When working with a youngster at any sport, instilling self-confidence is an important and sometimes challenging aspect of coaching. In one-on-one combat sports such as wrestling, an athlete's confidence on the mat can easily overtake technical ability or physical strength as the deciding factor in a match. Ultimately, when your students learn self-confidence, they will cease to look for external praise. Along the way, create an environment in which a feeling of self-worth is not directly tied to accomplishment, and in which defeats are seen as valuable learning lessons.
Support Personal Goals
Instead of determining the goals for your wrestling team, help individual participants to clearly define their own short-term and long-term aims. Tailor your coaching according to individual wrestlers. For example, if a particular student has the goal of cutting weight or mastering a particular hold, make sure that your practice schedule complements those aims. Naturally, you can guide the students to some degree in determining reasonable goals, especially when working with the younger, less experienced members of the team.
Teach Visualization Techniques
To help your students with the "head game" aspect of wrestling, teach them visualization practices as a means of motivation and skill development. When introducing a new move, have the students alternate between watching the correct form, practicing it themselves and playing it over in their mind's eye. Visualization techniques can be particularly powerful for visual learners. Make a note of which approaches work best for which students so you can motivate them most effectively. For more kinaesthetic or auditory learners, ask them to incorporate sensations or sounds when they imagine a successful move.
Foster a Healthy Approach to Winning
When preparing your students for wrestling, create an environment that is nurturing but that doesn't ignore the competitive aspect of the sport. Keep your students motivated to win by ensuring that they are well-matched against their opponents. Alternate their sparring partners during practice so that everyone gets a chance at opponents of greater and lesser abilities. Watch for warning signs of healthy motivation getting out of hand, carefully observing body language after practice and noting the tenor of conversations in the locker room.
Gauge Individual Responses
There's no single secret to instilling confidence; one student may learn best from regular critiques, while another will lose hope without some form of encouragement. For example, a less competitive approach to the game is often advisable when working with very young wrestlers, ages 12 or under. For teen athletes, focus on winning becomes much more important, according to David A. Feigley's report on winning in youth sports for the Youth Sports Research Council.
Posted in: Wrestling