Education

In this Masterclass Webinar replay, PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright is joined by PDP Coaching Advisor, James Coutts for an interactive and engaging webinar on the challenging topic of How to Coach Teenagers. Dan and James present a series of considerations for developing youth players from social and emotional needs, through to physical and tactical considerations. This replay also includes questions from the live audience who tuned in at the time which the PDP team answered during the presentation. This is essential viewing for coaches…

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,…

This paper outlines the connections between three problems which are deeply interlinked, growing in influence, and shaping many aspects of social and cultural life, including football: The paper argues that these problems are each made worse by the commodification of young football players within an overly competitive and individualistic football culture. It points to opportunities to change club structures and coaching practice, highlighting these as important steps in changing wider football culture, and it argues that changing football culture would, in turn, create widespread social…

Is the structure of the traditional education system stifling the development of young players through a mechanistic view to learning? Co-Founder of myfastestmile, Mark Upton, discusses the work of Carol Black and the impact it can have on player development.   I have been following Carol Black’s writing and thoughts for the last couple of years…I would like to say with enjoyment but in reality she often leaves me feeling jarred and unsettled. In The Future of Big Box Schooling, Carol casts a critical eye over the mechanistic…

Alfonso Montuori The Big Idea While summarising Montuori’s paper may well bring it home to the reader, there is an even better way to see the Big Idea.  For a wonderful and current example of this big idea in action, just follow the United States Presidential election process for the duration of the summer and fall of 2016.  In it you will see exactly what an anti-pluralist, totalitarian mind-set is in the so-called campaign of the Republican candidate for President. We are not trying to…

Lecturer and Sports Coaching & Development expert, Dr. John Stoszkowski discusses how systems and stories shape the way we learn and whether we do enough to question our current paradigm as coaches. “Humans are pattern-seeking story-telling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.” – Michael Shermer Imagine you’re a hominid going about your business on the plains of Africa a few thousand years ago. It’s daylight, so you’re out hunting and gathering food or wood for…

How does a coach help a player maximise their return on training? Todd Beane, Founder of TOVO Institute & regular PDP contributor discusses the value in prioritising learning and maximising training time to get the most out of every session. Wouldn’t you want to maximize the return on the investment of your time and energy? As a teacher, wouldn’t you want to know that you are using every hour afforded to you to maximize learning? As a coach, wouldn’t you want your training to bring about…

After their dominant performance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, including the 7-1 demolition of the host nation, the football world is wanted to understand how Germany transformed their broken team of Euro 2000 into a world-beating machine. PDP Editor, Dave Wright examines the resurrection of German Football.   Time for Change It is well documented that after the team crashed out in the first round of Euro 2000, Germany took drastic action. Working from the bottom up, they underwent a total restructure of how they went…

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