This Masterclass Webinar replay is a fantastic opportunity for you to explore the research behind scanning and awareness in football with Dave Eldridge, UEFA A licensed coach & lecturer at Chichester University in England. “I spend the entire 90 minutes looking for space on the pitch. I’m always between the opposition’s two holding midfielders and thinking, ‘The defence is here, so I get the ball and I go there to where the space is.” – Xavi The best players seem to always have time on the…
awareness
Awareness, decision-making, perception and execution are all part of skill acquisition. PDP contributor & Founder of TOVO Institute, Todd Beane shares an article on coaching methodology to enhance players cognitive fitness. Are your players cognitively fit? If you are like most coaches that may be a tough question to answer. But why? I might suggest that it is not a question you have had to answer before. I know that it was not a question that I addressed as a young coach myself. My task…
The question this week comes from Chris, via email: “How do I help young players with their confidence when they are showing signs of being apprehensive or nervous about getting more involved at training?” Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Each week, we will choose a key question from our community for discussion. In order to build a broad range of answers which will be valuable for our community, we need you to get involved. Here’s what you can do: Image Credit: Deposit Photos
The question this week comes from Nick via Facebook: “As an NPL (National Premier League, Australia) coach and now a parent, my son has been identified as a good player with great ability and a great football brain, but he has been told he needs to improve his awareness. What can I do as a parent now to help him improve his awareness so he can progress to the next level?“ Your Turn: Ask PDP Anything Do you have a coaching question that we might be…
How important is self-awareness in athlete performance? John Haime cites examples from both golf & football, discussing the potentially hazardous ‘blind spots’ in an athletes development, how to look out for them and how coaches can support athletes in navigating around these challenging issues. I was inspired to write this article by a quote I come across from a friend of mine, Melinda Harrison, a former Olympic swimmer who specialises in helping athletes transition from the world of sport to their next great venture. “If…
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.
Emotional Muscle, what is it? PDP Contributor & President of New Edge Performance, John Haime discusses the importance of emotional state on performance and provides some practical advice for building emotional muscle in football. Working with some of the world’s leading athletes in mental/emotional development has taught me many lessons about what is important to be a consistent high performer. One thing I have learned for sure is that emotions run the show in elite performance and they certainly do in football. Head and heart…
FC Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez is seen by many as the Einstein of Football. His vision and awareness provide the perfect example for young players who aspire to develop a deep understanding of the game. These skills, combined with a level of technical ability rarely surpassed, have led to Xavi engineering some of the most unique, creative and exciting goals in world football. “When you arrive at Barcelona the first thing they teach you is: think. Think, think, and think quickly. Lift your head up, move your head, see, and think. Look…
Football in the USA is on the rise, with increased participation, international success on the pitch and big names playing in MLS. Yet producing world-class talent is what separates the USA from the world’s elite nations. In his regular column, TOVO Institute’s Todd Beane discusses how the USA can cross the final hurdle of player development in a nation focused on physicality. Let me be politely blunt. While the USA is doing wonderfully with respect to growing the game in terms of participation, the country still has…