The Game is My Test.

I saw a former player this past week and while reminiscing he mentioned how much he appreciated my approach to coaching in games. He was thankful that I was not one of those coaches who paced the sidelines constantly yelling instructions and / or berating players for every mistake made. "I don't know if you appreciate the confidence you instilled in me by just silently standing there watching us play."

I almost laughed out loud for many others have commented that I am too quiet and don't coach enough during games. Without directly saying so those people have hinted I don't do enough to motivate players during games. Then it occurred to me the people offering these criticisms have all been adults.  Parents, an athletic director and even my own wife, lol. 

I have explained my in-game coaching philosophy to many of those people in five simple words, The game is my test.

Corner, Corner, Post

EDIT:  I am constantly amazed how articles on this site can suddenly become popular once again months after their original publication.  Such is the case with this article.  Of a sudden it has received a number of hits so I am "re-publishing" it to the front page.

*********************************************************************************

Soccer coaches the world over like to spread the field when in possession of the ball. Wing or flank players are encouraged to "stay wide" in an effort to draw defenders away from the face of goal. This is all good and well as it addresses one of the three elements necessary to play effective soccer - Penetration, Width and Depth. This is what some refer to as the triangle or diamond shapes in soccer.

Over the years I have become accustomed to using two different coaching phrases when teaching players to maintain width; "Heels to the touch line"  and "Corner, Corner, Post.

"Heels to the touch line" applies to the middle "third" of the field give or take a few yards toward either end.

"Corner, Corner, Post" is the path a weak side wing player takes toward goal.

Empower the Players

I want you to consider for a moment the term "my team."

It is an oxymoronic term, is it not?

Team by definition is a group of people who strive for a common goal often in competition with a different group striving for the same result.  Teamwork is stressed and thought of as being the difference between success and failure.  We are all familiar with the adage there is no "I" in team.  But as coaches, do we practice what we preach?

Most typically American sports are coach driven.  It is the coach that dictates how a team will deploy its assets, the coach calls the plays, the coach decides when to use timeouts - in short, the coach is the key decision maker and as such it is his team. The coach has ownership of the decision-making and by extension, "the team."

One of the most important lessons I have learned as a coach is to think of any group I work with as being our team...  even going so far as to refer to the collective as your team.

I once had an athletic director whose background was in team sports. Ron had played football in college and coached basketball on the middle school level.  To say we had different ideas about coaching would be an understatement.  A couple of different discussions we had really drive this home and emphasize the point I am making here.

One discussion involved Ron chastising me for not using my timeouts.  Now, I do not relate this to you with the intent of portraying Ron as being uneducated or uninformed about the sport of soccer - there are obviously no time outs in soccer - but that was not the real point he was attempting to make either.  No, what had prompted the discussion was my encouraging players to coach one another on the pitch and my relaying adjustments through substitutes to players already on the pitch.  Ron was aghast that I asked high school athletes to interact in this manner. He thought it was the coaches role to communicate directly to players what adjustments needed to be made. His idea seemed to be that in allowing players to interact in such a manner placed them in conflict with one another?

There was also an instance where a player exiting the field asked a question about a problem she was encountering in the game.  I responded by asking Shayna to explain the problem and then asked what suggestions she had to solve the problem.  This exchange made its way back to the athletic director and another lecture ensued centered on a coaches responsibility to solve the in-game problems encountered by players. I realized then and there the athletic director was still thinking in terms of using timeouts to communicate with players. His perspective was that the coach should be solving the problems the opponent was presenting in the game, but the sport of soccer does not readily allow for this except at halftime. The reality is, soccer is a player driven sport unlike most "American" sports which are coach driven..

At the time of these exchanges I had long ago realized the necessity of empowering the players. This revelation took place after I had experienced the game from the perspectives of a coach, referee, player and parent all within a rather short period of time.  Each perspective is different than the others.  I can only relate this to a group of people who are involved in or witness an accident - each gives a slightly different version of what happened and offer different interpretations of why it occurred.  Are any of them wrong?  Not necessarily.  This is why investigators deem it so important to gather as much information as necessary. They need as complete a picture as can be obtained in order to render their findings

The following is an excerpt from an interview given by renown basketball coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.

"I can’t make every decision for you. I don’t have 14 timeouts. You guys got to get together and talk. You guys might see a mismatch that I don’t see. You guys need to communicate constantly — talk, talk, talk to each other about what’s going on the court.

"I think that communication thing really helps them. It engenders a feeling that they can actually be in charge. I think competitive character people don’t want to be manipulated constantly to do what one individual wants them to do. It’s a great feeling when players get together and do things as a group. Whatever can be done to empower those people.

