5 Coaching Habits That Make Training Sessions Land Better

1. Give specific praise, not generic praise

"Good job" is fine, but "I loved how you kept your eyes up before that pass" tells a kid exactly what to keep doing. Specific praise reinforces the actual behaviour you want repeated, rather than just making a child feel good in the moment without learning anything from it.

This is easy to build into any drill — pick one or two coaching points before you start, and praise specifically against those points as you see kids nail them.

2. Read the room before pushing through the plan

Every plan is a starting point, not a script. If a drill is clearly landing — kids are engaged, having fun, improving — let it run a few minutes longer than scheduled. If attention is fading or frustration is building, it's fine to cut a drill short and move to something more energetic.

A good rule of thumb: watch faces, not just feet. Confused or frustrated expressions are your cue to simplify; bored expressions are your cue to add challenge or change the activity entirely.

3. Treat mistakes as information, not failure

When a child makes a mistake, the most useful response is usually a quick, calm correction rather than a reaction that signals disappointment. Something like "good try — next time, plant your foot a bit earlier" keeps a kid trying. A frustrated sigh or raised voice teaches a kid to stop attempting things in front of you.

4. Match instruction depth to the moment

Long technical explanations rarely land mid-session — kids want to be moving, not listening. Save detailed technique breakdowns for a quiet moment (like a water break), and keep in-drill corrections short: one cue, not three.

5. Know when a drill isn't working, and don't be afraid to change it

Sometimes a drill that should work for an age group just doesn't land with your specific team — maybe it's too complex, too easy, or doesn't suit your space. That's completely normal, and it's not a reflection of your coaching. The useful habit is noticing it quickly and adapting, rather than pushing through a drill that's clearly not working because it's "what the plan said."

If you're using MyKidsCoach, this is exactly what the thumbs-down feedback on each drill is for — flag it, tell us why, and we'll factor that into future plans for your team so the same mismatch doesn't keep happening.