Coaching lessons can be learned at home/MIKE JACOBS COLUMN

From the Evansville Courier Press, October 9, 2011

The players and teams that continue to get better as the season goes on often prescribe to focusing on the process of getting better, opposed to focusing solely on the outcome and results of their previous or upcoming games.

This applies not only to players or teams, but to coaches, too. For coaches to continue to grow and develop, it has to happen not on a game to game basis, but rather, day to day.

The best way to practice coaching is in your own household with your own children. I often say that most of the best coaches I know are also outstanding parents, because they coach every day in their own homes.

How can you practice coaching in your own household?

Share your core values: it is critical that those who work with you have a clear picture of your expectations, whether that is your players, coaching staff or children. Stress your core values, and make sure you are able to give them clear examples of why they are important. Make sure your children can see that even though cheating may help a specific situation on the short-term that it is damaging in the long-term.

Praise them for short-term success: It's important that your children can draw from positive experiences on a daily basis, and that calling praise to those small victories will lead to larger success in the future. Whether it is praising your child working hard on a project or in a little league game, it is critical that your children understand that putting in the desired effort will lead to success, be it today or tomorrow.

Teach them to draw from their experiences: when it comes to developing instincts, a player needs to have a body of work to use as a reference point. Whether it is in victory or defeat, with an 'A' or 'D' on a term paper, you need to make sure that not only do your children receive a grade or see the score on the scoreboard, but that they understand why they received that grade. Understanding why they earned that result will help them not only grow from that experience, but to draw on it the next time they are faced with a similar challenge.

Set the example and standard: most coaches that command respect from their players practice what they preach. It's hard to demand your players to work hard if the head coach is the last person to arrive; it's hard for a coach to expect their players to be fit if they are grossly out of shape. Successful coaches and parents set the ideal example for their children to follow — if you complain about your boss after a hard day of work, why wouldn't your children complain about their own teacher or coach? If you complain about a referee following a game your children play in, why wouldn't they do the same? Understand that your children are constantly drawing from your example, be it consciously or subconsciously.

Stay true to your core values: the teams that tend to not stand up during tough times are the ones that don't have a strong foundation to lean against. Make a point to share what is most important with your children, and teach them not to compromise them. At any point that values are compromised to allow a player to participate in hopes of earning a victory, the potential short-term gain will come with long-term complications. I don't know that I've ever lost a match due to holding a player out that compromised the core values of the team — in the end, it always proves to offer success in the long-term, and strengthens the integrity of your group.

Players improve their skills by getting repetition through practice. Coaches are the same and the more you practice key areas of your foundation at home with your own family, the stronger it gets when you work with your team.