This article is the first chapter from Gold Dust: How to Become an Effective Coach, Quickly by David & Keith Mayer. The story focusses on the importance of building rapport, understanding the person and developing long-lasting relationships. This book is dedicated to the memory of Dick Bate and 10% of all sales go to the Giles Trust. Chapter 1 – The Lone Wolf: The Story of a Boy – An experience from Keith Mayer For the purpose of the story we will call this athlete…
coaching
Sideline support and direct instruction are two very different things. In this article, Founder of Working with Parents in Sport, Gordon MacLelland discusses the damage that can be caused from parents overstepping and instructing children while they play. Every weekend all over the world millions of parents, children and coaches set off for their weekly sporting ritual ‘Match Day’. Many will follow the same process each week and will never question their routine or behaviour. Many of these parents and coaches are well intentioned, trying…
In this Masterclass Discussion PDP Editor, Dave Wright is joined by Head Coach of Auckland Aces Cricket team, Heinrich Malan to discuss a range of coaching topics. Heinrich is a highly successful young coach having one national titles with both Central Districts and most recently his Auckland Aces side in the 2019/20 Ford Trophy One Day Competition. Dave and Heinrich dive into a number of topics including the individual nature of cricket, the future game, specialist coaching, technique and managing athletes transitioning into the team…
Stephen Rollnick is a pioneer in motivational interviewing and in recent years has been applying his knowledge to sport. In this article, Stephen offers a psychology perspective on the key differences between praise and affirmation with young athletes. “When you’re that young, it doesn’t take a lot to be encouraged, or discouraged . . . they raised my game . . . they saw something in me I didn’t see in myself.” (Sir Ken Robinson, educationalist) In my work as a psychologist and trainer in…
Creativity values, culture, systems and control. What does it all mean and how does it impact coaching and sporting environments? In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts Co-Founder of my fastest mile, Mark Upton alongside PDP Lead Researcher and AIK Academy Coach, James Vaughan. In this wide-ranging conversation, the guys discuss some of James’ Phd research and his recently published paper on creativity, as well as diving down a number of rabbit holes such as: This philosophical discussion will hopefully leave you considering…
PDP Co-Founder and psychology researcher, James Vaughan, explores creativity in footballers with a focus on the coach’s perspective. What does it mean to foster creativity in players? How can we better understand the process of encouraging creative problem solving on the field? Vaughan offers practical insights and solutions to an often abstract topic. Creativity is often described as the use of imagination to invent something. Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson refines this idea by explaining creativity as ‘the process of having original ideas that have value’. The…
In this chapter of John O’Sullivan’s new book, Every Moment Matters, John shares ‘Lesson 2’: You Coach a Person, Not a Sport. This excerpt dives into the youth development overhaul at the Belgian FA, cites the work of Steve Kerr, discusses athlete-centered coaching and gives coaches some practical tools to self-reflect. Lesson 2: You Coach a Person, Not a Sport You have to ask one fundamental question: who is in front of me? —Kris van der Haegen You coach a child, not a sport. —…
Let’s focus on how we’re coaching, not what we’re coaching. In this article, motivational researcher and top rugby coach, Jonny McMurtry shares an article on the value of relationships and connection in coaching. After an excellent article written around Matt Wilkie, IRFU’s head of coach development coinciding with my own personal development in assisting swimming coaches, a sport where I know very little around the tactical and technical aspects, it pushed me down a rabbit hole looking at how we can adjust our focus to…
In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor, Dave Wright is joined by Gordon MacLelland, the Founder of Working with Parents in Sport. Gordon and Dave dive into a discussion which includes practical advice for parents on how to support their children in sport, how clubs can better engage with parents, how to manage the car ride home and much more. Gordon has vast coaching and teaching experience and this discussion is essential viewing for coaches and clubs looking to better understand parental influence in youth sport….
In this Q&A Video Dave Wright & Dan Wright discuss considerations for coaches when preparing and organising match day for young players. The question this week comes from Simon via Twitter: “What is your advice on how to organise match day for U-12s? 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….
Communication is a crucial element of effective coaching. In this article, Professor Stephen Rollnick challenges traditional methods of coach communication and offers some practical solutions for coaches to improve player relationships. I went on this 4-year journey through sport to get a feel for how people communicate. Giving feedback and advice to players sprang out at me from all corners of football. From having a quiet word, to looking at technical data, conducting player reviews, having heated exchanges in the dressing room and beyond, I…
In this Masterclass, we share a replay of our live and interactive webinar with UEFA A licensed academy coaches Dave Wright and Dan Wright. Dan and Dave discuss practice design in the final third, considerations when planning your session and share a number of small sided games to help you work on attacking themes with your players. We cover the practice spectrum, talk about the ‘3R’s’ and Dan and Dave share some of their favourite small sided games for developing attackers. Image Source: depositphotos.com
Problem-solving is crucial in player development. In this article, Founder of Changing the Game Project, John O’Sullivan shares an excellent article on the importance of guiding children towards solutions and creating autonomy in learning environments. Imagine you went to your child’s algebra class and got to be a fly on the wall. Imagine the teacher was being assessed on your child’s test results in two days. Now imagine that instead of teaching your child how to problem solve, and the concepts behind doing algebra problems,…
The question this week comes from Mark, via Facebook. “When are players ready for a set playing position?” 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…
In this Masterclass Discussion, we’re joined by experienced Academy Coach & Co-founder of My Football Development, Gabriel Flores for a fascinating conversation on developing youth football players. PDP Editor, Dave Wright hosts Gabriel for an in depth conversation on skill acquisition, individual learning, how to adapt your session design to ensure you stretch your players and much more. This is a must watch conversation, particularly for coaches working with players in the foundation or skill acquisition phase of youth coaching. The conversation features some great…
Birmingham City FC are a founding partner club of PDP and in May 2019, they put on an event called the Learning Tribes Conference 2019. In this round table video discussion, Dave Wright & Dan Wright review the event with three of the team from Birmingham City FC. BCFC Lead Youth Development Phase Coach, Mike Dodds was tasked with putting on an event for coaches by the team at BCFC Academy. Inspired by Co-Founder of the Magic Academy and top rugby coach, Russell Earnshaw, Mike…
The question this week comes from Paul via email “What are the benefits of my players being exposed to mixed experiences against players at a better level or older ages?” 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…
Dan Robinson is the Academy Manager at Burton Albion FC in England and a former Assistant Coach & Goalkeeper Coach with the New Zealand Women’s team. In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor Dave Wright sits down with Dan to discuss his coaching journey and some of the challenges of taking on a major role at a small club. Dan discusses some of the lessons he’s learned in leadership, the player development philosophy at Burton Albion, his experience on the world stage with international women’s teams…