School athletics can be helpful beyond just keeping you fit and offering you something to put on your college applications. It's possible to learn some great life skills through sports, including the obvious ones of teamwork, dedication, and committment. A good relationship with your coach can help you get the most out of your chosen sport.

What Your Coach Can Do for You
Your coach can help you play your best and push your limits without injury. Many coaches can you improve how you play, how you psych yourself up before a game, or how you deal with a big loss or setback. Not only have coaches dealt with lots of players and have seen which techniques work and which don't, but many of them have played the sport themselves and can share their personal experiences.

Off the playing field, coaches can be good mentors and advisers, offering an adult perspective on nonsports problems or questions. Relationships with your coach can be different from relationships you have with your parents or teacher. Those relationships follow a more established structure, whereas a coach is usually closer to your level, working equally with you toward a common goal. You might feel more comfortable opening up to your coach about all sorts of things, from problems at home to difficulties in school

Tips for Getting Along With Your Coach

• You need a good relationship with your coach if you're going to put in those long hours and tough practices.
• If you don't respect your coach, you're more likely to resent all the hard work instead of appreciating how it can help you in the long run.
• Failing to follow through will only erode the trust between you.

Ideally, a relationship between a coach and an athlete is based on mutual respect and trust. You can make a good impression by showing up for practice on time, abiding by team rules, and always putting a lot of effort into your performance, whether it's a workout or a game, meet, or match. Build Respect. To truely gain your coaches respect, you have to do more than go through the motions.

Two Types of Coaches

• Obedience coaches. This approach can work well in a team setting as players know that their coach has the confidence and experience to make a sure decision. To develop a good relationship with this type of coach, you have to follow the rules and respect his or her authority.
• Responsibility coaches. This approach allows the players to have more input in setting team policies, like deciding which reasons for missing practice are valid or how to reprimand someone who's always late. You should show respect for this type of coach as well, but his or her approach to running the team is not as rigid.

Common Coach Problems
Not everyone enjoys a great relationship with every coach they meet. Teens and their coaches often disagree about the amount of time team members get to play or favoritism the coach shows to certain players. Some athletes also complain that their coaches are too bossy and take all the fun out of the sport.

One of the easiest ways for a relationship with a coach to go bad is for the coach to focus on winning instead of striving to improve. When a team feels too much pressure to win, the athletes can feel underappreciated, and that damages the trust between the coach and the team.

What Should You Do If You Don't Get Along?
If you do get off to a bad start with your coach, you can take steps to repair the damage. It's best not to involve your parents in minor issues like how much playing time you're getting. Instead, find a time to sit down with the coach and discuss what's bothering you.

When you talk, try not to complain. Instead, ask for help in fixing the problem. Listen carefully to the coach's response and try to understand where he or she is coming from; your coach might not have realized they had been giving you less playing time, or might not have known you wanted a bigger role on the team. If the situation doesn't improve to your satisfaction, you will have to decide if you can live with the way the coach runs the team.

Although at times it can be tough to get along with a coach, a strong and fair coach can be a great asset to a team and the individual player. The best coaches help athletes develop life skills along with their sports skills, setting you up for better opportunities in the future.