34: Grow Coach Newsletter
Coaching Craft: Understanding Prompts.
What to expect:
Coaching Craft: Detail about how to use prompts in football to enhance performance ⚽️.
A full 60 minute session: 3 Team Practices through the thirds of the pitch.
Coaching Project: Design a three team transitional activity.
What is a Prompt?
A prompt is a strategic question or statement used by coaches to encourage players to think critically, reflect on their performance, and discover solutions or improvements on their own.
Prompts are designed to guide players’ thought processes rather than giving direct instructions, thereby fostering independence, self-awareness, and deeper learning.
How Prompts are Used in Coaching
1. Encouraging Self-Reflection
Purpose: To help players evaluate their own performance and identify areas for improvement.
Example: “What do you think went well during that drill, and what could you improve next time?”
2. Promoting Critical Thinking 🤔
Purpose: To develop players’ ability to analyze situations and make better decisions.
Example: “Why do you think our defense struggled to stop the attack in that scenario?”
3. Guiding Problem-Solving
Purpose: To lead players to find solutions on their own, enhancing their problem-solving skills.
Example: “If you find yourself out of position, how can you quickly recover?”
4. Facilitating Tactical Understanding
Purpose: To deepen players’ understanding of tactics and game strategy.
Example: “When the opponent is pressing high, what are some ways we can exploit the space behind their defense?”
5. Reinforcing Learning Objectives
Purpose: To emphasize and reinforce key concepts and skills being taught.
Example: “How can the technique we practiced today help you in an actual game situation?”
“Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win.’’ - Lionel Messi
How to Implement Prompts in Coaching
Preparation: Determine the session’s goals and what you want players to focus on.
Plan Prompts: Prepare prompts that align with these goals and the specific activities planned.
During the Session: Start using prompts during the warm-up to engage players’ minds.
Example: “What should you focus on during the warm-up to get ready for our dribbling drills?”
Use Prompts Continuously: Incorporate prompts throughout drills and activities to keep players thinking.
Example: “What can you do to improve your passing accuracy in this drill?”
Prompt During Breaks: Utilize breaks to ask reflective or scenario-based questions.
Example: “What adjustments can we make to counter the opponent’s strategy?”
End with Prompts: Conclude the session with prompts that encourage reflection and goal setting.
Example: “What’s one key takeaway from today’s session that you can work on before our next practice?”
Adapting Prompts to Player Needs: Customize prompts based on the age, skill level, and individual needs of players.
Encourage Participation: Ensure all players have the opportunity to respond to prompts and engage in discussions.
5 Benefits of Using Prompts in Coaching
Enhances Player Engagement: Players are more actively involved in the learning process.
Develops Critical Thinking: Players learn to analyze and solve problems independently.
Self-Reflection: Players become more aware of their strengths and areas for improvement.
Promotes Tactical Understanding: Players gain a deeper understanding of game strategies and tactics.
Builds Confidence: Players gain confidence in their ability to think for themselves and make decisions.
By effectively using prompts, coaches can create a more dynamic and interactive learning environment, helping players to grow not just as athletes, but as critical thinkers and independent learners.
"The most important thing for a forward is the speed of thought. Top players read the game." Samuel Eto'o
3 Team Games: A Full 60 Minute Session
Part 1: Build Up Play:
Take a look 👀 at the activity below. Set up the playing area and give the activity a try. Find your spare players to progress the ball.
Part 2: Playing Through Midfield
Here is the next phase of building up, playing through pressure. This activity focuses on forward passing and breaking the press.
Part 3: Creating Scoring Chances:
The final aspect is finishing the attack. This wave like game will ensure that players get lots of repetition at creating and finishing chances.
I always believed in pushing myself to be the best I could be, and that hard work and determination would pay off. I learned that success in football is not just about talent, but also about putting in the effort to improve every day.” – Thierry Henry
Coach Project: Design a three team game.
Objective: Design a three team game based on the transitional moments of football. Work woth the idea that there are 12 players available.
Transitional moments are the points during a game where you go from defence to attack or attack to defence.
Design an engaging activity to work on these key moments of the game.
Consider the following:
The pitch layout and location of goals.
The key rules and any conditions for the game.
Scoring system for the activity.
Prompts to engage the players.
Use the image below to help you plan ⬇️.
🏆🏆🏆: 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.
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