On game day, your job shrinks: teach less, model more. Bruce Brown's game-coaching principles are blunt about it — modeling confidence, concentration, and poise is the single most important contribution you can make during competition. Keep the game simple. Be careful how much teaching you try to do during the game itself; most instruction belongs in practice, so take notes and coach it tomorrow. Use only behaviors that actually help your team perform — not the ones that make you the center of attention. Coaches who yell constant instruction teach athletes to wait for someone else to do their thinking. And your team responds to adversity exactly the way you do. They do what you do.
Should I be teaching during the game?
Very little — and less than you think. Look at what happens a lot in the game at the level you coach, and get good at those things in practice. When you spot a teaching point mid-game, write it down. That note builds your next practice plan, where real teaching belongs.
How should I act when things go wrong in a game?
Respond to adversity the way you want your athletes to respond — they will do what you do. Be the same person you are in practice. Keep the focus on your team's performance, not on opponents, officials, or conditions. Your poise under pressure is contagious. So is your panic.
What should I say to my team after the game?
Bruce Brown's rule is simple: if you can't end on a positive note, say nothing at all and wait until the next day. What athletes need after a game is time and space. If you do speak, use the moment to spotlight your team's themes — briefly.
What if my players keep making mistakes I've already covered?
Don't excuse yourself. "I've taught you that" really means teach it better. Labels like "can't hold a lead" or "panics in the clutch" hand responsibility to the player. Bruce Brown's answer: make yourself coach it. Every game-day failure is a practice-plan assignment, not a character verdict.
These principles come from Bruce Brown's Game Coaching article — the full piece, and the rest of the Proactive Coaching library that teaches the how, is one 7-day free trial away.
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