Verbal communication between the coach and female players is crucial for their development on and off the court. Too often, communication in sports revolves mostly around the content of the sport. Often, little attention is paid to how thoughts and ideas are conveyed. When coaching female players, communication is more than just an exchange of information between two or more individuals- it involves understanding the motivation and intention behind the message. It is not only how the message is conveyed, but how it is received and understood as intended. This is especially important when coaching women where minute differences in understanding concepts can mean huge differences in performance.
PASSIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which you avoid directly saying what you think or want and that often involves uncomfortable body language. A passive communication style may find themselves agreeing when they disagree or have something to add to the conversation. Oftentimes, the passive communication style is channeling the fear of confrontation and avoiding making the seemingly aggressive communication style more hostile.
Coaches should not be passive in the way they talk and behave with their female players. Passive behavior can lead to low self-esteem, unhealthy, or uncomfortable relationships, feeling out of control of decisions, and feelings of anxiety, stress, resentment, or tensions.
ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION involves communicating your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in an honest way without violating the rights of others. It is the balanced middle ground between violating other people’s rights when being aggressive and violating our own rights when being passive.
Assertive communication is frequently seen as the most effective form of communication for women and girls since they can express their desired without being overbearing or rude. Many assertive communicators are in leadership positions because of their ability to appeal to people. Coaches with these qualities share their ideas while remaining respectful and polite to their players. When communicating with women and girl players, encourage them to continue speaking their mind and this will create a healthy environment for everyone.
AGGRESSIVE COMMUNICATION have a strong presence. They are often loud, demanding, and dominating as a player or coach. If both the coach and a player show aggressive communication tendencies, issues may arise. This can be very problematic for women and girls trying out squash for the first time! The stereotype that women naturally communicate more passively, and men more aggressively can feed into unhealthy player to coach relationship and lead to the, communicating inappropriately to female players.
Some people are under the impression that asserting oneself is “unladylike” or “improper”. When, learning how to be assertive can give you a sense of inner integrity. Coaches should always encourage their players to be assertive so that they feel comfortable expressing feelings, saying no, and asking questions to the coach.
