There is a famous segment in one of my favorite movies of all time – Monty Python and the Holy Grail – where the “team” of knights, led by Coach, I mean, King Arthur encounter a little white rabbit. They had been expecting a horrible beast by all accounts, and yet all they saw was this cute bunny. They gained confidence for a moment, only to be ravaged in seconds by a vicious, throat tearing flying terror – the rabbit – and then the team responded…RUN AWAY!...... Flight or fight is our primal response to fear. Coaches who use fear as a tool, must be thinking their players will fight, when they say things around the concept of “Do :__ one more time, and I will put you right on the bench…” They are forgetting to coach for people, and begin to coach for points. Most importantly to understand, a coach who does this, loses the trust of his or her players. This loss of trust is a far bigger problem than the loss of a game. The ever-wise Dr. Paul Arrington, whose niece is the US Olympic Committee’s Director of Ethics and Safe Sport, has addressed one example of this well heard on too many fields of play, in a very solid paper called “Yelling: Is It of Value in Coaching Volleyball.” He covers the physiologic responses, training methods, optimal arousal states, effective communication and much more. Remember coach (and parents), you are a TEACHER first. Teachers build confidence in their students, and are a central part of building trust within the students. Studying (aka practice) success is then met with testing (aka matches and tournaments), and there will always be regression under stress. Do not ADD to your player’s stress in competition – for the competition will do enough of that for you. Your players need to trust that you are there for them in this contest, not against them. We coaches have it even better than teachers, for, during the test, we can provide help. Choosing to provide more fear by your words (aka threats) is simply not a principle of good teaching. Losing the match, in front of teammates, parents and fans, is provides plenty of “fear” and stress. They need you to believe in them, not doubt them, for if they are losing, they are likely already doubting themselves. --- extract from USA Volleyball