Loren Anderson has a post where he focuses on how we as coaches talk to our players. It has parallels to what I talked about in Can you coach without saying “Don’t”?, though it goes beyond “don’t”.
Loren approaches language from a couple of perspectives. One of those links in ecological dynamics, and more specifically related to the concept of constraints. If you’re unfamiliar with these topics, I encourage you to check out Talking skill acquisition in volleyball and/or Book Review – Learning To Be an “Ecological” Coach by Rob Gray.
The bigger part of the post, however, focuses on the Cynefin Framework. In particular, Loren concentrates how how we coaches tend to communicate as if we’re working in a “complicated” situation when really we’re operated in a “complex” one. The difference has implications for how we talk with our players as we help them learn and develop.
I think Loren does a great job of sharing some very useful language transformations. Definitely give the post a read. If nothing else it should get you to be more conscious of what’s coming out of your mouth. That’s never a bad thing.
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