It is difficult to overstate just how much of an influence Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has had on the sport. From his time on the pitch, starring for Ajax, Barcelona and the Dutch national side, to his time in management at the same institutions, Cruyff has always been at the cutting edge of football development. Player Development Project spoke to Cruyff in 2015 about his coaching philosophy and more. Winner of the Ballon d’Or an incredible three times, Cruyff started his footballing career at…
The Blog
A broad range of coaching content from our network of expert contributors.
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…
In this blog, PDP contributor and youth development expert, Reed Maltbie shares an excerpt from his book, The Spartan Mindset. To purchase the book on Amazon, click here, or access it on Booktopia here. “Yet” is the hopeful, nearby, and fully attainable future we need our children to see. In 2008, David Segal had been in talks with a Sri Lankan tea seller to buy his newly created loose-leaf teas. The seller owned a boutique store, and David wanted to be a supplier to gain…
Winners and Warriors? What is the difference and how can you help your players adopt a growth mindset and a focus on process and performance over outcome? TEDx Speaker & Founder of Raising Excellence, Reed Maltbie shares his ideas around intrinsic motivation and the dangers of being outcome-driven. A few years back I was walking through the parking lot at a tournament my club was hosting. It was Sunday, late in the afternoon, which meant all the games being played were for trophies. I had…
The team at PDP have been providing coach education content to a global community of coaches for a decade. In that time, we’ve spent a lot of time asking coaches what they want, how we can better serve them, and experimenting with various types of content including interviews, research reviews, guides, and more. This means that over the last ten years, we have tried dozens of new projects (some of which have failed), all with the goal of solving critical problems for coaches. In this…
In this article PDP Coaching Advisor, James Coutts discusses the value of ‘unit coaching’ or ‘position specific coaching’ and how you can incorporate this specific coaching model into your sessions. What is unit training? When discussing unit training we are considering a unit that’s position specific within the team, for example ‘defenders’ can be a unit, ‘wingers’ can be a unit and so on. Depending on what shape you play could have an impact, it could mean you’re working with a ‘back 3’ as your…
Game management and understanding how to control a match are important elements for young players learning any sport. So how do we coach it? Ben Bartlett, one of The FA’s most highly regarded coach developers provides ideas as to how you can create conditions for your players to cope with pressure and manage the game. If we value young people (and young footballers) having the capacity to understand that there may be different ways to respond when different challenges present themselves; to what extent do…
Jack Burns is a Kinesiology student at Jacksonville University and former Chelsea & Portsmouth Academy player. Jack opens up about the harsh realities around pursuing football as a career & how athlete welfare and happiness should be at the centre of a coaches approach. Within the sporting realm there is often ample talk pertaining to words that centre around ideas of psychology, be it mental toughness, grit, confidence, resilience, or assertiveness. As I progress through my undergraduate education in kinesiology at Jacksonville University, Florida, I…
Coaching for Character is about the players working on character building, developing character strengths and using the game of football to deliver this personal growth. This is not the time for a tactical masterclass from the coach, but a time for the players to work together, face challenges and get success. From a coaching perspective, use your observation and listening skills, ask questions and allow the sessions to flow. How Coaching for Character Works Section 1: Team Work & Collaboration Section 2: Resilience & Self-Regulation Section…
Curriculums can be an invaluable source of guidance for coaches. They help us to cover a complete range of themes and topics, provide a framework for planning sessions across an entire season, and facilitate the consistent application of ideas and playing philosophies in all teams within a club or programme. Below, we explore the benefits of using a curriculum, and discuss ways that coaches and programme directors can implement curriculums within their clubs. In This Article Creating a Framework for Session Design The strictness with…
Tommy Smith has played in multiple continents, made hundreds of professional appearances, and earned 50 caps for the New Zealand national team. In this article, Smith, no stranger to the demands of the biggest stages, discusses the challenges of pressure, coping with expectation, and his experiences playing at the World Cup and Olympic Games. In This Article Coping with Pressure Playing professional football can carry a lot of pressure — from fans, coaches, and even players’ own personal standards. But learning how to cope with…
Over the course of his career, Tommy Smith has been an ever-present figure in the Championship, played over 300 games in England’s professional leagues and the MLS, and won 50 caps for the All Whites. Below, the MK Dons defender reflects on his journey to senior football, and the qualities that have helped him to thrive in an array of professional environments. In This Article The Drive to Succeed The challenges of professional football are huge, yet most players never even make it that far….
The psychological component of football underpins everything that a player does. But mindset and other mental skills can be the hardest attributes for children (and professional athletes) to develop. In this article, A-League winner Stefan Mauk discusses his path to building a positive and constructive mentality, and how a focus on processes, not outcomes, helps him to perform at his best in the professional game. In This Article Coping with Pressure Within the context of professional football, pressure comes from many sources; crowds, coaches, teammates,…
The challenges of becoming a professional footballer are hard to overstate. The levels of dedication that young players must maintain, for the merest chance of ‘making it’, are huge — and sometimes the expectations of players and parents do not align with the reality. But, as coaches, we have a responsibility to educate them around the difficulty of this journey. Below, A-League winner Stefan Mauk provides some assistance, as he discusses the demands of the professional game, and the obstacles he overcame to get there….
Being organised and following a session plan are fundamental to good coaching. Knowing how to efficiently set up your session can save you time, increase ball-rolling time for the players, and minimise stress when you first arrive. In our Introduction to Soccer Coaching online course, Rob Sherman (Current Fiji Men’s National Team Coach and Former Technical Director of Football Australia) shares his system for ensuring you’ve got everything covered when you turn up to training. Rob’s N.E.A.T system helps to ensure the players spend their…
Are learning and performance different? In this article, Nick Soderstrom discusses how teachers or coaches can enhance performance by stretching individuals and discusses the key differences between the two. You’re teaching a concept in class, working through examples and explaining the steps. You have your students do some practice problems and they seem to be getting it! After a while, the bell rings, you dismiss your class, and you leave for home feeling satisfied with your students’ progress and your teaching methods. The next day,…
The value of self-reflection cannot be underestimated in development environments. UK Sports Head of Coaching, Nick Levett shares his thoughts on the benefits of the reflection process. One of the crucial elements of a high quality learning environment is the importance of reflection. In order to learn more about the players and their reflection skills, here are a few reflective questions for the players to consider at the end of the practice session or game. These can be delivered and linked in a variety of…
After making his professional debut in Australia, Stefan Mauk embarked on a career that would see him win the A-League and play in multiple continents. But his pathway to professional football was not easy. In this article, Mauk, now playing in Japan for Fagiano Okayama, reflects on his childhood playing football, the biggest factors in his development, and how adversity helped drive him to become a professional footballer. In This Article A Sporting Childhood Mauk traces the origins of his career back to a childhood…