How We Coach

In this guest blog, TOVO Institute’s Todd Beane examines US Soccer player retention rates and how coaches can help keep young players in the game. Here’s what the Positive Coach Alliance out of California mentions as to major reasons why up to 75% of our children drop out of sports by the age of 12. 1. It’s not fun anymore 2. Pressure to perform 3. Lack of competence in the sport 4. Time demands As I see this disturbing information gleaned from research professionals, I…

The Pschology of Coaching Are you a scientist or more of an artist? Is coaching an art or science? These were questions asked of UQ’s coaching and sports psychology research group last week and this post explores the possibility that science and accounting are hijacking football and slowly killing the art of coaching. The simple answer to the art vs. science question is that coaching is an ever-changing mixture of both, but after a little digging some additional and pretty fundamental questions emerge. Precisely, what…

How do we help players develop resilience and tactical awareness to cope with defending out of balance? PDP Technical Advisor & UEFA A licensed coach, Dan Wright shares some advice. When playing an expansive or possession based approach there can be times that you leave yourself exposed, if you misplace a pass or get caught with players high up the pitch it can be costly. In these scenarios it is vital that defenders can actually defend in 1v1 situations and perhaps even worse! I had…

Regular PDP Contributor and Founder of TOVO Institute, Todd Beane explains the importance of a ‘less is more’ approach to communicating with players on the pitch and asks: Are you at peace on the sidelines?   Johan Cruyff changed the way FC Barcelona played football back in the early 1990s. He did so in the same Camp Nou stadium that people travel from around the world to visit and in which some of the best football on the planet has been played since that time….

There has been a lot of past research focusing on developing the reflective skills of coaches through a technique called reflective practice. However, there’s now a growing body of evidence that suggests the use of reflective principles and frameworks will contribute towards the successful development of players. But what is reflective practice? In essence, these are mental practices through which individuals revisit and learn from their own experiences. Reflective practice pioneer Donald Schon defined the reflective learner as someone who explores their own experiences of…

I have quit jobs, moved countries and become – to use my friend’s words – an ‘intellectual hobo’ in search of these seven words. Those seven words have consumed my life for 18 months. They are seven words that I believe hold the key to understanding creativity in football players.   ‘Who we are is how we play’   These seven words are the conclusion to my thesis; 35,661 words deftly reinterpreted by my ‘old man’ as: ‘You can take the boy out of Liverpool,…

Why, in arguably the most informed, analysed and qualification-driven era in football coaching history, are players still being made to learn in a culture of fear? PDP Editor, Dave Wright discusses how coaches can facilitate and environment built on trust.   The role of a football coach should be to facilitate the development and growth of the players under his or her tutelage, in an individual and collective manner. Most importantly, a coach should be a leader, a figurehead who is coaching purely for his or…

As coaches, it’s crucial we do our best to develop players in our respective environments. But are we harming their development by being too vocal? How much noise is too much? When is saying nothing more powerful? PDP Editor & UEFA A licensed coach, Dave Wright discusses coach communication and interventions. There is research to suggest that the more information a player receives under pressure, the more their game has the potential to ‘fall to bits’. By being a vocal coach, you could in fact…

Age appropriate learning is a vital consideration in coaching and positive player development. Children and adolescents aren’t just ‘small adults’. Understanding the various differences in learning processes that exist between the age groups gives coaches and managers the knowledge they need to be most effective. Understanding the differences in the thinking processes of different age groups is the natural starting point in helping coaches choose the appropriate technical and tactical activities needed to meet individual players’ needs. The process that a coach may adopt needs to…

The life of a modern, top flight football manager can be short lived. With club and supporter expectations bordering on perfection, for a manager to successfully negotiate the gauntlet of public pressure requires skill, knowledge and perhaps above all, luck. Sean Douglas, Football Federation Australia’s Advanced Coaching Manager, explores the criteria most often used to judge coach success, and offers a new context with which to assess performance.   “Half the season gone, half the coaches gone; forget the Tasmanian devil – the A-League coach is…

Many players battle with the idea of acceptance by those closest to them, and approval from those who can define their next footballing move. But at what cost does this approval come? Many of these young players sacrifice creativity, problem solving skills, and even their own identity, in search of praise which is often misinformed. The cultural ‘noise’ surrounding player development environments is killing players’ creativity. In football (and other sports) this ‘noise’ – be it comments from the sideline, praise/ criticism from coaches or parents, or constant instruction…

US-based coach, John O’Sullivan, founder of Changing the Game Project and best selling author, provides a perspective on the potential pitfalls of the US development model. As our ability to accurately measure players’ tangible development statistics improves, are we losing sight of the intangible factors which can’t always be measured? The cost of focussing exclusively on the numbers may be greater than we imagined. In 2005, the coaches at one of the top English Premier League Youth Football Academies held one of their semi-annual meetings to…

There is a wave rising, about to crest, and the best in the world are already riding it. This wave is mindfulness – a simple, but by no means easy, mental practice. The practice of mindfulness is not new; in fact, it has been around for centuries and is most commonly associated with Buddhism. What is new, however, is the attention it is garnering from science, business, education and sport.   AC Milan were football’s trailblazers in this area, creating a mysterious ‘Mind Room’ in the mid-2000s. They…

Many world-class performers tell stories of discomfort, rejection and failure at some point in their past. Is this coincidence? Or do these uncomfortable experiences lay the foundation for long-term development and, ultimately, success. PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan discusses the importance of discomfort on the learning journey.   American scholars such as Brene Brown and Robert Horner (researchers into education, development and vulnerability) have led us to the following question: if curiosity marks the start of the learning process and vulnerability is the birthplace of creative connection, is…