Written by JR WPH Coach Ciana Ni Churraoin
JR WPH Press, Tucson, AZ, 8/7/26
JR WPH was thrilled to welcome WR48 champion, All-Ireland champion, and World Champion Ciana Ni Churraoin (HERE) to our illustrious group of JR WPH handball coaches to inspire the next generation of players.
In this edition of Coach Ciana’s Coaching Coaches, Coach Ciana Ni Churraoin discusses how coaches can foster a positive environment for their players.
How Coaches can Foster a Positive Environment
One of the beautiful things about handball (and many sports) is that anyone can get involved, play, and become a coach. This means that coaches can have very diverse backgrounds and experiences that they bring with them to their role within the sport, which is important to allow a sport to continue to grow. On the other hand, it can lead to questionable coaching methods at times.
While we want to encourage and welcome people to take up coaching roles in handball, it is also important that coaches accept and embrace their responsibility. It isn’t just about being there and demonstrating physical skills. Coaches have a direct impact on; 1) The participation of individuals in sport at a young age and 2) The success of individuals/teams as they grow (on and off the court).
You don’t need a background in sport psychology or to be a highly skilled athlete to be a successful coach, but understanding and nurturing a positive environment could be the difference between helping people thrive and enjoy the sport or creating a space in which they struggle and never want to play again.
Outlined below are key strategies you can use to foster a positive environment for you and your players.
Developing a ’Winning Mentality’
Weirdly enough, the key to developing a ‘winning mentality’ is to stop talking about a ‘winning mentality’.
We are constantly being told or telling people to develop a ‘winning mentality’. We know that what we focus on has a huge impact on what we do and what outcome we get. Are you, as a coach, aware of what you are focused on and the impact that has on your player(s)?
When we focus on winning/losing, being better than others, or punishing mistakes, we create an ego-oriented or fear-based climate in which player(s) fear outcomes such as losing or making a mistake (Nicholls, 1989). This climate increases anxiety around performances and makes players focus on the outcome, instead of the process. Player(s) may fail to see their improvements and developments because they only see success set by the coach; winning, being the best, and not making mistakes.
Imagine this; a player plays the best they have ever played. They execute the tactics set out and they make smart decisions during the match. The player loses the match and is terribly disappointed. They dread the next conversation with the coach because winning was the goal. They fail to acknowledge that they’ve just performed the best they ever have.
Remember, talking about winning doesn’t mean you’ll win.
Instead, talk about what your players can do to get their best performance. By creating a mastery-oriented climate (Duda & Treasure, 2015), we can help player(s) focus on development, on learning new skills, and on giving their best effort. Research shows that coaches who focus on the task decrease a player’s anxiety around performance, increase improvement and enjoyment around their performances, and end up with better results. At the end of the day, the goal should be to help athletes improve and perform their best and hopefully, success (whatever that is to your athlete) will come with that.
Know Your Players
Each individual has different needs to help them play their best. Some handball players are able to have a chat with people right before they step on court, some prefer to put on their headphones and step away from the crowd. When I played Gaelic football (in Ireland), I have been on teams and the coach has said “no talking on the bus, you should be focused on the game ahead” or “no messing around in the dressing room, everyone should be completely focused”. For me, this wasn’t what helped me perform my best. I liked to have a laugh on the bus, or in the dressing room. Sitting there thinking about the game for an hour in the lead up, just made me overthink it and start to get nervous. It wasn’t that I wasn’t focused or that I didn’t care, it was the complete opposite, I knew that I played my best when I felt relaxed, when I felt like it was just another game, and when I enjoyed the experience.
What I’m saying is, get to know your players. Some will want quiet time to focus, others prefer to be distracted, some want a motivational speech, others just want a recap on the tactics. Ask your player: “What do you need from me on the day of a game?” and “What do you want from me during a time-out”.
Your player(s) know what makes them tick, so just ask!
Make Your Words Impactful:
This follows on from the last point… saying “we have to win”, “you have to be confident”, “you have to focus” is well-intended but essentially useless advice. How does a player play with confidence? What does a player need to focus on? Instead of telling players how they ‘need’ to be, tell them what they ‘can do’ to play with confidence, or what they can focus on to help their performance.
Tell your player(s) what to do (not what not to do). We’ve all heard coaches say “why are you hitting that serve?”, or “stop making the same mistakes over and over again”. I get it, you’re pointing out the error so your player(s) won’t do it again. But, what happens when you tell yourself “don’t eat the cake”… all you can think about is eating the cake, right? Instead of telling yourself not to eat the cake, tell yourself what to eat instead.
When you tell your player(s) what not to do, that’s all they can think about, and when we think about something, it’s more likely to happen. Instead of telling your player(s) what not to do, tell them what to do;
- Instead of “why are you hitting that serve?”, say “hit a drive serve down the left”.
- Instead of “stop making the same mistakes over and over again”, tell your player what they can do to correct that error.
Don’t get me wrong, some player(s) respond well to different types of instruction and motivation, but player(s) are under enough pressure to perform as it is. They need coaches to help them in that moment, and as we know, what we say has a huge impact on others, so think about it and make sure that it is helpful to their performance.
References:
Duda, J. L. & Treasure, D. C. (2015). The motivational climate, athlete motivation, and implications for the quality of sport engagement. In Williams, J. M. & Krane, V. (Eds) Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (4th ed) (p.274-303). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Nicholls, J. (1989). The competitive ethos and democratic education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Smith, R. E. (2015). A positive approach to coaching effectiveness and performance enhancement. In Williams, J. M. & Krane, V. (Eds) Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (4th ed) (p.274-303). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Coach Ciana’s JR WPH archives
How Coach Expectations Shape Player Growth HERE
The Impact of Expectations and the Power of Curiosity on Athlete Performance (video) HERE
JR WPH was thrilled to welcome Ciana Ni Churraoin as a JR WPH Coach in 2026. Coach CNC is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant with a Master’s degree in Sport & Exercise Psychology (Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2020), Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach, and experienced handball coach. On the court, CNC has applied her expertise to her own performance which shows through her achievements, such as winning the 40×20 Open World Championships, Senior All-Ireland titles in singles and doubles, and winning a Women’s Race 4 Eight stop in 2024. Coach CNC will be a frequent contributor to the WPH website, social media pages, and YouTube page, providing content for handball players to develop their mental and physical performance. Coach CNC will also coach JR WPH clinics at Race 4 Eight events.
JR WPH Coaches HERE
JR WPH would love to have you join our team. If you are interested in joining Team JR WPH as a coach, please contact JR WPH Director David Fink at David.fink@wphlive.tv
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