10: Grow Coach Newsletter

Football Coaching: A simple guide to move you toward success.

Feb 29, 2024

A warm welcome from JustCoachMD. We are happy to have you on board. We are looking forward to providing you with helpful content.

Here is what to expect:

Education: This simple acronym to help you with your football coaching
Session Share: The switching play rondo
Problem/Fix: 1v1 duels, using the stop-start.
Spotlight: Benefits of switching play.
Coach Project: Ordering your thoughts, a simple framework to help

The C.A.R.E model can be used to remind the coach about methods they have at their disposal to help players learn. It serves as a useful reminder about creating an environment where players learn to thrive.

C - Coaching styles are used to deliver messages to the players. A coach should use a variety.
A - Awareness of needs: The coach needs to be aware of the ability and level of the players.
R - Respect the participants: Their input, ideas, and actions.
E - Empathy towards failure: Players will mess up, they need help and support when they do.

‘‘ All players need a little help, a little hope, and someone who believes in them ’’

Coaching Styles

Your coaching style should match that of the type of session you are planning on delivering. If you are putting your players into physically demanding intense situations then your coaching style could match this. Similarly, if you want the players to solve a problem then your coaching style should be posing questions and provoking thinking.

Command:

Example/Explanation: I want you to! Coach tells and shows the solutions. Good for setting boundaries and expectations. Can limit creativity and decrease motivation.

For the coach, it means being demanding of intensity, effort, and standards. For players, the session would be intense, with lots of contact, and physically demanding, mentally tough, duel-type practices.

Question and Answer:

Example/Explanation: What do you think? The coach leads with a question, to get a response. Good for reflection and developing understanding. Bad in terms of the time it can take to formulate responses.

For coaches, it means posing questions, stopping practices to ask about responses, and reviewing responses. For players, the session could be a games night, where players are in proper positions on the full-size pitch making game-like choices.

“I didn’t want to be the coach who wins, but the coach who educates”

(V-D, Bosque)

Observation and Feedback:

Example/Explanation: Watch this! The coach and players observe something (skills, techniques, or tactics) and then discuss it. Good for developing confidence, and checking learning.

Players might not like negative feedback. For coaches, it encourages quick thinking and responses, by showing pictures. This type of session could be unit-based, working on positional understanding or options.

Guided Discovery:

Example/Explanation: Show me how to? The coach issues a challenge and the players show how. Gives players creativity and freedom. It may take a while to get the result you are after.

A coach will set the scenes and pose the scenarios. It could be a recap session of things the players have worked on previously (patterns, phases, conditioned games).

Trial and Error:

Example/Explanation: Try to! Players experiment with different ways of achieving something. Gives the players the chance to solve problems their way. Players may need some reference points.

The coach needs to be patient and be willing to set back. It could be a recovery session after a game where the players have to review choices and try something different.

Awareness of Needs

A session objective will serve as a solid pillar for any soccer coaching session. The session objective can always be referred back to. It should be used to ensure that the content discussed and explored is useful and relevant to the session objective.

The objective is useful to stop a coach from going off-topic.

The coach can observe their players for the session objectives and then coach the players on what they need based on this. I feel that having some solid ideas of what you are going after can help.

I would encourage coaches to think about them before, during, and after moments of a giving situation.

Use this detail to help a player with the session objectives and their personal needs. See an example of 1v1 defending below: The coach would pick the pieces that a player needs.

Before the ball:

Scanning: Check where the opponent is located.
Positioning: Make the direction of play predictable, deny space

During:

Method to win back the ball: Tackle, block, interception.
Body position: Don’t have square feet, low center of gravity, chest facing an opponent.

After:

Recovery: Get behind the ball.
Support: Give an option to the ball carrier.

Respect the Players

Remember when you're football coaching that your players are people first. Players are not parts of your gigantic puzzle where you just get rid of them when things are not working out. They are people.

Every individual wants you to appreciate them. They need you to remember things they have told you. It helps if you can show an interest in them as people. Hobbies they have outside of football, birthdays, or maybe a one-to-one practice.
When you communicate, don’t talk down to people, keep them on your level, and treat them as equals. Respect the players as if they were your family members. This treatment will influence the players and they will reciprocate your actions.
Encourage the players to be respectful to opponents, officials, and anyone associated with or linked to the team.
Encourage and remind the players to be thankful for the training, the staff, and the opportunities they have to become better people and players. Respect is an attribute that can make people stand out.

If you take the time to respect your players they will remember you for it and you can make a lasting impression on them.

Empathy Toward Failure

When you are football coaching you should expect failure from the players. When players are learning new skills, ideas, and tactics it will take time to master them.

Players want a coach who understands this and is empathetic towards their needs. A coach can show empathy in many different ways.

Reassurance is a way of showing empathy. You help the players to remove their doubts by offering opinions and insight into your experiences of the past. You can encourage players to take action to apply the information or advice in the hope that it helps them.
Keep things actionable. This links in with the previous idea. Providing information and detail that is actionable will give the player a chance to experiment with something.
Hearing and seeing things. This is about observing the players and being mindful of their fears, frustrations, and obstacles. Part of your job is trying to manage or reduce these aspects. The player will be much more receptive if they can see that you are trying to help them solve their biggest problems.

In Summary

Valuable tips and information have been shared. Digest this detail and apply it to your own needs and circumstances.

