Knowing your players and being friends with them is different. When coaches are friends with their players, the players tend to have less respect for their coaches. Whereas if the coach knows the players and knows about their lives, they can be more of a mentor and will be more respected by the players.

Some will say that the most effective methods of coaching are to yell at their players, so they respect you. When coaches give no context to why they are yelling this will give them less respect from the players. Adam Tatar, a football coach from Pennridge High schools, says that he coaches, “tough but fair.” Some of his players agreed with that statement. Tatar believes that you should know your players and get them ready for what they will do after the sport. Tatar tells us that he always explains his reasons for yelling if he yells at all. Thomas Wyatt, a former coach who wrote his doctorate on coaching styles, believes the best style is a transformational coaching style.

The benefits of transformational coaching are that it teaches the players life lessons and advice they can take past just the sport. It teaches them discipline and does not discourage them from the sport. Coaches listen to the players to find what works best for them. There might be a case where a more aggressive or more friendly coaching style is better than the transformational style. If you coach in the best way possible for your team, you will strengthen your relationship with the team and strengthen your playing.