 

"Sometimes in timeouts I’ll say, ‘I’ve got nothing for you. What do you want me to do? We just turned it over six times. Everybody’s holding the ball. What else do you want me to do here? Figure it out.’ And I’ll get up and walk away. Because it’s true. There’s nothing else I can do for them. I can give them some 'bull,' and act like I’m a coach or something, but it’s on them."

 

Although this interview occurred rather recently it is a coaching philosophy I have  followed for some time now.  At half time of our matches I allow the players to talk about the opponents strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes I have to prompt them with questions. What problems are they presenting to us that we must address and how do we address those problems?  What matchup can we isolate and seek to take advantage of when we are attacking? 

 

What I have found is the players are very astute in their observations and often identify different issues or identify issues differently than I had from the sidelines.  The real key in these short half time discussions is the solutions and suggestions the players offer.  When we heed their input and implement their suggestions it not only empowers the players but it also makes them responsible for their play. In short, it gives them ownership of their team.

 

Just as we coach or teach fundamentals of skill and tactics in practice we must also train the players ability to identify problems and find solutions in the game.  To this end I often give the players a poorly constructed or incomplete practice game to play.  The premise is sound and purpose is clearly identified, but the way we are going about trying to achieve the desired result is faulty.  After allowing them to play in this manner for a few minutes I call them in and ask them to set it straight or put it right.  

 

Invariably before we ever reach that point suggestions have already been floated on the pitch.  These tend to be knee jerk reactions - we need more space so let's make the grid bigger is a common one.  Our discussion then becomes about whether a larger grid is needed OR if we can better utilize the space that is available?  This coaching tactic forces players to identify the problem and then discuss the problem in a group setting.  They offer possible solutions, discuss these and then implement the consensus they reach.  Again, it gives the members of the team ownership.

 

It says to them that this is not my team, it is your team and even better yet, our team.

 

It might be that we have to stop the game again, and even again, before we put it right but we always get it resolved.  And that is the key consideration in this process for when the players can solve the problems presented in practice it provides then with the hope that they can do so in a match. Once they do so in an actual match, confidence soars and so too does the quality of their play. 

 

As coaches we are tasked with providing players with the tools to solve the problems they encounter on the pitch.  Technical skills.  Tactical awareness.  Individual decision making on and off the ball.  Identifying and solving the problems opponents present to them.  Let go of the reins and trust the players to be fully vested members of the team. Empower them to take responsibility for their play and the team will be greatly rewarded. 

Former Shawnee player Alex Clark came to our Grand Lake United team last spring.  Alex was a good player and a better leader for us from his center midfield position.  I will always remember the look on Alex's face they day I shared with him that he could make in-game changes to what we were doing on the pitch. I gave Alex and our other captains full control in-game decision making - formation, strategy, personnel.   They were not only an extension of the coach on the pitch, they were the coaches on the pitch. His expression was one of shock, glee and excitement all rolled into one. I briefly described the reasoning outlined in this article and ended with "What's the worst that can happen? We mess up and maybe it costs us a result. If so, we'll learn from it, put it right the first chance we get and move on being better for it." 

I am sure Ron would believe I was abdicating my authority as coach. I would counter with the idea that I was empowering the athletes by delegating in-game authority to them.  Given our ultra successful season, I'm not sure even Ron could argue with the results? 

Be Cool Coach!

Good coaches know that their attitude filters down to their players. When a coach is calm and poised their players tend to be as well and play reflects this. These teams overcome adversity by “playing through it”. They tend to be empowered problem solvers, creative and resilient.

If a coach is constantly yelling, arguing with referees and seemingly angry about every little thing, his team will be as well. Play is often rushed, desperate, out of control and punctuated by “unforced” mistakes. Everyone is blamed but no one is held accountable.

Not only will players follow the coach’s lead, but so too will parents. The coach who berates officials, yells at his players and is quick to find fault is likely to have an unruly parents sideline as well. There is often a general sense of unhappiness and anger that permeates the entire team. Soccer becomes a chore instead of being fun.

Calm, poised and in control does not equate to being cold, emotionless and overly analytical.  It simply means being in control of those things that can be under your control.  I’m not sure if I have ever witnessed a referee change his call because he was berated by a coach or parents, have you?  Yelling at a player for every mistake he makes is hardly a good way to go about instilling confidence, is it? Blaming your team for playing poorly is certainly shirking responsibility on the coaches part for it was his responsibility to prepare the team to compete, correct?

