Many of the ’buzzwords’ used in coaching just won’t be understood by younger players - so try to be more accessible in what you say, writes Connor McGinn
"‘Space!", "Press!", "Back post!" - these are some of the buzzwords screamed aggressively by some coaches and parents, often at six-year-olds just trying to play a new sport.
Are we actually helping these children? Do they know what these terms mean? Have we explained them? Are there better and more stimulating terms we can use to help our young players learn new skills?
Much of young-age coaching is striking a balance between coach and player. Young children possess high levels of creativity, and can stun us with their skills on a pitch; this should always be fostered and respected.
But the way young children learn, hear and visualize is different to adults - so why is it that coaches don’t adapt their language?
If we are looking to introduce young players to the concept of pressing - coaching a desire to close space and win the ball - should we call it pressing when we first explain it to them?
The term ’pressing’ derives from ‘pressure’. Yet when children first learn to ‘press’, what they do is chasing after the ball to win it.
This is the natural instinct of a child at this time, and thus the natural starting point for a coach to introduce the skills to press.
Perhaps introduce it to them as ‘chasing down the player’ or ‘hunting the ball’. If you begin a pressing activity and ask your children, ‘Who wants to be The Hunter?’, hands will fly up. This is the power of stimulating terminology.
This seeks to highlight two key things in young-age coaching; certain terms will help stimulate enjoyment and learning in children more than others; and the use of a term that children are already familiar with is much easier to learn from than those that are completely new.
"If you ask your children ’Who wants to be The Hunter?’, hands will fly up..."
Of course, we want to introduce children to new terms and ideas often - but linking these new skills to something already familiar to a young player will create a greater clarity in their minds for you to then build upon, which will make the process easier.
Here are some examples of alternate terms that coaches can use, substituting adult buzzwords for terms young players can understand and be stimulated by:
Adult term | Child-friendly alternative |
‘Press’ | ‘Hunt’ |
‘Check shoulders’ | ‘Look behind and around’ |
‘Mark up’ | ‘Find a player’ |
‘Create space’ | ‘Find a good new area’ |
‘Track back’ | ‘Help our defenders’ |
These are just a few examples - it’s often best to create your own as a coach.
These seek to highlight that, often, there exists terms that can be more stimulating for younger children, which can create more clearly understood avenues for learning new skills.
When coaching young players, always consider this: ’Have I explained this term before, or am I assuming they understand it? Is there an alternate word they may already know that could help them understand better?’.
As coaches, we should seek to translate the complex into the clear and stimulating, always remembering that our players and their understanding is our key priority.
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