Communicating with Coaches: A Reflection

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Communicating with Coaches A Reflection

• Dan Foster, PhD, ATC
• January 3, 2008

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The Good
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The Bad
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The Ugly
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Coach Personalities

• Autocratic
• Single-minded focus
• Proven track record
• Define everyones role
• Dogmatic
• Everyone the same
• Conform or leave
• Starved for attention

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Demanding Coaches

• Case Coach is told that one of his players is
  going to see the team MD for a knee problem. He
  has seen other athletes with this same problem so
  he is certain that surgery is an issue. The
  other players have taken percoset and some have
  played. He insists that the player get percoset
  and have an MRI.
• When seen, the player has a plain x-ray, is
  examined, and put on IBU. The coach is irate and
  insists on an MRI or wants a second opinion.

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Points to keep in mind

• If demands are not met, coach may assume the
  diagnosis is wrong
• Often demands are related to a previous bad
  outcome
• The coach may think that testing is being
  withheld to save money

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What Ive Learned

• Doubt ask the coach what is worrying him
• Injury - explain how this case is different from
  others
• What if the plan is still unacceptable to the
  coach?

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BATHE

• B assess background situation
• A assess patients affect
• T determine most troubling problem
• H evaluate how patient is handling
• E convey empathy

McCullough, et al Am Fam Physician 1998
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Angry Coach

• Case You have a very busy day with one
  appointment after another. You have seen an
  athlete emergently early in the day and with help
  have admitted the athlete to hospital. The coach
  is called at a break but only a message can be
  left with a secretary. The coach is away from
  the office until the bus arrives. The team is
  traveling to an away contest and the coach calls
  the athlete to find out where she is. You then
  get a threatening call from the coach complaining
  of your unprofessional conduct.

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Points to Keep in Mind

• Emotional control is important here
• Respectful
• Empathic
• professional
• Anger might be secondary to concerns that led to
  the outburst

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What Ive Learned

• Try to learn the reason for the anger
• Allow the coach to complete the angry outburst
• Validate the frustration
• Involve the coach in providing a solution
• Allow the coach to discuss their concerns

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Silent Coach

• Case You tell the coach before a practice that
  several of the players have complained about
  being sore and fatigued during practice. The
  team has experienced another losing season, the
  coach is feeling a lot of pressure to win, and
  has been unapproachable lately. You get no
  response and the coach just looks away. You are
  frustrated and decide to keep quiet.

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Points to Keep in Mind

• It is challenging to inform someone who either
  cannot or will not communicate
• It is important to identify a cause for the
  silence
• Consider fear, loss of control, depression,
  medications

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What Ive Learned

• If you can identify a problem, you can address it
• Confront the coach with his apparent silence
• Explain how important it is to communicate in
  order to help
• Adjusting to losing may be challenging

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Bad News

• Case It is a critical time of the season and
  the star player suffers a season-ending injury.
  You prepare to tell the coach.

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Key Points to Keep in Mind

• This is an essential skill
• Some fear that this will adversely affect the
  relationship
• Some fear that this will be distressing and
  affect the team

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What Ive Learned

• Plan carefully, choose the setting
• Give a warning shot
• Find out how much the coach needs to know
• Share the information
• Listen to the outburst
• Have an established plan for the next steps

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What Coaches do not want to hear lack of
confidence

• Lets see what happens
• I dont know
• I think this might be
• I havent come across this before
• Im not sure about this
• Ill ask another colleague for advice

Ogden et al Patient Educ and Counsel, 2002.
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Summary

• We can have difficult communications with coaches
  and patients
• Think serve, not help, nor fix
• The difference between the right word and the
  almost right word is like the difference between
  lightning and lightning bug.

Mark Twain