To Scream or Not to Scream

This past weekend I went ice-skating with my host family in Harbin, China. Despite the minor setback of not having a pair of skates big enough for my feet (yes, I guess I should’ve assumed that they wouldn’t have women’s size 11 figure skates…), I had a lot of fun skating around and trying to avoid falling flat on my face.

This might sound like a fairly easy thing for me to do, but the limited space they gave us around the ice-skating lessons made it a challenge for myself. Although focused on my own struggle, I couldn’t help but turn and stare at the old, ice-skating coaches who were screaming at the four, five, and six year olds. A man wearing a Mickey Mouse helmet and wrist-guards who was eager to practice his English told me that they were training the young girls and boys for the China national team.

While I wondered what we were doing skating in circles around these mini super-stars, I couldn’t help but over hear their even more ridiculous coaches. And I didn’t have to eavesdrop or anything; they were yelling. The man with the Mickey Mouse helmet even told me that one of the girls was three! (Although why he knows that is an entirely other story…) Eyes blazing, brows slanting, spit spewing, these coaches screamed.

But what’s the point? Yes, to get better. And yes, to make the national team. But why does it seem like coaches believe that the only way to get there is by yelling? I know all athletes are different, and each coaching style works for someone. However, I personally think that yelling can’t make the situation better. Although some people argue that it doesn’t bother them, I’m not sure how much it helps.

From what I know about sports, one of the key things to be a good athlete is confidence. Coaches talk about it all the time, “have confidence with the ball” or “have confidence with the puck.” “Just be confident enough to take someone on, one on one,” and “don’t just get rid of the ball! Play with confidence!” True, maybe you’re coaches didn’t insert the word confidence into their every sentence, but you knew it was the point. So how does yelling improve that?

If the athlete doesn’t know what they’re doing wrong, that’s a different thing. But if you’ve ever had a coach who yells at you when you make a mistake and doesn’t tell you how to avoid it the next time, then you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t agree, no worries. I’ve heard the other argument before. But watching a three year old get yelled at for falling while attempting a spin that I could never do, I can’t think it’s helpful. Then, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.