As I watched a new coach conduct a training session my mind drifted back to my first solo practice sessions as a coach. I remember having spent the night before preparing. The head coach would be absent from practice the next day and his instructions were short and sweet - "We need to work on off-the-ball movement." Well, okay then. This was pre-Internet days and I was reliant on the coaching books and videos I had for ideas. I selected a basic three team transitioning drill that I felt fit my needs, I tweaked it a bit to better fit the team I was working with. I know I put in at least 3 hours planning for the next day's one and half hour practice session. I wanted to be prepared.
I have fond memories of that day in part because the smiles on the players faces told me they were having a good time and the exercises I had chosen, including the featured 3 team transition game, went smoothly. I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish in the training session and prepared to achieve it.
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I'm not sure how the new coach I recently observed will reflect on the session I saw him conduct. I'm nit even sure he will reflect on the session I watched. And that's part of the idea floating around the gray matter of my mind today. That is, I tend to review every practice session and every game. I do this to help me prepare for the next training session. Therein lies another idea I have bouncing around my head today.
I recognized one of the exercises being utilized by the new coach as one I have used on occasion. It is a simple passing pattern. The coach got the basic patter correct but missed virtually every coaching point associated with the exercise. The results saw the players reinforcing bad habits throughout the process. It was difficult for me to watch.
A second exercise from that training session was as bad if not worse. This one saw the players work on defensive positioning but without any of the basics on pressure and cover being accentuated. It seemed the only point of emphasis was on balance.
Now, it might seem that I am being critical of the new coach, but I am not. He was preforming to the level of his experience. I imagine the exercises he chose to use that day were some he was asked to perform from his own playing days. The exercises themselves are fine. I have used very similar exercises in training my team. Missing were the details of the process.
For instance, the trigger for beginning the passing pattern was never adequately explained. The instructions were basically that player 1 should pass to player 2 and then receive a return pass. That sounds simple enough and if working with an experienced group of players, perhaps it might have been. Unfortunately the new coach was working with an inexperienced group of U14's who when left to perform with limited instructions got it all wrong more often than not.
The basic pattern worked on wall passes or give and goes. Two players faced one another. The trigger players executed a one two sequence with player number 2 that then moved into a wall pass sequence between the two players. That was basically the instructions given. Let me break down the instructions that could have been given that would have made the exercise much more effective.
1) Player 1 will trigger the sequence by making a pass to player 2 on the foot player two is indicating he wants it on.
2) Player 2 will receive on his indicated (back) foot and play a two touch sequence.
3) The first touch will lead into the second touch (the return pass)
4) Meanwhile, player 1 will be flaring wide to the side of the foot player one has indicated he wanted the ball played to.
5) Player 2 makes the return pass to the back foot of player 2 who is now flared wide.
6) Player 2 makes his run towards original starting position receiving player 1's one touch return pass on his outside foot.
7) Player two initiates the sequence again by playing forward to player 3 who has indicated which foot he wished to receive the ball on just as player 2 had done for player 1 at the beginning.
Now, with this set of instructions we achieve the same basic diamond shape the new coach utilized AND the players know and develop an appreciation for the proper details of the process that will help them execute it successfully at game pace.
Again, the intent is not to be overly critical of the new coach. What I am drawing attention to is the fact the new coach needs to be mentored in ideas about coaching methodology and philosophy. These are the elements missing in the new coach's limited experience. Left to his own devices he is struggling and so too are those he is in charge of only I 'm not sure any of those directly involved in this process realize they are struggling at all.
Will the new coach be receptive to mentoring?
I don't know. First indications are that he is not, but that doesn't mean he will not be if the idea is presented to him in the same type of detail I just broke down the give and go exercise with. And that brings us to another general premise of today's rambling message - once players understand the "why" for doing something a particular way they are generally receptive to the idea.
Years ago, a gentleman named Russ Carrington asked me to review a book he had written for youth soccer coaches and players called Thoughtful Soccer. The book was presented with cartoon like illustrations and silly names for the exercises described. There really wasn't anything revolutionary about the content itself. It was more about presentation and terminology. In fact, many of the ideas presented were bare basic concepts of generally accepted soccer practices. That he himself did not fully comprehend some of the soccer basics he chose to simplify is clear and unfortunate. The author presented his book / ideas to an on-line soccer community and was summarily dismissed as a nutcase primarily due to a stubborn adherence to the idea he had invented something new. He had not. The controversy that ensued destroyed his credibility and any usefulness his book might have had for new coaches - his targeted audience. Russ needed to be mentored and had the opportunity to work with one of the best soccer minds I have ever encountered but failed to take advantage. In fact, some of the best and brightest minds from around the globe made up part of the on-line community he was eventually banned from. He chose to stubbornly argue and defend rather than keep an open mind and learn. A very poor decision on his part.
Good decisions come from experience,
and experience comes from bad decisions.
This is so very true and some of the most successful people I know embrace this idea. Whether we call it adversity, failure, mistakes we all face these things. So becomes a matter of how we handle then when we do that determines our level of success. If we understand the process of failing to learn and improving from our failures we can embrace our mistakes for what they actually are - opportunities for growth that can lead to success.
I am reminded of the very first USSF coaching course I took some 25 years ago. My expectation for and reason for taking the course was to learn how to coach. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the course was actually designed to test what I already knew about coaching. Plot twist! After a terrible first day I was up all night reverse engineering the first days events to learn what I was supposed to have already known. I did better the second day and passed the course.
Experience is the hardest kind of teacher
for it gives the test first and the lesson afterward.
That course taught me the USSF coaching courses were actually testing courses. That I needed to find a different venue to learn the art of coaching. I did in the form of mentors. The primary mentor I found to learn from was Graham Ramsay. Go ahead, Google Graham Ramsay soccer and see how many hits you get. I was lucky. I studied his methodology and learned about his philosophy. I asked questions and he was patient and gracious in answering them. I learned lessons. Still made mistakes and am still making mistakes, but I am also still learning.
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