The most challenging part of coaching a sport team is to correct your athletes without them getting down on themselves? The best coaches have mastered knowing how to preserve your athletes' confidence when you need to correct them. Here is a list of ten ways for challenging your athletes while still maintaining their self confidence.

1. Make it a "we goal with high objectives

The best words you can say to your athletes when they made a mistake is "I know your better than that." This simple phrase strengthen their belief that you have confidence in their capability and that you know they are capable of performing at much higher level than what they are currently demonstrating. Then turn the challenge into a "we" achievement that lets the athlete know that together you will attack the problem. Making it a "we" project shows your athletes that you are willing to ally with them to help them get better.

2. Understand mistakes are not intentional

Most errors players make are not intentional. Athletes want to play well, not only for themselves, but also for their coaches and teammates. Appreciating your players mistakes are not intentional can be challenging at times, but the best course of action initially is to support them and encourage them to correct it.

3. Allow athletes to play through errors

Although it is not always easy, a demonstrate your confidence in an athlete is to allow them to play through their mistakes. Give them a opportunity to correct themselves within the game situation . Allowing athletes to self correct and learn from mistakes provides them with an opportunity to learn resiliency.

4. Do not tolerate excuse making

In order for an athlete to take ownership for their success and failure, they must also take responsibility for the errors and own the corrective process. Taking responsibility for their success develops a player's confidence and builds self-esteem. Taking responsibility for their mistakes demonstrates a high level of maturity and, after correction, boosts a player's confidence. By encouraging players to accept responsibility, you are encouraging them to take ownership of their failures and success.

5. Keep your feedback fact based and focused on the solution

Like the players, many times coaches get overwhelmed by the emotions of the moment. At times like these, the feedback is emotionally charged and can lead to statements the coaches wish they never said. The coach's feedback should be solution based.

6. Focus the criticism on the behavior, not the individual

When giving constructive feedback, make sure the focus of it is the athlete's behavior and not the athlete themselves. Criticizing the behavior allows a person to keep their confidence intact because their behavior can be changed and corrected. However, if you criticize them as a person, they cannot help but take it personally.

7. Sandwich the constructive feedback with positive facts

A player will become defensive and tune out the feedback if the coach is always finding fault in them. By surrounding the constructive feedback between positive statements, the the player is more willing to listen and take corrective action.

8. Keep the feedback private

Praising the athlete publically and offering constructive criticism in private, it does a lot to build their confidence. Conversely, when you criticize athletes in public, you embarrass them in front of their peers and raise their defensive mechanism. An athlete's pride in their performance is the one thing you will be relying on when the going gets tough.

9. Remind them of their past achievements and player strengths

Athletes can build their own self-confidence by focusing on their strengths and past accomplishments. One of the best things a coach can do is to remind them of how successful they are and provide specific examples of this success. Refocus your athletes on their strengths.

10. Never give up

A coach must adopt a mind set of hope. The last thing you would ever want them to do is to mentally quit. If they ever sense you have given up on them, they will either give up on themselves or lose all respect for you and give up on you as a coach. A major factor in a player's confidence level comes from their belief that the coach has confidence in their athletic ability.