How to Make Your Coaching Have an Effect

Teaching versus Telling

“If you have to yell at them from the sidelines, you haven’t coached them…Coaching is about effect.” as stated by Anson Dorrance, North Carolina Women’s Head Soccer Coach.

There is a difference between telling your player what to do and teaching that player what to do. Over time, your coaching should translate to learning.

Stark Reality

I was convinced that playing soccer from youth to adulthood, plus being an avid fan made me an expert to coach youth soccer. The first team that I coached was a GU11. I know the parent who hired me was because of my playing background. Clearly, I knew how to play and it was assumed this would transfer to coaching.

I was this coach when I started coaching. “I can’t believe it. I’ve told you not to clear the ball into the middle. If you don’t clear it high and wide, they are going to finish that chance. How many times do I have to tell you not to clear the ball in the middle?’

I was the coach who knew it all. Each player’s action of perception, decision making, and execution was controlled by me. When I trained the team, I would position myself in the middle of the activity from where I barked out instructions. Players had to navigate around me.

My training sessions were drills (controlled by me) during which I decided when to start, when to stop, how many times and for how long. The inability of players to perform or their physical limitations were not considered.

Sage On The Stage Or Guide On The Side

The best gauge of your coaching effectiveness is your players. Conducting an informal survey will give you insights into your coaching skills – communication, organization, and enthusiasm from players.

Coaching Is Teaching

Coaching is a process that takes time. Depending on your approach there can be many steps taken. For your coaching to be effective, there needs to be planning, objective, and coaching methodology.

Coaching often resembles parenting. You need to create an environment for your players to experience repetition. Similarly, parenting involves constructing a behavior for their children through constant reminding. Over time this will create natural actions.

For coaching to be effective there needs to be a balance between explaining, asking, and guiding. In this article, you will learn how to coach by explaining what went wrong and how to correct it.

How to Coach Your Team Or A Player

1. PLAN
   Without a lesson plan, you end up coaching everything, which leads to coaching nothing. Your practice needs to have a number of steps.
   – Stage 1 – Warm-up. An activation activity that increases body temperature.
   – Stage 2 – Individual Skill Building/small-sided game
   – Stage 3 – Expanded small-sided game
   – Stage 4 – Game
2. SESSION OBJECTIVE
   Design your lesson plan with a specific theme. Focus on 1 topic as this makes it easier for your player to learn. When you go about correcting every mistake, you end up not improving none of them.
3. COACHING
   When you clearly understand your lesson plan, you will know when there is a breakdown whether technically or tactically. Coaching should not occur the first moment there is a breakdown. Allow your players the opportunity to get in the flow of the game.
   
   Apply the three ‘Rs’ method to correct a breakdown.
   1. REVIEW
   First, you freeze the moment of the breakdown by stopping the action. “Freeze or Stop!” should bring the action to a halt. Your next step would involve rewinding the action to the start. With the ball moving, go through the actions of what occurred.
   2. REHEARSE
   From the starting point, and with the ball moving, provide the technical/tactical correct for that moment. Your rehearsal should have your players in original positions (or as close as possible), with specific corrective coaching points.
   3. RESTART
   Resume live play from where the breakdown occurred. You can have a condition for the opposition to be active after the correcting moment ended or not.

Effective coaching needs to be a process that is properly planned. From your session of activities on paper to the implementation on the field, earmarking the breakdown, and most importantly, correcting the problem.

What has been your coaching style? Reflect on how your players respond and share with us.

References

Training Soccer Champions, Having An Effect, pp 42-43. by Anson Dorrance.
US Youth Soccer Coaching Committee, Evolving The American Youth Soccer Environment for the 21st Century, November 2010