It’s not uncommon to witness coaches using profanity. Some more than others, while in some sports, it has become a part of the culture. Does using profanity while coaching, work? The first question we must ask, is what the goals of the coach and the team are. Is the goal to bring the best out of each athlete–giving the team the best chance to win games? Is the goal to have a great season? Or is the goal rather, to have all players listen to the orders given by the coaches?
When you look at some of the great coaches, you will find some that some engaged in this practice, while others did not. John Wooden–of whom ESPN has regarded as the best coach ever–never used profanity at all. His teams were successful; but more importantly, his players went on to have amazing success in their careers after basketball. Coach Wooden was known for having more success than Harvard or Yale at producing successful business men. Another example might be Bobby Knight, the former coach of Indiana. He was known for using profanity in communicating with his players, the media and even his coaching staff. Coach Knight’s success was not as revered as that of Wooden–but what’s fascinating, is that his players were nowhere near as successful in their careers after basketball, as Wooden-coached players.
The reason that Wooden was so successful, is that he took the time to build up great people. He would meet individually with each of his players, determine the best way to coach each athlete, and then teach them his pyramid of success. Coach Wooden also made it a point to end each practice on a positive note–thus building the players up. When it was difficult to find a positive, he would simply remind the players that they needed to make a better effort the next day. Wooden kept his cool throughout games, even when losing by a large deficit. He believed that it was easier to keep the players focused on what they needed to improve on, without yelling or screaming. Remarks from his players, reflect that there was a noticeable lack of stress, when they felt that their coach was in control. He was focused during the games, and that gave them the confidence they’d need–usually resulting in their ability to come back and win.
Coach Knight had the same goal as Wooden. He was there to help his players be successful. The means of accomplishing those goals, however, were different. Knight’s goal was to get everyone on his team to listen to his orders–and he had one style of coaching for everyone. Coach Knight would often get upset at his players and would verbally abuse them, using profanity and in some cases, even physically abusing them. During games when Indiana was losing by a considerable amount, Coach Knight would throw fits, yell and scream profane things to his players, coaches, and referees. During one incident, he threw a chair onto the court. His teams rarely, if ever, came back and won a game when losing by a large sum. Sadly, most of his former players do not have kind words about their former coach.
I will admit, that all coaches I had growing up, used profanity to some degree. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, despite the fact that my parents never spoke like that to me, and forbade my siblings and I from using profanity. I thought that was just the way it was, with sports. It wasn’t until I started reading about coach Wooden and studies that have been done, which examine how the brain responds to negativity during stressful situations, that I began to consider anything different. In stressful situations when emotions are high, adding negativity will only increase the level of stress in the brain–making it even more difficult to perform your best, and make the best decisions. I trust science. As a result, I have cut profanity out of my life completely. If it’s not building people up, there’s no room for it.
At DM Athletics, we are always learning and improving what we are doing, to attain the results that we do, for our athletes. We will not let personal habits and egos get in the way of doing what is right, and what is the best, for our athletes. Contact us now, and let us help you take your game to the next level!
Good looking. Keep up the good work. At the end of the day it is how we live our life off the field that really matters. As father time catches up to us, we realize that our athletic careers are just the starting blocks to a full life.
The greatest feeling is seeing others reach further than they have imagined, and to live in that area of realized potential. It is sad when the pasts is one’s glory rather than fuel to bigger and brighter things.
One Aloha