Talk to the Coach if you Don’t Understand

Coaches often go over stuff so quickly it is hard to know exactly where you are supposed to be on the “new” offensive play or exactly what you are supposed to do with the latest defensive scheme. The best thing you can do is a player is to let the coach know you aren’t exactly sure which position you are supposed to be in on offense or exactly where you will be on defense. I’m sure the coach will be glad to review and make sure everybody is on the same page. One of the biggest problems a coach can make is the quickly go over stuff and they just assume that everybody understands. Sometimes players play more than one position, that would be another time when you should ask now which place am I going to be on defense or which spot or spots do I need to know for offense. What you want to make sure to do is to listen when the coach is teaching AND to make sure that the coach has finished going over the new tactics before you interrupt. During a water break or before or after practice may be the best time to have the coach draw the play up again. Odds are, if you aren’t sure, others on your team won’t be able to execute either as they aren’t sure.

Hopefully, through repetitions and with time, you and your teammates will learn and understand what the coach is trying to get across to you all as players. If you have missed practice, the first thing you want to do at the next practice is ask if there was anything new “introduced” last practice. This will prove to the coach that you care and there may not have been any alternative to missing practice.

If you still don’t understand and your coach seems to be frustrated with you, don’t give up, instead it may be time to turn to a teammate and ask for help. Go to a leader or captain on the team or somebody that also plays the positions you typically do and ask them for help. If that doesn’t help, you may want to have your parents meet with the coach to go over the plays so “everybody” will be on the same page. Your parents can just say that it is unclear exactly your duties on defense or your role on the offensive end with the plays.