Coaching football is a complex activity, requiring a wide array of different skills. But there are several simple measures that all coaches — new and experienced — can take in order to improve. Below, PDP Co-Founder Dave Wright examines some of the most important aspects of football coaching, and offers practical advice for coaches seeking to improve the way they work with their players. In This Article Understanding Coaching A key step to becoming a better coach is understanding what coaching football…
How We Coach
This is the PDP way, informed by years of coaching experience and the wisdom of our network of experts.
In this PDP webinar replay, we host Ben Bartlett, a truly world-class coach developer who currently works as Fulham FC Head of Coaching and spent over a decade at The FA as a National Youth Coach Developer. Ben is an expert in the area of session design, specifically a constraints led approach – a methodology which ensures your players use information from within the game to develop. Ben is hosted by PDP Co-founder Dave Wright and PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright. Both Dave & Dan…
How do you communicate with your players? In this article PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright shares some fascinating reflections and advice for coaches on how to effectively question and communicate with players to make sure they genuinely think about solutions within the game. Over the last few months I have found myself using the question used as this article’s title a lot. I’ve done so with an aim to challenge players to think about their game, or perhaps more specifically what they had noticed whilst…
Creating a positive team culture is an important part of building a strong team and stimulating an effective learning environment. But what factors influence team culture, and how can we manipulate them to give our players the best possible experiences? Below, we consider what makes culture, how to build a team culture in a grassroots setting, and the importance of forging shared values with our players. In This Article What Is a Team Culture? Creating Shared Values in Sports Building Team Culture and Getting Buy-In…
PDP Video Session Plans are adaptable sessions designed by academy coach, Dave Wright. All sessions show key focus points, set up, and progressions so you can use them in your next practice.
In this Masterclass Webinar replay, the PDP team host top academy coaches, Mark Lyons and Tom Mallinson for an in depth discussion on academy football in England. Mark Lyons is the Pre-Academy Co-ordinator & Lead Coach at Leicester City FC and Tom Mallinson is a Professional Development Phase Coach at Nottingham Forest FC. Experienced Academy Coaches, Dan Wright and Dave Wright will host Tom and Mark for a round table discussion on professional academy football in the UK. All four of our expert panel met…
The question this week comes from Percy via Facebook: “Would you ever use isolated technique training?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat directly with the PDP team to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other on our exclusive Coaching Community. Start your membership today,…
In this Masterclass Webinar replay, we connect with the highly experienced, Kelly Cross & Drew Sherman to discuss youth development in Australia. Kelly Cross is the Technical Director – Youth at Sydney FC, whilst Drew is the General Manager of Football at Melbourne Victory. Since the turn of the century these two clubs have been the most successful in the A League and now lead the way around youth development pathways. In this discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts Kelly and Drew for an in…
Coaching across age groups requires subtle skills and in depth understanding. In this Masterclass Webinar replay, PDP Co-hosts Dave Wright and Dan Wright host Assistant Academy Manager at Birmingham City FC, Stuart Engish for an in depth discussion on age appropriate coaching. Stuart shares some brilliant insights into the academy at Birmingham City FC and his former club, Brentford FC where he held a similar role. The conversation focusses on the differences of coaching delivery and player development across all of the age phases from…
The debate around hard work vs. talent, and which is more important, can be a contentious one among coaches. But perhaps our focus should not be deciding whether talent beats hard work, or vice versa, but determining the best ways to support all of the individuals within our team, regardless of ability. In this Q&A, we discuss the definition of talent and the pitfalls of early talent identification, address the challenges of working with players of different abilities, and consider how to work with a…
In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright is joined by Academy Manager of Birmingham City FC, Kristjaan Speakman for an in depth and wide ranging conversation. Kristjaan has been at the club for well over a decade and has also coached at Derby County under the guidance of Terry Westley. Now one of England’s most highly regarded Academy Managers, Kristjaan sits down with Dave to discuss leadership, coaching and coach development, shares insights into the journey of Demarai Gray & recent first team debutant,…
The question this week comes from Gav through the PDP Members Community: Gav asks, “Should I have a theme for my sessions?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be able to help with? We would love to hear from you! Here’s what you can do: 1. Tweet your questions to us @playerdp, or contact us on our Facebook page.2. PDP Members can chat directly with the PDP team to ask questions, share ideas, and support each other on our exclusive Coaching Community. …
In this Masterclass Discussion, Dave Wright and Dan Wright sit down for a two hour discussion with world leading Sports Psychologist, Dan Abrahams. Dave and Dan facilitate an in depth conversation with Dan on his experience in sports psychology across different codes. We examine the four corner model and the value of breaking down psychology into a component, we talk autonomy, challenge the review process, discuss coach communication and much, much more. This is a fascinating conversation from an experienced expert in the world of sports…
In this session UEFA A licensed coach, Dave Wright continues on his defensive work with the Melbourne Victory U20 group. The practice is designed to encourage players to collaborate and work together in units to block forward and split passes. Dave demonstrates some gradual progressions to allow attackers and defenders to move into opposition zones and create more chaos. The purpose of this practice ties in with the next session (a phase of play) which encourages players to be patient out of possession and choose…
Creating a soccer training schedule for an entire season takes careful planning. We need to consider the individuals we’re working with, our environment, what our players want to achieve, and then how we can help them accomplish their goals within those parameters. But the process isn’t necessarily as complicated as it seems. Below, we discuss the key components of a successful training program, how to adapt it when circumstances require, and how to create an appropriate training schedule for our own teams. In This Article…
Performance analysis has become a big part of professional soccer, in both the senior game and at academy level. But, with a relatively modest setup, we can also utilize the benefits of analysis and analytics in grassroots environments. In this Q&A, we explore how to capture worthwhile video footage on gameday, use that footage to gather data, and effectively make use of the results to support player development. In This Article Can You Implement Performance Analysis in Grassroots Environments? What is performance analysis in sport,…
In this Masterclass Webinar replay, we host Psychologist and Motivational Interviewing Pioneer, Prof. Stephen Rollnick. Stephen is a world leader in psychology and recently co-authored the book, Coaching Athletes to be Their Best: Motivational Interviewing in Sport. Alongside him is UEFA Pro Licensed Coach and Assistant Coach at Crawley Town, Edu Rubio. Stephen and Edu will be hosted by the PDP Team, Dave Wright and Dan Wright for a wide ranging discussion on effective coach communication. We dive into a number of topics including: This…
What is success in youth development? UEFA A licensed academy coach & PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright discusses his philosophy of what success looks like when a coach takes a long term view to their approach. We know the process of learning is complex and each individual’s journey is unique and non-linear. For young people, the process of learning to play football should be very similar to most learning experiences. In my eyes this would mean having a go, failing, reflecting, maybe taking some input…