Creating a Winning Attitude for Your Team

Every coach is challenged with the task of winning games. Unfortunately, a lot of factors are out of the coach’s control—personal abilities and referee calls for example. And even if a coach has the perfect game plan and execution, his team may still lose to a better opponent. Whether it is a win or loss, the coach is largely responsible for creating a winning attitude for his or her program.

Always Remain Positive

I have been fortunate enough to have great times that were comprised of exceptional athletes, many of whom have later gone on to play college and professional sports. On the flip side, some of my teams have lacked significant talent and struggled to win a single game. Regardless of the outcome of a game or season, a coach has to remain positive.

There are always positive moments to reflect on during and after a competition: maybe someone set a great screen or hit a difficult shot, perhaps someone made an excellent block on defense. Even there was nothing positive to highlight from the stat sheet, you can still acknowledge players for consistently working hard during a match. As a coach you have to find that beacon of light and let it shine at all times.

Preach Perfection

Athletes will benefit immensely in the long run if you consistently encourage athletes to perform their tasks correctly at all times. This can be incredibly challenging when competitions become lopsided. Whether you’re blowing a team out or getting stomped by an opponent, teach athletes to always focus on completing their tasks efficiently. Even if their performance will not have a great impact on the current game. This ideology instills a positive attitude in your players.

Be a Good Sport

One-sided games can cause both sides of a match to lose focus on being a good sport. The winning team can desire to run up the score and taunt the opposition, while the losing team may resort to dirty or more physical play. It is the job of a coach to keep the team calm and collected in both situations. Good sportsmanship fosters a winning attitude in a tough defeat or an easy win.

Be Fair

Coaches tend to show favoritism to the best athletes on a team. These individuals have a greater margin of error than anyone, but they can also receive a lot of blame when things don’t turn out well for team. As a coach, one must be fair and treat every player according to what is just. It’s not practical to think that every athlete will be treated the same because each individual requires a unique approach.

Involve Everyone

Developing a winning attitude extends to every athlete on the team, the parents and even the community. When all that are involved feel like they are a part of the process, then they will support the team, the athletes and even the coach under any circumstances.


With our 100% money-back guarantee and vetted coaches, anyone can achieve their full athletic potential. CoachUp is the safest and easiest way to find a coach for personalized training. Find your perfect coach today and become the athlete you want to be!

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 4 / 5. Vote count: 1

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Share this post:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Coach Resources

Failure IS an Option

  Now that I have your attention, most of us as athletes have been told all of our careers that “failure is not an option.”

Read More »