Coaches love when their athletes are coachable. Coachable athletes are the most open to feedback and criticism, and they’ll listen to the coach and do as instructed. It is very common for parents to overlook developing coachability skills in their kids. At the end of the day, this characteristic will be the one that elevates your game the most.

We recommend any athlete check out our program at Athletes Untapped! Our private coaches can help you build the skills, including coachability, to become the best athlete you can be!

Learning is Key

The number one trait of coachable people is the desire to learn. Even when they have mastered their craft, their drive and passion push them to continue to learn even more. You can build coachability in your kids by introducing them to more growing opportunities. Encourage them to build on their strengths, acknowledge their weaknesses, and cultivate their curiosity to learn. Teaching coachability to young athletes will not only help them in their athletic career but will also be useful in their professional career and life.

The Definition of Success

If winning is the only thing that is important to your child, then there’s a good chance they will struggle to learn new skills, and they’ll burn out quickly. When winning is the only point of playing, then getting outside of your comfort zone and achieving growth becomes difficult. Prioritizing learning over winning allows athletes to have more fun while practicing and playing. This will naturally improve their coachability skills. Shifting your child’s view of success away from individual performance and more towards team success will help them identify their role on the team—another important trait of coachable athletes.

Be open to Feedback

Feedback is one of the best tools to improve. Listening is always the first step to receiving coaching. If your youth athlete cannot listen to their coach, it will often lead to a poor relationship with the coach and team. This is ultimately detrimental to team success and, potentially, even the future individual success of the athlete. Encourage your child to listen to feedback, and assure them that the feedback they receive from their coaches is important and is not meant to hurt their emotions. Our private coaches at Athletes Untapped provide high-level feedback to athletes of any age. Whether it be from 1-on-1 sessions or pre-recorded videos of your practices, our coaches will always look to provide the feedback you need to succeed.

Encourage Adaptation

Your child must learn how to adapt to new challenges. Whether they are playing a new sport, in a new position, or learning new techniques, it’s important to acknowledge the effort they are putting in and applaud them. Remind your child that staying in their comfort zone won’t make them a better athlete down the road, and it certainly won’t help the team right now. If your child acknowledges the importance of adaptability, they will be more open-minded to tackling new challenges. Confidence in yourself and your adaptability are important to being a coachable athlete.

Be There For Their Failures

Failure is inevitable. Learning how to handle failure and learn from it is incredibly important for long-term growth. Your child can learn to handle failure by understanding the importance of “why?” Encourage them to ask questions, emphasize curiosity, and they will be eager to understand why failure happened in the first place. Naturally, they will eventually learn from failure. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but it is crucial for any athlete to understand if they want to be coachable. If your child shuts down when they fail, their ability to be coached will be limited.

If your athlete still struggles with coachability after these tips, consider looking for a mental performance coach at Athletes Untapped! We offer local, experienced coaches who can help your child reach the success they desire!

Check out our Athletes Untapped Locations Page to learn more about coaches in your area.