35: Grow Coach Newsletter
Football Coaches: Develop your Coaching Craft.
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:
Coaching Craft: Priming players for better performance.
Full 60-Minute Practice: Defending Around the Box.
Coach Project: Prime your player’s task.
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” - Tom Landry
Priming for Optimal Performance
Priming is a psychological technique where you subtly influence someone’s behaviour or performance by exposing them to certain stimuli or information beforehand.
In football coaching, priming is often used to prepare players mentally and physically for a game or training session. It is a great way of helping them to focus, improve performance, and adopt a positive mindset.
How priming works:
Priming works by activating certain associations in the brain. When you’re exposed to a stimulus—such as a word, image, or sound—your brain starts processing related information.
This “activation” makes it easier and faster for you to retrieve or respond to similar information. For example, if you see the word “shoot,” you might be quicker to recognize the word “goal” than if you had seen an unrelated word like “pass.”
3 Types of Priming
Semantic Priming: Exposure to a word or concept that is related in meaning to another word or concept. For instance, seeing the word “Attack” can make you faster at recognizing the word “dribble.”
Perceptual Priming: When exposure to a stimulus enhances the ability to recognize similar stimuli. For example, if you see a team shape on a tactics board briefly, you’re more likely to recognize it quickly when you see it again.
Positive/Negative Priming: Positive priming speeds up processing, while negative priming slows it down. For example, being exposed to positive words can make you react more positively in a subsequent task.
Priming Your Way to Success
Use Positive Language:
Encourage players to use positive, constructive language. For instance, instead of saying “Don’t lose the ball,” say “Keep possession.” This helps frame challenges as opportunities.
Visual and Verbal Cues:
Use specific words, phrases, or images that can trigger the desired mindset. For example, show videos of successful plays or highlight reels to inspire the players before they step on the field.
Focus on Past Successes:
Remind players of previous successful performances before a game or practice. For example, discussing a well-executed moment from a past game can prime them to replicate that success.
Feedback and Reinforcement:
After a successful practice or game, immediately reinforce the behaviours or actions you want to see repeated by providing specific praise. For example, “Great job staying focused and communicating; that’s why we controlled the midfield.”
Strategic Music Playlists:
Create a playlist of music that energizes and motivates your players. Play this music during warm-ups or in the changing room before a match. The music can prime players to feel more energized, focused, or unified as a team.
Priming for High-Performance
Priming with KeyWords: Develop specific words or phrases that you repeat regularly to trigger certain behaviours. For example, “focus” can help remind players to concentrate during key moments in a match.
Repeated exposure to these keywords can help players automatically adopt the desired mindset or behaviour when they hear them.
Priming Through Role Models: Share stories or videos of famous soccer players who exhibit the traits you want your team to emulate (e.g., Cristiano Ronaldo’s work ethic, Lionel Messi’s composure).
Discuss how these players handle pressure or demonstrate leadership. Priming through role models can inspire players to mirror these positive behaviours and attitudes.
Creating Positive Anchors: Associate specific actions with positive emotions. For example, every time a player makes a successful pass or tackle, you could give a quick thumbs-up or shout a positive reinforcement.
Over time, players will begin to associate these actions with a sense of accomplishment. This helps build confidence and encourages players to seek out more opportunities to receive positive reinforcement.
End-of-Session Reflection: After each practice or game, ask players to reflect on what went well and what they can improve. This primes them to focus on continuous improvement rather than dwelling on mistakes.
It builds a growth mindset, encouraging players to learn from every experience.
By using these practical priming techniques in your coaching routine, you can shape your players’ mental and emotional states, leading to improved focus, confidence, and performance both in training and during matches.
“I’ve always tried to coach people the way I would like to be coached; positively and encouragingly rather than with criticism and fear…I’ve tried to be as fair as possible.” -Tony Dungy
Full Practice: Defending Around the Box.
2v3 | Constant Defending.
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Constant practice of defending the box
Set-Up:
30 by 20-yard space with a small shaded 8 by 5-yard box in front of the 2 mini goals and a 4-yard escape zone at the opposite end.
How to Play:
🔴s vs ⚫️s
2 x 🔴s defend against 3 x ⚫️s.
3 x ⚫️s are trying to get into the shaded box and score in a mini-goal.
2 x 🔴s are trying to escape into the end zone.
♻️: Change up the teams so players can experience attacking and defending.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: Gain a second ball if successful with the first one.
🚫Restriction: Attackers only have 5 seconds to score once they enter the box.
👨🏫Review: Player’s willingness to challenge for the ball.
4v4v4 | Defending Central Spaces.
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
To develop blocking, screening and intercepting skills
Set-Up:
24 by 15-yard space (4-yard central shaded zone).
4 x 🔴s vs 4 x ⚫️s vs 4 x 🟡s
How to Play:
One team defends (🔴s). They send 1x player to chase and leave three players in a shaded zone to protect the space.
Two teams keep possession (⚫️s and 🔴s). They must make 3 passes per area before transferring the ball.
🥅 Scoring:
⚫️ and 🟡s pass through the shaded central zone to score.
🔴s win the ball and dribble into the end zones.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: Double goals if the attacker can dribble the ball through the central zone.
🚫Restriction: You can only play first-time passes through the central zone.
👨🏫Review: Defending as a unit, closing gaps and spaces to deny through balls.
3 Team Game | Defending the Goal.
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Protecting the goal and regaining possession
Set-Up:
40 by 30 Pitch with a 4-yard central zone. 2 x large goals.
Three teams of 3 players 🔴⚫️🟡 plus 2x GKs 🟢 and 2 x support players 🟠.
How to Play:
One team starts in the central zone and tries to score in one direction. If successful they get a 2nd ball and attack the other way.
Defending team must win the ball and escape into the shaded zone to become the attacking team or pass into the opposite 🟠 and join the attack.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: A first-time finish earns the team an extra ball to attack with.
🚫 Restriction: No balls above head height.
👨🏫 Review: Blocking, challenging, forcing play.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” - Mark Twain
Coach Project
Objective:
Create a music playlist to motivate the players you coach and establish some focus words to help remind players to concentrate during key moments
Considerations:
Ask the players for their favourite soundtrack.
Identify the areas of performance that players may need a focus keyword to help them—for example, a loss of possession or following a mistake.
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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