Ten Doubts Every Dance Coach Has About the New Season
I used to start every season with a mix of emotions. Excitement, nerves, doubts, plans, goals… there are a lot of moving parts! I talk a lot about self-talk with dancers. It’s a really important and challenging mental skill that doesn’t come easy to most of us. Today however, I want to focus on some of the negative self-talk that coaches and teachers may be experiencing at the beginning of the season. No matter how many years you’ve been at it, self-doubt trickles in. And I want to dispel the myth that there are dance educators out there who always have it all together and never doubt themselves. Because in my experience, those people don’t exist. We all have some negative self-talk and doubts, that doesn’t make you a bad coach. So in today’s episode, I share 10 common self-doubts I see in coaches and teachers and what you can do about those doubts.
Here are some highlights:
- [3m 31s] Doubt #1: I doubt I made the right decision
- [9m10s] Doubt #5: I doubt I can keep the team motivated and focused all year
- [14m 45s] Doubt #8: I doubt I have enough energy to pull off this season!
- [19m 44s] Resources to start off strong this season
Mentioned in the Show:
Other resources to help you start off on the right foot this season…
Practice Planner: the roadmap to organizing your schedule this year so you can achieve your goals without feeling rushed right before competition
How to Write a Coaching Philosophy – the best way to have a drama free, focused, and motivated season is to make every decision from a foundational coaching philosophy.
Captain Leadership Training – don’t just name the captains and let it be. Help them be the leaders you want!
Add some fun Team Building Games to your practices
Start a Journaling Practice with your team – bring everyone closer and set the tone of motivation and intention for the season
Project Management Tools:
This episode brought to you by:
The Tiers System is an app FOR dance coaches made BY dance coaches that gives you the tools to empower your dancers to take control of their technique and development. The app provides you with over 150 skills broken down by category (turns, leaps, jumps, acro/tumbling) and by level (beginner through elite), and the skills lists are customizable so you can make sure it fits your unique team.
The app tracks dancers progress through the skill progressions so you (and your dancers) can transparently see where they are in their skill development and what they need to do to move to the next level (or Tier). You can access a dancers full skills list, see which dancers are strongest in which categories, and select any skill to see the list of dancers on your team with that skill with the click of a button.
The Tiers System provides you with data insights into your team’s progress, goals, and future. Some other bonuses include tutorials to accompany skills so that dancers can learn independently, practice plan templates, cleaning checklists, discussion prompts for team leaders, and more!
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