Are coaches and psychologist prepared to work with young?

I do a job that puts me in close contact not only with athletes but also with many coaches across different sports. We often say that young people have changed, and we discuss their attitudes and how we can help them. But we rarely talk about ourselves as adults, coaches, athletic trainers, and psychologists. Are we sure we’re doing our work with young people in the best possible way?

This is not a trivial matter. It’s not about questioning the commitment, time spent, or desire to do our best; in most cases, these aspects are sufficient. Instead, I want to focus on the knowledge we possess and ask whether it is adequate, up-to-date, and suitable for training those in front of us. Is a coach who only knows their sport a good coach? Is a psychologist who only knows psychology a good sports psychologist? If we agree with what Mourinho says, the answer is no. For him, a soccer coach who only knows soccer cannot be a good coach. Many times, I’ve met athletes who told me they stopped seeing a psychologist because the psychologist knew nothing about their sport and kept asking questions about training and competitions without ever offering something useful.

The same applies to coaches who lack knowledge, for example, of the fundamental principles of communication and how to provide feedback to athletes. I see many coaches who don’t read books and are unfamiliar with the psychological basics needed to work with athletes. Similarly, I see psychologists who only meet athletes in their office because they wouldn’t know what to do on a sports field during training.

As always, the solution lies in studying, understanding, applying, making mistakes and correcting them, and then applying again, continuing until the desired results are achieved.