Good coaches maintain an even keel when coaching. They don’t get too excited when goals are scored and do not get too down when goals are allowed. The adjustments made are of a thoughtful and reasoned variety instead of knee jerk reactive decision rooted in the emotions of the moment.  Good coaches tend to use their heads more so than their mouths.  Thoughtful analysis when assessing on-field in-game situations instead of panicked chaotic solutions thrown out hoping something will eventually work.

I try to always keep in mind that my teams are never as good as they appear to be when winning and never as bad as they appear to be when losing. Teams are generally somewhere in the middle of the peak performance and worst performance. It’s important to be realistic about your team and focused on continuous progress and improvement over the course of a game and a season.

Even in the most dominant wins there are weaknesses to be found in your team’s play. And in the most lopsided losses there will have been some positives. It is important to recognize both positives and negatives in-game, but equally as important to share them with your players after the match has finished.

Do your best to remain calm, cool and collected for the good of your team. Don’t cast blame. Do empower the players to embrace on-the-field problems and adversity that they can solve and overcome these things. Do not become angry at players who are giving the best effort they have that day. Encourage players struggling with their play by lending them your confidence and letting them know you believe in them.

Have a vision for how you want your team to play and conduct themselves then be the embodiment of that vision for them. Lead by example… for that is what you do regardless of how you act. Be a positive example, a positive role model and your team will fall in line behind you. Success and wins will follow.

Never empower the problem.

Always empower the solution.

Positive Energy

One of the buzz phrases in prevalent use in board rooms and locker rooms across the country is,

Positive Energy

Positive Energy is hardly a new concept.  Norman Vincent Peale published The Power of Positive Thinking over a half century ago and there are countless other examples throughout history. The concept is rather simplistically based on the principle that positive people, positive interactions amongst people and positive work or play environments produce positive or winning results. If your team is burdened by a losing culture, low morale or negative leadership the cure is Positive Energy.

Of course, the answer is a bit more detailed for the problems road blocking Positive Energy are often more complicated. If this were not true, everyone, every team, every business would have Positive Energy and it is quite obvious many do not. The fact is negativity can creep into a team and begin costing it wins before leadership recognizes the problem and takes action to generate Positive Energy to root out negativity.

Why I Coach.

For the vast majority of us there isn't a lot of money to be made in coaching.  I remember keeping track of hours spent in coaching high school one season and the amount I was paid only to discover I was working for less than a nickle an hour.

So, why do I coach?

I love to teach. I find it rewarding to see players develop and improve not only in their sport but as people. It is gratifying to think I had a role in their growth. My youngest child is now a junior in high school and has been playing soccer since the age of five.  I've been there every step of the way as his father and soccer coach. We have both made many great friends along the way and it is pure pleasure to see them on the soccer pitch.

Last night my son Lance played in a high school match against some of his friends from club teams past and present. It was wonderful to see Nate Falk, Patrizio Martinez, Austin Quellhorst, Kaleb Fenwick-Miller, Joe Poeppleman, Matt Dine and Zac Nelson on one side and Lance, Tanner Mayer, Adam Knott, Jonathon Andrews, Matt Dailey and Garrett Moots on the other team.  All presnt or past club teammates, friends and friendly rivals brought together through the sport of soccer. This is what it's all about.

I started with most of these kids when they were around the age of nine and now they are 16 & 17 year olds representing their high school and their communities against one another but also in support of one another. My wife and I consider them all and their parents / siblings as part of our soccer family. We look forward to seeing them and share their emotions. My wife is always rather conflicted when our club team is represented by both teams on the pitch. She wants to see everyone do well and feels elation with a good play by one and concern for a poor play by opponent / friend. 

I had a wonderful start to my day when I received a message from Judy, the mother of a player on the opposing team last night. Judy and her family are members of our soccer family who were representing the opposing school last night. The message read in part, "I will say, it doesn't matter who the players have later on in their years, it is definitely the coach that has them first and builds the basics and knowledge in their head that makes these players the good players later on!  Of course, a good coach to enhance their knowledge later on doesn't hurt, but geee who could that first coach have been for a quarter of our team?!  We sing your praises Tim to all we meet!  Thank You!

That right there (and the handshake, hugs and chats with players after the game) is worth more than money to me. It is why I coach.  Thank you, Judy!

I have received many such communications through the years. They strangely seem to arrive at just the right times. Pick me ups when the grind of a season is upon us. After the season notes that re-energize me to gear up for another season. This mornings message arrived with impeccable timing.  If you are a player or parent of a player, take a moment to send a text, email, tweet with a word of thanks and appreciation to your coach. It will mean so much to them,

In the grand spirit of the soccer.

Tim