Use Teacher Effectiveness Tools to Enhance Your Coaching Quality

Coaching is one of the highest profile positions that schools and colleges employ. At the collegiate level, these individuals can even be the highest paid public employees in their states, and successful coaches are often the highest paid individuals in their school districts. But successful coaches can be defined in a number of ways, and ultimately, they must be viewed as accomplished teachers. Thus, it behooves coaches to draw from the teacher effectiveness literature to enhance their instructional skills and strategies. This article provides a summary of five important variables that can significantly impact motor skill learning. The variables include time, practice, tasks, classroom organization, and skill level. Each variable is briefly examined relative to its practical application and/or adaptation to a coaching setting. Ultimately, the aim of this article is to equip coaches with information that can be used to facilitate the motor skill success rates of each and every athlete.