Dan Abrahams made a great point about something most coaches complain about: lack of leadership, teamwork, or mental toughness in their players. His suggestion was simple – if you think those things are missing, maybe it’s because you’re not actually coaching them.
We coaches can spend hours planning technical and tactical work, but how much time to we spend planning to teach human skills with the same intention. We assume players “just have” leadership, composure, or the ability to work together. Some do. Many don’t – and those that don’t, can learn.
The challenge is building those skills in context, not in a classroom or team meeting. Leadership doesn’t develop because someone gives a speech. It develops when players are put in situations where they have to take initiative or make decisions. Teamwork improves when practice tasks require players to coordinate and communicate under pressure, not just when they talk about “trust” before a match. Mental skills grow when training includes moments of frustration, fatigue, and consequence – and players learn how to respond productively.
That means these skills should be part of your session design, not left to chance. For example:
- Let different players lead a huddle or organize serve-receive rotations.
- Include short competitive segments where players must solve a problem without coach input.
- Add scoring pressure that forces teams to manage emotions and momentum.
It also means coaching the granular detail — the small stuff we usually reserve for technique. Instead of just saying “communicate more” (or worse, yelling “Talk!”), identify what and when communication should happen. Instead of telling players to “be leaders,” guide them in what effective leadership looks like in a rally or timeout.
In other words, leadership, teamwork, and mental skills are coachable, but only if we treat them that way. Give them the same planning, feedback, and repetition we give technical and tactical elements.
That’s where these qualities really develop: in context, on the court, as part of the game.