If you stay consistent and focused on the areas discussed in this article you will be a better coach. Players will remember your appreciation of them. You could be that role model who inspired them to be better.

There is nothing too complex provided in the text. Stay consistent with the behaviors. , using a range of coaching styles, appreciating needs, respecting participants, etc.

Read the acronyms before practice, they will help. Pick 1-2 areas per session and keep coming back to it. Using this information repetitively and at a relevant time, your coaching skill level will improve.

Ultimately we are learning through our actions, just like a player learning a new skill and taking the time to master it.

‘‘ If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way’’

(N, Hill)

Session Share: Switching Play Rondo

Aim:

Retain possession to switch play then score.

Set-Up:

30 by 15 space, create 3 vertical zones, and place a goal at each end of the central zone that is offset by around 5m. Place four coned gates, one in each corner of the pitch.
8 players: 3 x attackers vs 1 x defender in the outside zone. 1x defender (red) in the central and opposite wide zone. 2 attackers (black) in the opposite wide zone.

How to Play:

The attackers (black) must connect 3-5 passes in the first outside zone, then switch via the central zone into the opposite outside zone.
Attackers (black) connect another 3-5 passes then break out of a gate to cross the ball for an attacker to finish on the goal.
The defenders try to win the ball and find their defender in the centre of the pitch. connect 3-5 passes against 1 defender (black) then break over an end line to score a goal.

Problem: 1v1 Attacking!!

Do your players struggle to dribble past defenders in wide areas?

The attacker has received a ball wide and they are approaching the fullback, there is some space to attack. You expect your player to go past their immediate opponent and cross or cutback the ball to create a scoring chance.

Instead, they turn back and pass backward. The receiver of the next pass also passes backward, and before you know it you have gone from a crossing opportunity near the opponent's goal to being pressed near your own goal.

A player’s inability to exploit space in 1v1 attacking duels often results in limited scoring opportunities for a team. Having players who can unlock defenses are qualities that all great teams possess.

This common mistake can be a problem, especially if your players are reluctant to run at opponents.

Fix: - Stop and Start !!

If this is a mistake that you see, the solution is encouraging the attacker to use stop-start skills to get the defender to plant their feet.

The attacker must run at pace toward the fullback. Use one foot to stop the ball (this stoppage should fix the defender in place) then use the other foot to start your acceleration (Should allow the attacker to escape pressure).

Once the attacker has created a couple of yards of space they should then look to cut across the defender’s path. This should eliminate them. In these instances, the defender usually fouls or lets the attacker escape.

The final ball is important from an attacking perspective, setting up a scoring chance is vital once the space has been created.

Remember the purpose of the stop action is to get the defender to plant their feet to one side. This is the trigger for the attacker to start accelerating away.

Topic: Switching Play!!

Why is it important:

Creates Space: Switching play forces the opponent to shift their defensive shape, opening up gaps and creating space for attacking players.
Breaks Pressure: It helps in escaping high-pressure situations by quickly transferring the ball to the other side of the field where fewer opponents might be present.
Changes Tempo: Switching play can change the tempo of the game, allowing teams to control the pace and rhythm of play.
Creates Overloads: It can create numerical advantages in specific areas of the field, leading to favorable attacking situations.

How to Coach It:

Positioning: Encourage central players around the ball to pick up hurtful positions that allow them to turn out and pass across the field. The player positioned centrally should have an open body position.
Passing Speed: The ball carrier needs to play a firm, fast, accurate pass toward the receiver’s back foot. This gives them time to turn. The player who receives centrally should look to turn using no-touch turns as it is quicker than taking a touch.
Pace: Once the ball is switched it is vital that the receiver attacks at pace. They should utilize overloads or individual qualities to attack with speed. The aim is to get into the final third quickly to create a goal-scoring chance.

On a final note:

There are a few other concepts to consider when switching play. These are things you could look at collectively or individually:

Awareness: Encourage players to constantly scan the field to identify opportunities for switching play.

Timing: Stress the significance of timing when executing a switch. Players should recognize the right moments to switch play, considering factors such as the positioning of opponents and teammates, as well as the speed of play.

Movement Off the Ball: Create passing lanes and angles for the player in possession. Encourage players to make explosive runs into space to support the switch and provide passing options.

Key Point: Each additional concept requires the coach to look away from the ball. If you decide to deliver this topic then be sure to look at the actions and responses of the the players around and away from the ball.

Coach Project

Objective: Focus on a coaching process to order your thoughts before you deliver. The process should help you present actionable messages to the players.

Task: Choose a topic that you want to coach, and complete the table prompts to discover the details you could share with the players. (Example below)

Identify the 3 most important pictures that you want to share with your players about the session topic.
Highlight the triggers that players must notice for each of the 3 pictures
Share ideas for each picture about how the player can overcome the problem.
Create some individual challenges related to the topic that you could use to stretch the players within the session activities.

Extension Task:

Practice Design: Design a possession-based activity to practice a topic that is important to your team, then use the coaching process above to develop the coaching detail for the session..

Coach Task :

Design a practice activity for 6 – 12 players to work on maintaining possession against a high-pressing opponent, then develop the session detail to share with the players:

•Keep it SIMPLE

•Ensure it is REPETITIVE

•Include a COMPETITION

Note Down:

•The rules and organization

•Progressions and regressions

Please feel free to get in touch or share your ideas, actions, and interventions. We would love to hear from you. If you have any questions, post them here; we will do our best to answer them.