Coaching your young player after a loss….

Stay positive.

The last thing I want to hear as a player when I come off the court is a dissertation about the match I just lost. I dread hearing about how well I played, what happened when I almost had the match and all other well intended comments. Give me a few moments to come out of my “competitive zone” and enter back into my real life zone.

When your young player comes off the court, offer encouragement and support in a positive manner. This is not the time to go over all the mistakes you saw them make.

Allow them a “come down” time that permits them to leave the competitive zone, relax and have a rational view of what transpired. Coach Wayne Bryan of the world’s #1 ranked doubles team always said his first question for the boys was, “where do you want to go eat?” The next day he would devise drills that worked upon the errors he saw during the match. Now I am sure there was a few other comments that would transpire at a later time about the match as well.

Help the player focus on a couple of simple skills they can work on and achieve positive results quickly to rebuild their confidence. Focus on the positives you saw in the match or progress made toward new skills they had been working on the past few weeks. An example would be to mention that they got 75% of their first serves in play or they managed their time between points really well in the match.

Ask their opinion as to what they think they should work on based upon their last performance. Be specific with skills like footwork, technique or strategy that need work.

Staying positive in a match that you care about can be very draining. You are feeling all the same emotions as the player with no real way to release them as a spectator. Players will notice when you grimace, turn your head away or show disappointment. This can have a very negative impact on their already suffering psychic.

When you are watching their match, be positive and offer encouragement. Saying things like, “Come on, you can do it” and “Let’s go” are good supportive comments.

Photo Credits: Sudhamshu

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