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Coaches Need To Overcommunicate With Parents To Set Expectations

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Conrad Ray (@cardcoachray) is a former Cardinal standout student-athlete and touring golf professional and is Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf (Head Men's Golf Coach). During his tenure as head coach, Ray has led the Cardinal to 10 appearances in the NCAA Championships, including the school’s eighth national title in 2007.

In this video, Ray talks about why he always sets the expectations with parents involving communication and performance early on. A coach should establish that the majority of his or her communication will be between him or her and the athlete. While it is alright to occasionally interact with parents directly, college coaches should make it clear that most of the communication should go through the player. Also, many parents have set statistical and performance oriented goals they have for their children. A coach needs to establish that his or her goals revolve around improvement from the beginning of the season to the end, not a focus on hitting certain numbers.