Effective Youth Coaching

With the start of another winter sport season, its timely to refresh our minds on what does successful youth coaching look like. Working with netball coach developer Karen Topp we have selected five articles with a bias towards youth coaching. The first article provides a self-report checklist to assist coaches identify areas for further development. The is followed by a reflective article from John Lyle, and then a number of coaching effectiveness examples from youth sport.

Kennedy, A., Dux, P. E., & Mallett, C. J. (2023). Development of the brief expertise scale for sports coaching. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18(5), 1381-1394.

The expertise scale developed by the UQ sports coaching team is based on conceptual work by Lyle and Cushion. Sport expertise is considered under three broad categories namely (1) experience and engagement, (2) knowledge – both sport specific and specialised – and (3), skills and personal attributes. The scale consists of 9 items supported by the cumulative experience of the coach and the time currently invested in practice and learning. The 9 items are self-assessed on a 7-point scale from extremely low to extremely high.

My ability to develop and implement an effective coaching philosophy is…?

My current knowledge of the technical elements of my sport are…?

My current knowledge of the tactical elements of my sport are…?

My athletes would describe my ability to develop effective coach-athlete relationships as…?

My ability to adapt my coaching behaviour to meet the needs of different situations is…?

My athletes would describe my ability to manage their expectations as…?

My athletes would describe my ability to deliver clear and effective communications as…?

My ability to evaluate performance and develop effective strategies in response is…?

My overall knowledge of the sports sciences (e.g.,pedagogy, nutrition, skill acquisition, biomechanics, physiology, and psychology) are…?

Lyle, J. (2021). Coaching Effectiveness: A Personal Discourse on Bringing Clarity to an Overused Concept. International Sport Coaching Journal, 8, 270-274.

Lyle takes a pragmatic approach to coaching as a goal directed activity, posing four key questions: (a) What would effective practice be intended to achieve? (b) How would coaches recognize effective practice? (c) What do coaches need to do to be effective? And (d) How successful is current practice in achieving its ends? In essence coaching effectiveness means achieving coaching objectives. As a goal directed activity he cautions that objectives should be set consistent with the available resources, and should be realistic and achievable. He concludes that being “more effective” is an appropriate aspiration, with coaches continuing to learn.

Westfall, S. (2020). Worst to First: Turnaround Leadership Through the Lens of Successful High School Football Coaches. International Sport Coaching Journal, 7(2), 163-174.

The study reported on 11 American high school football coaches who led a dramatic turnaround within their school’s football program, reaching the playoffs in less than two seasons. The keys to their success included: creating a vision for program success; a staff of quality assistants; creating and celebrating early achievements; sustaining success through the establishment of new goals and benchmarks; and fighting the urge to become complacent once new levels of success were reached. “Educational athletes” was a core of their coaching philosophy with their job as coaches being viewed as an extension of the classroom teaching life lessons.

Take-home message: what, if any, are the goals and benchmarks you've established with your group?? How clear are they for you and your group? Who can help you to establish these goals and boundaries if you are unsure or haven't done so as yet?

Santos, F., Corte-Real, N., Regueiras, L., Dias, C., Martinek, T. J., &? Fonseca, A. (2019). Coaching effectiveness within competitive youth football: youth football coaches’ and athletes’ perceptions and practices, Sports Coaching Review, 8(2), 172-193,

The study investigated how coaches in a competitive youth football context aligned their practice with C?té and Gilbert’s 2009 4C’s framework of Confidence, Character, Connection, and Competence in order to facilitate positive youth development. The study included 4 coaches and 19 adolescent athletes. The coaches believed that competitive football provides an enriched environment to support development. But. The reality from club and parents to win constrained the realisation of development goals. The training environment was consistent with the 4C’s framework, but was disregarded on game-day. Parents in particular emerged in this study as a negative influence on youth development processes and outcomes.

Take-home message: How does the club environment in which you operate encourage or thwart the development of your players?

O’Connor, D., Larkin, P., & Williams, A. M. (2018) Observations of youth football training: How do coaches structure training sessions for player development? Journal of Sports Sciences, 36:1, 39-47.

The study, involving 34 youth (U11 to U17 age groups) soccer coaches, investigated the activities that players undertook during training sessions (80 minutes on average). Inactivity was the second highest form of activity accounting for on average almost one third of training time. Playing form activities was the highest (41%), with training form activities in third place with 22% of session time. Transition between activities consumed 6% of the time.? The majority of inactive time was spent listening to the coach either in a huddle or frozen on the spot during an activity. The authors concluded that coaches tend to replicate what they experienced as players resulting in coach-centred traditional activities and a prescriptive teaching approach.

Take-home message:? how much inactivity do you players experience in a typical session? Does the level of inactivity vary by player or player groups (such as forwards compared with backs)?

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