I think that sideline contributions are underrated in their worth by most teams and particularly by most great players. People who are great at team sports are not necessarily motivated to play well for themselves – especially in our sport, they are motivated to play well by their love of team, teammates and something bigger than themselves.
In this way, I will stand by something I accidentally said in a huddle last year: “Loud information is good information.” Now, of course this is a generalization, but particularly when you are teaching people who are shy or new to sideline talk what to do, first things first you must be loud! You must make an impact on your teammate’s game and if you are speaking quietly, your impact will be lost. No matter what you say, make it loud – cup your hands around your mouth, deepen your voice and yell.
As someone who is mostly involved with women’s and youth ultimate, I can say that from the sideline, you should be darn close to 100% positive and informational. Especially on offense, cheering is the best way to help – it is difficult to react to direction from the sideline when you are doing your best to read the defense, thrower, and other cutters. On defense, “up” calls and talking to the mark are the most important but still you must be LOUD! Negativity will motivate only about 1% of the ultimate players out there so unless you know your player very well, stick to the positive and maybe provide constructive observations after the point.
Effective sideline talk is a part of every great team’s success. If you talk well from the sideline you will feel more bought in, you will be engaged in every point (no loss of focus), and you will make a bigger positive impact on every game. Just a taste of what it’s like trying to be a good coach.
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