Warning.. long caption, but worth the read. Only seconds to speak encouragement, strategy, motivation, energy, inspiration and so much more. Timeouts have always been an area of coaching that scares me. Mainly during games where the “non-negotiables” aren’t present. The non-negotiables for my athletes are energy, attitude and effort. Those things are a choice made by the athlete themselves and trying to coach them is difficult. It is also stressful when you’re the only one in that moment that your athletes are looking to for help. 1. “What if I don’t get all the information to the athletes in a way they can understand and immediately apply it to their game?” 2. “What if I say the wrong things?” 3. “What if I don’t give them what they need?” Here are some truths to combat those lies. 1. Have a plan. Give specific goals/tasks to specific players for each of them to focus on. This helps pull their attention away from the emotions of the game and understand the assignment. It also allows you to be more efficient with your time. 2. Unless you’re a coach that speaks negatively to their athletes, you can’t say the wrong thing. Young athletes need guidance, they are not supposed to have it figured out. Yelling and creating a negative space does not help the problem, it usually makes it worse. You can get the same result speaking in a positive tone. There’s a difference between negative and intense. 3. By far my biggest lesson has been GET TO KNOW YOUR ATHLETES. They need to know you see them as a person and you’re aware that they won’t be perfect all the time. Knowing your athletes personalities allows you to read their body language and get a better idea of what kind of timeout talk they need. Trust me, spending a little extra time before or after practice or at tournaments talking to my athletes are some of my favorite moments. If you made it this far, thanks for reading:)