Off the Field Athlete Life Management: A Relation to Coaching Job Performance
A coach’s job performance is primarily judged by the community, parents of the athletes on the team, and the organization administration. Coaches are evaluated by the team’s achievements on the field. The performance of the athletes determines the team’s success which then reflects on the coach’s ability to perform his/her job. Coaches are constantly being evaluated by the community, parents, and administration. Often, coaches perform optimally (i.e. provide the best coaching and training possible), however, some coaches fall short of optimum team performance due to the athletes in which he/she is coaching. The reason being is that some athletes do not know how to take care of themselves off the field. Also in some respects parents may be responsible for their athlete’s inability to perform. Some parents lack the knowledge about taking care of or guiding their athlete off the field. The way in which an athlete manages his/herself off the field will have a direct affect on his/her performance, on the team, and on the coach. Therefore, coaches may want to focus on teaching parents and athletes how to manage an athlete’s life style off the field.
There are several factors that will cause an athlete to not perform well. For the sake of this article it will be assumed that an athlete is receiving or has received the following factors. Set a side training and coaching as a factor because theoretically if the coach is good at his her job, the athletes are receiving the best training and coaching possible. Also set aside genetics as a factor because that cannot be controlled. Lastly, set aside facilities and travel as a factor. Therefore, anything else affecting performance should be a factor of off the field life management.
Off the field life management is how athletes take care of themselves off the field. Athletes are much different from non-athletes because of the stress that they put their bodies through during athletic activity. Because of the stress of competitive activity, athletes’ physical structures are different such as bone architecture and size of muscles. They perceive and react to psychological stressors differently and they require more rest than non-athletes. Also athletes have different physiological values such as hormonal factors & blood chemistries. The difference in athletes and non athletes illustrates that athletes must live a different life style. If they do not manage their lives appropriately off the field, then they will not perform well on the field. This means resting, nutritional, and psychological off the field management strategies all have affects on athletic performance and athletes should adjust their management strategies accordingly.
Rest
Athletic activity stresses the body physically, physiologically, and psychologically. If an athlete does not respect that and abuses the rest period he/she will become overreached and performance will suffer. An imbalance develops in an athlete’s homeostasis (i.e. the body’s equilibrium of physical, psychological, and physiological states) when there is too much stress and not enough rest. Rest is the amount of time spent away from the physical and mental exertion that accompanies athletic and non- athletic related activities. This time is spent relaxing (i.e. both mentally and physically relaxing) and sleeping. Rest is one of the main contributors to overreaching and overtraining because too little rest produces increased stress on the body. Thus not allowing the body to repair and return back to a balanced state.
Inadequate Nutrition
Inadequate nutrition and fluid replacement strategies can affect the body in many ways. Throughout the rest period athletes need to eat, drink, and time the ingestion of their meals properly. During exercise the body is stressed and broken down. Food substances are used to replace energy stores and build the body back up (i.e. repair the micro damage that occurred during activity) during the resting phase. If the diet is inadequate and the athlete does not have the available substances needed to repair, then the body will not be able to repair. As a result micro damage turns into macro damage and injuries and performance slumps occur. Also if the body is not well hydrated or lacks the food substances used for energy, then performance will decrease. If the diet is insufficient in fats and certain macro nutrients, then the athlete may experience performance slumps due to insufficient hormone production and illness do to immune suppression. Another issue that athletes often overlook is timing of meal ingestion. Recent research in sports nutrition has proven that timing of meal ingestion in relation to training is of significant importance with regards to the effect the meal has on the body. Therefore, a well balanced and planned diet is one of the keys to preventing decreases in performance.
Note: It would be wise to consult with a Sports Nutritionist on how to eat and drink properly.
Psychological Stress
The psychological stress that an athlete receives from home, school, work, and various relationships can affect performance. Psychological stress does not only affect the mind, it also has an affect on the body. Many ancient philosophers believed the mind and body have conversations with each other that ultimately result in changes in mind body function. In athletics this may be true. When an athlete is under stress, he/she may experience alterations in movements due to certain complex psychophysical inhibitions (e.g. decreased reaction times, and decreased ability to accurately execute sports skills). Psychological stress causes physiological alterations such as increased hormone and catecholamine (e.g. epinephrine) levels. Also psychological alterations can block an athlete’s ability to get in the zone and concentrate on sports skills. These physical, psychological, and physiological alterations can have detrimental affects on performance.
Flow Chart: Factors Coaches Cannot Control. The – (i.e. negative sign) stands for a decrease in a factor and the + (i.e. positive sign) stands for an increase in a factor.
Conclusion
Coaches cannot control what happens to athletes once they leave practice. Unfortunately, coaches may suffer bad job evaluations due to under performing athletes that do not take care of themselves off the field. A coach’s ability to perform his/her job will depend on the performance of the team. Team performance will be controlled by each individual athlete’s responsibility to take care of him/herself off the field (i.e. assuming the coach has provided the proper training and coaching). Therefore, coaches may need to educate athletes and parents on off the field life management. If coaches can educate their athletes on how to manage themselves properly off the field, then they may be able to maintain optimum team performance and ultimately better job evaluations. Furthermore, coaches can encourage the parents of their athletes to educate themselves on how to manage an athlete at home. There are a few great books on the market such as “How to Raise a Successful Athlete” that give parents insight on how to raise and manage their athlete. If coaches start an off the field education program, it may help decrease team performance slumps and help maintain optimum performance of their athletes. This will enhance team performance and cause the coach’s job evaluation by the community, parents, and administration to be improved.
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