Coaching is a discipline that has become very fashionable in recent years. And although it receives some criticism, if the professional who applies it is well trained, it can provide excellent results for the personal, professional, educational and sports development of people.

Today we will talk about sports coaching , a proposal that allows to maximize the potential of a sportsman or athlete.

Different types of coaching

Coaches guide people through the process of change and help them to achieve their full potential in a variety of areas and improve their well-being. They can work with individuals who want to achieve their life goals (Life Coaching: the secret to achieving your goals), with managers to better manage their dealings with staff (Business Coaching: what is it and what are its benefits?) and even with teachers and professors (Educational Coaching: a tool for better learning and teaching).

But the coach does not only work with the coachees (client of the coach) individually, but also with groups of people and work or sports teams. In this area, he allows adopting strategies to maximize the learning potential and the management of psychological resources useful to achieve a goal.

Coaching is a methodology that helps to overcome those limiting beliefs that prevent us, many times, from staying halfway between what we really want and what we can achieve.

The origin of sports coaching

The relationship between coaching and sport has been a reality since the origins of this discipline. In fact, coaching as we know it today was born in the United States in the 1970s, specifically in the field of sport. Its main precursor was Timothy Gallwey, a tennis player who later became a coach. He realised the importance of psychological aspects in the achievement of goals and in sports performance in general. In his book The Inner game of tennis , published in 1974, he presents his ideas on coaching, which would later be used in other fields, especially in the workplace.

However, the origins of coaching go further back in time, since, for example, the contributions of Socrates and his methodical dialogue known as mayeutics, the concept of self-realization of humanistic psychology, whose maximum exponent is Abraham Maslow, or the well-known practice of emotional intelligence initially proposed by Daniel Goleman, have shaped this discipline.

Benefits of sports coaching

Sports coaching brings many benefits to athletes. But what are these benefits?

1. It helps to know yourself better

Sports coaching allows athletes to get to know themselves better, because they develop Emotional Intelligence and learn to use tools to discover their own limits and impulses which hold back their full potential. With sports coaching self-knowledge improves, which is key to personal and sports development .

2. It helps to plan realistically

Self-knowledge also lets us know which path we want to take, and helps us plan realistically. This is key because it helps to keep your feet on the ground and avoid frustration.

3. Allows to reach the maximum potential

With the help of coaches, athletes develop resources, competencies and skills that allow them to maximize their performance and potential . Coaching makes athletes go further by helping them to remove mental barriers.

4. Helps overcome limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs act as a barrier to reaching the potential that an athlete possesses, because the mind can be our worst enemy if we are not aware of how these negative thoughts affect us.

The sports coach offers the coachee techniques and resources that are aimed at promoting talent at its best. In other words, sports coaching allows the coachee to identify weaknesses , but also to take responsibility for change and to take action to overcome any obstacles.

5. Encourages the management of emotions

Emotions can either enhance or hinder sports performance. Thanks to coaching, athletes are able to know and regulate their own feelings, emotions, beliefs , judgments and coping strategies. Something that, without a doubt, allows better results to be obtained.

6. Increases motivation

Sports coaching is key to planning and setting realistic goals, but also to staying in the present moment and getting feedback on how we are behaving. Coaching is motivating because the person discovers his own motivations and achieves a greater capacity for challenge and ambition.

7. Increases concentration and better performance

Staying in the present moment and acquiring a high level of awareness also promotes concentration and increases performance.

Moreover, since coaching allows athletes to connect with themselves in the here and now, so that they reach the state where the level of difficulty of the task and the motivation needed to carry it out are kept in almost perfect balance. What is known as the “flow state” is encouraged.

8. Reduces frustration

Realistic goals and well-planned objectives help maintain high self-esteem, since people do not live in irrational expectations and are less frustrated. Coaching establishes medium and long term action plans , so it is beneficial to go step by step and live in the here and now.

9. Strengthens leadership

Coaching empowers athletes, who feel responsible for their own actions thanks to this methodology. Athletes have a greater capacity for learning, decision-making and acquire a positive mentality in the face of change .

10. Improves group cohesion

Coaching can be done on an individual basis; however, especially in the world of sport, group coaching sessions or team coaching can be carried out. When a group feels united and pursues a common goal, it can easily perform at a high level. Coaching increases the feeling of belonging , discipline and improves relationships within the team.