Solutions to matchday challenges

I HAVE TURNED UP AT A GROUND TO FIND SPACE FOR WARMING UP IS AT A PREMIUM. WHAT DO I DO?

DS: "On the FA Level 1 and 2 courses, we do some fun little arrival games off the pitch that you can do to warm up.

 

"We have to create a safe environment where young people can make mistakes..."

 
"But it’s also an ideal chance for coaches and the children to be creative - warming-up in tight areas, the match movements, dynamic stretches, fun games, tag games, things with a football, can all be done in a tight space, as long as it is safe.

"The age group will dictate how much they need. But there are ways of engaging children in tighter areas, and they can still get themselves ready to play."

 

ONE OF MY OUTFIELD PLAYERS HAS MADE AN ERROR LED TO A GOAL AND THEIR HEAD HAS DROPPED. HOW SHOULD I DEAL WITH THAT? WHAT INTERVENTION SHOULD I MAKE?

DS: "There is no right or wrong, but there are some key things we have to think about.

"First of all, we have to create that positive, safe environment where young people can make mistakes, because they are a really important part of the learning process. And the younger they are, the more mistakes they are going to make.

"Our response dictates how people feel. So if I criticise someone, that is going to make them feel a certain way. If I respond differently, and encourage and support them or even just don’t acknowledge it to let them self-rectify, that will have an impact on how they feel.

"Every person is different - as coaches we need to get to know the person. It is really important we understand what each person needs, and this links to challenging our communication.

"So our responses to the mistake could be you say nothing, they just self rectify; it could be a smile or a thumbs up; it could be encouragement; it could be a little question to refocus them on to what they are doing.

"It could be a specific challenge. If, for instance, they have given the ball away, it might be to say ’next time, try to have your eyes up’, or ’do you need to pass? Maybe stay on it and dribble’.

"It may be that you just encourage team- mates to support them, because sometimes even the younger kids - four or five-year-olds find better ways than us to deal with "Also, what is a mistake? A mistake to you might not be a mistake to me. If the intention was correct, and they just got something slightly wrong, you might praise the intent, rather than focusing on the error part of it."

 

MY TEAM HAS BEEN GIVEN A PENALTY. DO I HAVE A REGULAR TAKER, A GROUP OF POTENTIAL TAKERS, OR ROTATE IT AROUND THE SQUAD?

DS: "I think it depends on the age. For me, in the younger age group, you want everyone to take a penalty.

"Typically, coaches are pretty good at that they will have a little penalty competition in training and some do it after matches, just as a little practice for further down the line, particularly if they have got cup games coming

"I want everyone to be good at everything, especially in the younger age groups. When you go up the age groups, you might have a designated penalty taker, or there’s competition between a few people, or it might just be you give them the ownership. For me, it will just be whoever wants it is going to take it. It’s not a big issue for me.

 

"What is a mistake? If the intention was correct, you might praise the intent..."

 
"I think when you get to competition football, further up their journey, and it means a little bit more, then you probably have practiced more, you have probably got a designated penalty taker - or two or three options - or you might dictate as the coach who does it.

"But, for me, ownership and everyone having a go and getting a chance to practice is really important."

WHAT ARE THE GOOD WORDS I SHOULD USE IN THAT SITUATION AND WHAT ARE THE COMMON MYTHS AROUND COACH COMMUNICATION?

DS: "The common mistakes are that we commentate on the whole game - ’shoot!’, ’pass!’, ’dribble!’ - and we use terminology that children and young people do not understand.

"A friend of mine works in a primary school and when she said to them ’shake hands’, they literally shook their own hands as if they were trying to dry them off rubbing them dry.

"I think it’s a real challenge of communication - what we say or mean is not necessarily what the other person has received.

"So the younger they are, the more simple the terminology. For the younger age groups I coach, we use things like ’little toe, big toe’ rather than inside and outside of foot, and ’stop and squash’ - so stopping and squashing the ball, rather than some other terminology.

"It is just educating people not to keep shouting out ’pass, pass, pass. pass’, because that’s not what we really want, especially in the younger age group.

"For coaches, it’s just about reflection. A really good tool is to audio-record yourself during a matchday or training, and then play it back and go, ’which bits actually makes sense?’.

"If you talk too much, people need to filter out the information. Brief is good, but also use terminology that you’ve used in training, specific terminology that everyone understands - ’travel’, ’time’, ’turn’, ’hold’, ’man on’."

HOW DO I KEEP MY SUBS ENGAGED?

DS: "It depends on the age group. It might just be that they’ve got a fun little game to play in a safe area.

"They can make notes on tactics boards, they can keep an eye on a team or individual challenge, or they can have their own little player-cam where they are watching a certain certain player.

"They can have observation tasks, like recording shots on goal, how many dribbles, how many times someone intercepts the ball and travels with it, or whatever it is that links to your training.

"They might just be watching the game and you say to them, ’you’re going to go on and play in this position, so just watch the opponent or who is playing in that position’.

"They can be mini-coaches, involved in the team talk, and can give feedback to positions.

"If it’s cold, they can just be given a safe area to keep warm and active, because the younger age groups might not be interested in watching the game, like we as adults do."

MY TEAM ARE IN A CUP FINAL BUT MY SUBSTITUTES AREN’T NEAR THE LEVEL OF THE STARTING PLAYERS. IN A CLOSE GAME, DO I BRING THEM ON TO INVOLVE THEM AND RISK LOSING? OR DO I STICK WITH IT TO WIN THE GAME AND RISK UPSETTING THE UNUSED PLAYERS AND THEIR PARENTS?

DS: " It’s difficult, coaching - it’s difficult making those decisions If you are in any decision-making capacity, you can’t please everyone all the time. But for me, it links to your philosophy.

"If, all season, you have rotated, included people, shared the workload and shared responsibility, and then suddenly you change because of one game, you are open to criticism.

"So it comes back to your values, your coaching environment and all the things you have discussed with parents along the way. If you have the confidence to stick to all that, players and parents will understand.

"The bigger impact comes if you change your philosophy for one game. There is no guarantee you win the game anyway, and there are examples of teams folding or players leaving because suddenly the philosophy and values change from what has been done all season. Some children potentially will carry that forever.

"It comes from that positive learning environment across the season, where things are the same - parents are then already on board. So even if it’s a cup final, nothing changes and you have the conversations - ’we’re going to play this team, we’re going to rotate, we’re going to guarantee your son or daughter x amount of minutes’.

 

"If you give players a positive experience, you inspire them to make a difference..."

 
"Everyone is clear, then, and I think that has more weight and value in the long term than being blinded by the result or the occasion and just wanting to win that one game."

WHAT SHOULD MY POST-MATCH PEP TALK SOUND LIKE IF WE’VE LOST?

DS: "Sport, and football, teaches us all the lessons of life. Sometimes we lose. But we learn about ourselves, our ability to resolve issues and our resilience.

"I think questions post-match are really important - what did you try today? What did you learn today? What was the best bit? What is one thing you did today linked to your individual or team challenges? It might just be as simple as giving the group a question on a tactics board.

"Or, alternatively, get the parents to ask them on the way home about how they felt and what they enjoyed. It doesn’t always have to be us as the coaches, because sometimes we forget what it’s like when we’re young. We don’t want to answer questions in front of a group.

"On the Saturday morning sessions I work on, with four, five and six year olds, we get them to chat to a friend and they discuss something they did really well that day - the little skill or trick or turn - and they share it, because it is easier to do that then chat in front of a group when everyone’s watching."