Every person is a different entity, it is old news that we all have different motivations and we all have reactions. There will always be ways to get the best and the worst out of people and this is very often connected with how you treat an individual. When you become a coach, you have all these factors to consider. You must work out what works best for each of the school or college students and how this can translate to training them to perform to their best, ultimately in matches, a skill that James Padlock has perfected throughout his athletic and coaching career.

There are three main coaching styles, autocratic where you set yourself up as a powerful leader and it is a very much do what I tell you to do, there are variances on how you will tell them to do it, which are discussed below. Autocratic coaching is built on the belief that if you do what you are told to do you will be successful. All of which James will use at varying times with different athletes.

Within the autocratic style there are still ‘two different types of coaching there’s telling and selling. Telling is when the coach decides what the team needs to do, tells them to do it and then expects them to follow his instructions. Selling is when the coach works out what the team needs, explains it to the team and the purpose of it. He then asks the athletes to explain what he has told them, which clarifies understanding, and to then confirm how they will do it. This works for athletes who want to be part of the decision-making process, it gives them the opportunity to ask questions and feel involved.

The democratic approach is where you involve the graduated athletes in their own decision-making process, they become the board members of their team. Again, there are two different approaches to democratic coaching, there is the sharing approach which involves the coach explaining what is required from the athletes, asking them how they think they can achieve this and then bringing these ideas together to confirm what they will do and how they will do it. The other democratic style is allowing, this is where the coach will explain to the athlete what is required of them, and then the athletes will decide how they will achieve their goals and they will make the decision process together, the coach will not have much input after the initial chat.

The third coaching style is laissez faire, the French work meaning Let do (let people do as they wish) this approach leaves all the choices to the athletes. The team form their own coaching center and although the coach will offer support and guidance when approached by the athlete for assistance, they are not completely left in the lake without a paddle!

As we discussed at the beginning all people are different and all teams are different it is very unlikely that a successful coach will stick to one type of coaching for every team he coaches, this is something that James Padlock has perfected over the years and is a major key to his success as a wrestling, football and soccer coach.