To avoid disastrous consequences down the road, here are a few coaching must do’s for pre-season. I am sharing this from experience by the way. 
1. Clearly Layout Your Expectations Up Front
This is often easier said than done. But it’s very important that your entire coaching staff and team are all very clear on your expectations for the season. Laying out all the information up front will help you avoid tough questions and situations down the road. Not only that, things just go a lot smoother when everyone is well informed and well prepared for what lies ahead. That’s why it’s so important that your coaching staff and your players know what “the plan” is from the beginning.
It’s also critical that your players (and parents, depending on what age level you coach) understand your expectations on issues such as: attendance, conduct in team settings, grades, communication if players are going to be absent or late, attitude, team policies, procedures, guidelines etc, etc, etc. Again, the clearer the guidelines are for everyone, the less headache you’ll have during the season.
2. Don’t think that once is enough
You’ll find that even though you’ve gone over an issue or guideline or policy once, you may have to go over it again. I know, it would be fabulous if everyone remembered every single word you’ve ever said. It would be totally awesome if, after you said something once, your word would get branded into the minds of your team and they would remember it forever and ever and ever. But that’s simply not the case.
Be reasonable. If you’re instilling a new idea, a new concept, a new policy, or you have new players on the team, or if you are a new coach to a team, it’s only right that you go over important issues, expectations, rules, and guidelines more than once. Just as you practice softball skills over and over and over again to help your players learn them and get better at them, some things you’ll have to go over more than once in order for your players to really “get it.”
3. Remember that change takes time
Coaching would be quite simple if players could make a permanent changes and adjustments immediately. However, with most things, that’s just not how it works. Change takes time. Change take practice. Surviving change often requires a lot of support and encouragement because change can be downright uncomfortable.
It’s usually very easy and quite tempting to go back to doing things the “old way” because the “old way” is comfortable and familiar. But if you keep doing the same ol’ thing, you’re going to keep getting the same ol’ result. So often times, in order to get BETTER, in order to improve, something’s gotta change. But change can be scary and change can be hard and change can be very easy to give up on. So remember to be supportive while you keep pushing forward. Remember that players are probably not going to make a 180 degree turn over night (and neither would you). Be patient and remember that “today” is part of a bigger process, a bigger journey.
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