Yelling as a coaching tool

[NND Sports Fan]

I posted this on the 1A Board:

i post this topic after seeing that someone posted that Bland County had some players quit because they didn't like being yelled at. I believe yelling can be appropriate when done by a coach who has the respect of his players. There was one program that struggled year-in-and-year-out and they had an assistant who's only coaching technique during game night was yelling at the kids who were giving their all but were simply not as talented as their opponents. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but the program began to turn the coaching not long after the yelling assistant was no longer on staff.
Here's advice from a coach about yelling at players:
It only serves a purpose if it's backed up with a consequence. Yelling isn't a consequence; it's just white noise unless there's discipline behind it. You can get your point across and be stern without hollering and yelling. Yelling elicits an emotional response that gets the kid's attention in the short term. In the long term, they either tune it out or they start to shut down.

 

[WP02alum]

This is pretty much commonly understood by every good coach. Only the true meathead morons don’t get this. Being vocal has its place, but when it’s routine, the words get filtered out.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Real simple: good coaches recognize when, if at all, to use it. Some kids respond, others shut down. If you're too dumb to figure out which is which, then you're probably a bad coach. Also believe it serves virtually no purpose in a game beyond making yourself look like an ass. Lockers are one thing, the field is another. There was a head coach not long ago of one of the regular Salem opponents and you could hear this guy dead across the entirety of Salem stadium, just shameful.

Having said all of that again, if the kids respond to it then it is what it is. There is a famous, semi-old documentary called Year of the Bull which focuses on the national powerhouse program of Miami Northwestern. The school is located in an incredibly poor neighborhood and most of the kids come from tough, shaky backgrounds but that program spits out an unreal amount of college and pro talent. Have a look at the beginning of this and then 1:00 (and also watch the last 5 minutes or so, frankly) to see this in action. Not a few years after this docu was shot, MNW snapped #2 in the nation Southlake Carroll's 49 game win streak en route to being proclaimed the #1 team in the nation that season.

 

[NND Sports Fan]

That football program is featured on ESPN high school coverage seemingly annually.

 

[WP02alum]

I like to think the legit coaches want kids to exit their program with critical thinking skills. IMO, you can always find out who the legit coaches are (& who ran programs based on fear & hero-worship) when they retire from a program.

What happens in the next 2-3 seasons? If it all instantly falls apart, you probably had a fraud who more or less ran a cult. Without their leader telling them how to think, they are lost. Gotta give kids tools to be successful later in life. I guess this ties in to the above comment about “if they respond to it, it is what it is”. Not attacking that poster. Just saying I’ve seen that in action. What’s left when that leader leaves is not a program.

 

[VAHSFootballFan]

Seen it work, seen it flame out. My senior year we got a new coach who lost his voice on day two of the season because he was yelling at us so much. Personally I dreaded practice and most of us thought him a joke. Game days were the worst, he was so embarrassing. We went 0-10. I also saw a coach turn a program around who was known for being loud and vocal with his players. I also saw him build a lot of relationships with his players that my coach never bothered with.
On a side note I was at my daughter's U12 soccer practice the other day and heard a coach on a not so neighboring field dressing down his team. I could hear him word for word and we weren't exactly right next to it. It was either U12 or U10. All I could think was, "I'm glad she's not on that team because she wouldn't be for long"

 

[MaroonDude]

Real simple: good coaches recognize when, if at all, to use it. Some kids respond, others shut down. If you're too dumb to figure out which is which, then you're probably a bad coach. Also believe it serves virtually no purpose in a game beyond making yourself look like an ass. Lockers are one thing, the field is another. There was a head coach not long ago of one of the regular Salem opponents and you could hear this guy dead across the entirety of Salem stadium, just shameful.

Having said all of that again, if the kids respond to it then it is what it is. There is a famous, semi-old documentary called Year of the Bull which focuses on the national powerhouse program of Miami Northwestern. The school is located in an incredibly poor neighborhood and most of the kids come from tough, shaky backgrounds but that program spits out an unreal amount of college and pro talent. Have a look at the beginning of this and then 1:00 (and also watch the last 5 minutes or so, frankly) to see this in action. Not a few years after this docu was shot, MNW snapped #2 in the nation Southlake Carroll's 49 game win streak en route to being proclaimed the #1 team in the nation that season.

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I remember this different. Didn't they loose to Apopka that year in the state championship game? I believe this was the 01 season.
6A APOPKA beat Miami Northwestern 34-16 Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)

All-Time State Football Champions in Florida | Florida Gridiron Preps

www.floridagridironpreps.com

 

[MaroonDude]

I remember this different. Didn't they loose to Apopka that year in the state championship game? I believe this was the 01 season.
6A APOPKA beat Miami Northwestern 34-16 Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)

All-Time State Football Champions in Florida | Florida Gridiron Preps

www.floridagridironpreps.com

Few years after.... My bad.

 

[schoolboard]

Sometimes it starts with the parents. I have heard parents screaming about why the coaches weren't yelling at the athletes who messed up on a play. These parents assume that if the coach isn't screaming, he doesn't care, or is accepting bonehead plays on the field. So some coaches are yelling to put on a show, not because they think the result will be any different after yelling. Yelling is only necessary for urgency, or if you think the mistakes will imminently continue without loud correction. But too many coaches yell to embarrass the kid for the mistake already made, which is just bad coaching and bad in general.