College Coaches on Body Language

There’s a superpower that instantly impresses college coaches—and it has nothing to do with your student-athlete’s size, speed or agility. It’s all about their body language. From shoulder shrugs to high fives of encouragement, a coach can learn everything they need to know about a recruit without even talking to them. And when your child displays confident, positive body language on the field, it’s a tell-tale sign they can make a successful impact on the team.
In fact, many college coaches adapt coaching techniques around body language. Mike Brey, men’s basketball coach at the University of Notre Dame, explains in an interview with Positive Coach Alliance that bad body language can be “cancerous.” His solution? Have players watch film to see how they communicate on the court, and then correct it.
But, like most of us, your child may not even realize the subtle physical messages they’re sending. Here are some common scenarios during a game when college coaches are taking note of your athlete’s body language—and what it’s telling them.

BODY LANGUAGE IN A HUDDLE
For those few seconds, when players are in a huddle around the coach, what’s your student-athlete doing? Are they engaged and actively participating, or wandering off? This brief interaction tells a coach a lot about your child’s personality.
For example, recruits who don’t hustle over, or are standoffish, are typically viewed as players who don’t work well in a team setting and would rather function independently. But those who take charge in the huddle and motivate others are viewed as leaders.

BODY LANGUAGE ON THE SIDELINE
When your student-athlete is taken out of the game, coaches get a critical question answered: Will this recruit need a babysitter? Being benched, especially when a college coach is watching, brings out a lot of different characters (we’re talking about teenagers, after all). There’s the athlete who pouts, the one who argues with coaches, the ‘all about me’ recruit who doesn’t handle criticism well—you get the picture.
The truth is coaches have several other players and personalities to manage, and depending on the school, there’s a chance your student-athlete won’t see as much playing time their freshman year. Quite simply, coaches want to work with student-athletes who can handle sitting on the sideline with grace.

BODY LANGUAGE AFTER A TOUGH PLAY
Mistakes happen. Actually, scratch that—mistakes are bound to happen. And this is when coaches get a glimpse of your child’s mental toughness. Specifically, they keep an eye out for what recruits do immediately after a bad play.
For example, if they throw their hands in the air, or always accuse other teammates, it shows they have a hard time with blame. Coaches also take note of how quickly your child bounces back from a tough play. Letting it go and moving on proves they’re disciplined mentally.

BODY LANGUAGE AFTER A PLAY THEY’RE NOT A PART OF
Coaches pay attention the entire game. When the ball is across the field, their eyes are still on your athlete. Why? Seeing how recruits act during plays they’re not involved in helps coaches determine how self-motivated they are. And motivation is not an easy characteristic to teach, especially among college-athletes who are on their own for the first time. In fact, it’s one of the reasons coaches request full game highlight videos.
Whether it’s a head hanging low or lack of hustle, certain movements tell a coach your athlete needs a little inspirational boost. On the flipside, coaches tune into recruits who display an all-in attitude and encourage teammates, even when they’re not a part of the action. Skill evaluation is really the easy part. When coaches evaluate recruits in person, they already know their athletic ability. What they don’t know yet is character. And because of the huge impact of body language, your student-athlete can tell them everything without saying anything at all.