Correction is both a tank filler and drainer
Green Bay Packers tight end Robert Tonyan wrote this about his relationship with quarterback Aaron Rodgers: “He (Rodgers) held me to an extremely high standard. He wouldn’t let even the tiniest mistakes slide. He’d explain things to me and coach me up, but he’d also get legit mad when I screwed up”.
Correction doesn’t always lead to positive change and can either foster or discourage skill development depending on how the receiver perceives it. “To me, I always took Rodgers’ correction as such a compliment. It was like, ‘Hey man, this guy really cares about you and wants you to reach your full potential,’” wrote Tonyan.
The reason Rodgers was able to connect with Tonyan is because he had taken the time to develop a relationship with him first. According to Tonyan, “I’d just signed on with the Green Bay practice squad…on my first day, I got to the facility early, checked in, and immediately — like as soon as I got there — the quarterback comes right up to me and shakes my hand. ‘Hey, I’m Aaron. Welcome!’ Every single day I’ve been a Packer, Aaron has pushed me and helped me get better. And as a result a good friendship has developed that I think is paying dividends on the field. You go the extra mile for the people you truly care about, and that’s what it’s become with Aaron and me, for sure.”
When athletes believe you have their best interest at heart, correction is seen as caring and helpful, opposed to feeling that a mistake has been made or that something was not done right. Remember, they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Coach Nelson holds a doctorate in sport and performance psychology and currently serves as a high school football coach. He has worked for multiple professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company, a division 1 athletic departments and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities.
His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!
PCA: https://www.positivecoach.org/team/nelson-levi/
This following resources were used to create this post: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/green-bay-packers-robert-tonyan-jr-football
Thompson, J. (2003). The double-goal coach: Positive coaching tools for honoring the game and developing winners in sports and life. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers ISBN-13: 978–0060505318
Williams, J. M., & Krane, V. (2015). Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance, 7th edition. New York, NY : McGraw-Hill.
