Coaching Clinics can be Dangerous

As I watched a soccer webinar (on-line seminar) this morning I had to ask, who is the target audience here?  The clinician is fairly well known and has published a couple of books on systems of play. The webinar is on the 1-4-2-3-1 formation.  The exercises and drills being used seek to explain how professional sides play out of the formation - what their systems of play are. 

Those in attendance range from coaches of U8 teams through high school and college coaches. An organization with a national base is hosting the event and will take anyone's money who wishes to attend.  And of course, I am watching the webinar (for free)  six months after it took place. 

The clinician is very passionate about the virtues of the formation and is clearly excited to be presenting its secrets to the audience.  He has a decent girls side working as the presentation team.  What he is actually doing is using a combination of pattern play and shadow play to illustrate the teams shape in the transitional phases of play - going first from defending shape to attacking shape, then back again to defending shape.

I find myself wondering how many of those present or who have watched the on-line webinar actually know what the phases of play are? 

As I continued watching I witnessed the clinician allowing improper or poorly executed technique to take place as movement of the ball was utilized to demonstrate the morphing of the teams shape from defending to attacking and back again.

I have attended many coaching courses, clinics and seminars over the years. I suppose the actual number may stand at 100 or more. Very few made a lasting impression on me, but those that did were the ones in which the clinician explained the details and reasoning for what (s)he was doing and demanded the presentation team provide excellence within their ability level to what they were being asked to do.

Traveling back in time to this past July and August I recognized the tactical application of the 1-4-2-3-1 being presented as what my son's high school team was working on in preparation for their high school season. My immediate thought was "that lasted all of about a month before his high school coaches abandoned it."  And that is largely a fair and true statement although the final flameout would not occur until their 4th game of the season in an embarrassing misapplication of attacking shape during a goal kick restart.

And that is one of the points I wish to drive home today. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing when the person holding that knowledge does not have a foundational background sufficient to support its application. From past experience I know many coaches in attendance that day and also those who have watched the webinar will go back to their teams and put them through the exercises presented in this webinar anticipating great things will follow for their teams. 

It's not that simple.

There is a process involved. One must start at the beginning of the process and work one's way through the process. What many of these coaching education opportunities do is to place their audience in a position of having to reverse engineer the information they receive.  The information being provided is really solid stuff, but too many of the coaches receiving it will not have a sufficient foundation to set it upon.  It's a bit like building a million dollar mansion atop of quicksand. There will be a lot of settling and in the end that million dollar mansion is going to be condemned.

We do not start our schooling with a 7th grade curriculum. We lay the foundation for 7th grade in the K-6th years.  It would be silly to start a 5 year old in 7th grade, would it not?   Yet this is what we do in education for soccer coaches when it comes to clinics and symposiums. It's a one size fits all approach that just doesn't work for many, perhaps a majority.

With this in mind, I have begun to alter how Conceive Believe Achieve Soccer presents coaching clinics and symposiums. We break things down by age and ability of the teams the coaches will be working with by matching phases of development with appropriate progressions of tactics.  I also try to break down the presentation to an appropriate level of understanding for the strength of the participants foundation in the knowledge of the art of coaching.

It is not an easy undertaking for me, but it is one I feel passionate about. As I look at American soccer and compare it to the great soccer countries of the world the one thing that really stands out is game intelligence. Other countries simply play smarter than we do.  A primary reason is we do not establish a solid foundation to build upon. We just go straight to advanced tactics without creating the foundation these tactics must be based upon. Here at CBA Soccer we are looking to change that one coach, one team at a time. A grass roots movement for soccer intelligence.

Proper preparation is the key to consistent performance.

I spent last night texting, tweeting, emailing and talking with a half dozen coaches, perhaps as many as 30 players, four referees and a handful of parents.  Some were excited about their performance while others were clearly frustrated. Others just wanted to chat for a few minutes.

Through it all, the one train of thought that was constant in my mind was "preparation".  I wondered what the team who performed so well against the odds had done to prepare for their match?  I also wondered what the team who was frustrated with their performance had done to prepare for their match?

Emotional, mental and physical preparation are all important. I believe each can be trained. I believe each must be given proper consideration before, during and after a match.

When coaching goalkeepers I design practices that focus equally on all three of these areas. I do not want a player relying too heavily on emotion to perform for that means with every high there will be a corresponding low. The idea is to limit the peaks and valleys in order to be consistent in performance. 

I never have goalkeepers practice "spectacular saves" and I never have goalkeepers practice "recovery" techniques.   I firmly believe if a goalkeeper is technically excellent he will be able to make the spectacular save when called upon to do so. Likewise, if a goalkeeper is tactically excellent he should never have to execute a recovery technique to make up for being out of position in the first place. 

I want goalkeepers to remain constant and consistent in the moment. I ask nothing more of them than to make the routine save knowing if they take care of the "easy" saves they will rise to the occasion when the difficult save is required of them.

I believe the same holds true for field players.

Have you ever watched a player working on his own practice a spectacular move over and over again? The rainbow for instance?  How many times have you seen a rainbow performed in an actual match?  In all my years of coaching I have seen a rainbow attempted twice in a match. Both were successfully completed but led directly to a lost possession. Other than a little "wow factor" little else was gained from performing the move... and think of all that was lost in the hours spent refining the move.

If a player has a solid foundation in the routine the spectacular will manifest itself when needed.

Confidence is a product of preparation. 

This is why my goalkeepers perform the same three part warm up routine every practice and every pre-game. We are building a foundation in the routine matters of goalkeeping. Emotional, mental and physical routine to establish a foundation of preparedness. A platform for success, if you will. A reinforcing of routine to instill and ingrain confidence.

So it is I wonder what each team, what each player, coach and referee did in preparation for their games last night. What led to the thrill of successful performance and what led to the disappointment and frustration of under performance?