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[LeonieKelly18]

So i coach this youth team at my local club. But most of them have their heads stuck up their own you know what.
2 weeks ago i wasnt in the country so a mate took it over and as soon as i got back he complained to me about their behavior.
So today is the first time i see them again and wanted a nice welcome back moment and show them where bad behavior get them. With a coach no where.

But my problem is i'm only used to fitness coaching adult rugby players which is a bit heavy for a group of young boys and girls.

Anyone any ideas to help me out?

[The_Bird]

My experience is that children act up when they are bored. Make the fitness fun and the drills enjoyable and you may get a better response.

[trypewriter]

Most of the time they do it to avoid doing the stuff that they hate. Best punishment is to not allow them to do the stuff they like. So, if it was football, they don't want to do the hard work, but they all want to be in the game at the end, so if you don't behave you don't get to play in the game. Simple carrot and stick really.

[procricket]

Be very careful of prolonged blanket punishment.

Initial team building is fine but prolonged it will single people out

[Buzz]

When I coach, I tend to try to build the strength and conditioning into the warm up - so the warm up may take longer, but once you build the routine the reaction is positive.

I also tend to try to make any other fitness stuff built into game related exercises. I have never really like the "game at the end" carrot - as I said I try to make as much of what I coach as game related as possible.

[SOULMAN1012]

Slip catching practise outside in our lively British weather and use new balls, and a gun bat, that will sort them out.

My fingers are still killing from doing this on Wednesday lol

[Nickauger]

Punishments will get you nowhere! If they act up its because of a lack of respect, something which ultimately is down to the coach (unfortunately you)! Fitness should also definitely never be used as a punishment because it will completely demotivate them to want to work on their conditioning. What you need to do is sit them down and talk to them about respect and what they are hoping to achieve from being coached. Give them a rollicking and move on!

[Jimmyg]

If I've read you post correctly I don't think you should be using fitness drills as a form of punishment with young players. You are reinforcing the negative stereotype that fitness training is something to be endured, rather than enjoyed.
What age is the group?

[Jimmyg]

Sorry seen the age in the title.
Agree with Nick's post which he posted just before mine. I would say that for you to describe a group of children as having their heads up their you know what, reflects badly as your attitude as a coach. Children misbehave because they are bored or are doing something they are not enjoying, so it reflects more on the coaching than the children.

[fros23]

If you really want to punish them then make them watch a video of uknsaunders batting for an hour.  I can't think of anything worse than that.

[wilkie113]

If you really want to punish them then make them watch a video of uknsaunders batting for an hour.  I can't think of anything worse than that.

BOOOOOOOOM!

[LeonieKelly18]

Punishments will get you nowhere! If they act up its because of a lack of respect, something which ultimately is down to the coach (unfortunately you)! Fitness should also definitely never be used as a punishment because it will completely demotivate them to want to work on their conditioning. What you need to do is sit them down and talk to them about respect and what they are hoping to achieve from being coached. Give them a rollicking and move on!

Like i said.. i wasnt there when it happened it was someone who doesnt even work for the club came to give training to them so there was training as i had a tournament in dubai.
saying that they have their head up there you know whats is because they act like it and sorry don't get me wrong i love coaching them but when a child comes up to you and says i dont want to train with that kid because he is not good enough for my level while they play at the same level.  i dont think its a miss judgement.?

i can get them to do as they are told but thats towards me. as ive had loads of coaches in my time i was always taught by no matter who your coach is and how good you think you are you respect your coach. if you have a situation you dont agree with ask them but in a one on one chat. you do not disrespect them. 

it's not really just a punishment they need to do it either way.

[joeylough]

make them run and do press ups until they throw up. Sorry I forgot to add make them eat lots of ice cream beforehand, maybe mint chocolate chip.

[Nickauger]

Like i said.. i wasnt there when it happened it was someone who doesnt even work for the club came to give training to them so there was training as i had a tournament in dubai.
saying that they have their head up there you know whats is because they act like it and sorry don't get me wrong i love coaching them but when a child comes up to you and says i dont want to train with that kid because he is not good enough for my level while they play at the same level.  i dont think its a miss judgement.?

i can get them to do as they are told but thats towards me. as ive had loads of coaches in my time i was always taught by no matter who your coach is and how good you think you are you respect your coach. if you have a situation you dont agree with ask them but in a one on one chat. you do not disrespect them. 

it's not really just a punishment they need to do it either way.

I would love to see your coaching philosophy (not in a condescending way). You come across as a very autocratic coach, which has its benefits and also its drawbacks. Respect is something that is earned, and demanding that your players respect some-one will not work in the slightest, it will garner perhaps (at best) grudging respect, but that is an environment where players will be petrified of making mistakes, and will not learn anything. It is well documented that the best learning takes place during failure, and fear of failure will not create good players. To say that they have their heads up their backsides doesn't to me show some-one who is able to get the best out of their players, and it doesn't sound like a great environment to learn. I suggest you hold a players meeting and get them to come up with a solid set of ground rules that are attainable and easily kept to. I also suggest that 'getting them to do as they're told' is the wrong attitude as you need to make them believe in what they are doing and buy into it, and make them independent learners. This is the easiest way imo to differentiate a coaching session, and asking questions of various players is far more effective than telling them what they need to do at every point of a session.

[Manormanic]

How I'd deal with this - at the next session, lay it on really thick about how disappoiinted you were with their behaviour and how if that were to happen when you were there you'd refuse to coach them.  Then give them the punishment drill - five to ten minutes of running at a bit of pace is one they will hate - but then make clear that the matter is in the past and go on as normal...