What kind of cheerleading coach are you?
In my many conversations with cheerleaders, cheer coaches, and parents, I have discovered that not all cheer coaches are created equal!
To be fair, sometimes a person with no cheerleading background or no training is asked by a school authority to lead a cheer team. (Actually, they are usually “told” to do so, not asked!) In this situation, we can easily understand if the “coach” is less than proficient in managing his or her team.
There are so many facets to being a good cheerleading coach and this short posting does not assume to discuss them all but I came across some interesting research that I thought you might find useful.
It seems that sport psychology researchers looked at 2 different kinds of approaches to coaching (and you should know that the research was not on cheerleading per se but athletic teams in general) to see which one created a more optimal environment for the athletes.
One approach is called a Performance Climate and the other approach is called a Mastery Motivational Climate.
A Performance Climate encourages intra-team competition and a punitive approach to mistakes (yelling, shaming, etc.). Now you may think that a punitive approach would be rare in cheerleading but if a coach is lacking in training and experience, the frustration level would be higher and so would the possibility of expressing that frustration in potentially punitive ways.
The Mastery Motivational Climate, on the other hand, us is one where the coach supports effort and cooperation (instead of who’s the best) and where there is an emphasis on learning and task mastery.
Not surprisingly, the Mastery Motivational Climate is a happier one for the athletes. It promotes well-being, persistence and task perseverance. It also attenuates negative responses and optimizes positive ones.
Let’s hear it for the Mastery Motivational Climate! Give me an M…!
Tags: cheerleader, cheerleaders, Cheerleading, cheerleading coach, cheers
September 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Pamela,
Very well put! I’ve seen both methods at work and do my best to be the latter more so than the former. It’s amazing how much faster the athletes develop in a positive and supportive environment.
If it’s alright, I’d like to repost this article on DocSpirit.com.
Cheers!
Sean
September 17th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hi Pam!
I believe each of the two methods have their own strengths and corresponding drawbacks. Frankly speaking, there is no hard and fast way to coach. IMO, a coach’s training method has to correspond with 4 factors: 1) amount of time you have for training 2) ability & attitude of the current squad 3) commitment of individual members 4) Amount of training resources you have
While winning national championships does not necessary validate the training process (some teams train much harder than others and still lose in the end) it gives an indication of the ability of the coach to produce results. For more commercialised teams, this is important because funding is neccessary for team to continue operating. Failure to produce results may result in a cut in sponsorship, resource allocation and might even cause a team to close down because their bosses can no longer justify their presence.
Nobody likes to be disliked, and a Performance Climate as you mentioned is likely to be less popular. I belong to this category unfortunately. But i didn’t chose to be in this category of course. It just happens to be high on my value system which i feel is able to produce the best results.
I am a firm believer of the law of attraction and how it can attract like minded individuals together for a common belief. Whichever that floats your boat.
Just my two cents worth =)