’t

–Females prefer male coaches (consistent w/precious literature), + feedback & reinforcement

Based on my research, coach them this way…

• Have a positive coaching style• Expect and appreciate constructive

feedback

How to coach them

• Tell them when they do something right• Yelling at them doesn’t usually work…

there is a continuum though• Constant negative feedback will cause

them to tune you out!

Feedback

• Ask them questions…. • Know their expectations early• Ask them what motivates them• Ask how they want to be coached

Feedback

• Use post season surveys on your effectiveness to coach them/team

• Use captains/team leaders

Using video tape as feedback

• Know they are very critical of themselves

• They know what they did wrong• Only successful when used to point out

positives or team results• Show them examples of excellent

performances

Encourage

• Praise them (notice them)• Convince them of what they CAN do• Sell them on themselves• Be the salesperson that helps them

perform up to their potential

Sandwich really works

Let them have a SAY

• Ask their opinion • Use their Feedback!!

Pressure Situations

• Don’t individualize pressure• Put the pressure on the team not the

individual• If she fails she let herself down, the

coach, the team…and she's devastated• Others think you are showing

favoritism

Competition

• Are males more competitive?• Discuss

Competition

• No, The focus is on different things• Males view competition as an ego

enhancer, see it in terms of W/L

Competition

• Females value effort, friendship, the teamwork, individual improvement and mutual gain

• Pitting them against teammates might not work…discuss separating personal feelings for teammates from competition

Practice

• They need to socialize before practice• Let them talk and do social warm up

drills• Allow them to gossip during warm-up,

stretching, setting up• Don’t take it that they aren’t focused

Practice

• Explain what you expect from them today

• Have incentives to inspire working hard and being competitive

• They like and need competitive drills – don’t spend countless hours in skills practice

Chart Results

• Verbally appreciate all roles• Post performance charts that grade

effort, grades, heart, desire, honor roll, nails and glue, not individual stats

• Discuss individual stats privately• Post team stats

Teach them to Forget• They blame themselves and get down

on themselves• Coach should help raise self-esteem

and get her to forgive herself for poor performance

• Coach should tell them why they are pulled from a game, or why they aren't getting PT

• Help them forget the negative by focusing on what is + (or even past + results)

Coaching Practices Summary

• Create external sources of fun (away from your sport)

• Create a fun family environment – use

t-shirts, slogans, traditions, cheers

Summary

• Have days of non-traditional practice• Create a democratic atmosphere• Allow them to chat before

practice/games• Explain your expectations

Summary

• Don’t be moody – no egg shells• Create competitive atmosphere• If you think they aren’t being

competitive ask them why?

Summary

• Ask they questions?• Ask for their input• Provide external rewards (that are

internally related)

Summary

• Chart the performance of the team

• Privatize individual stats/performance results

Summary

• Tell them what they can do• Give corrective feedback• Tell them why they aren't playing

and what they need to do to play more

• Tell them what they did Right