Making mistakes — and learning from them — is essential to developing as a coach. Below, in our guide on soccer coaching for beginners, we discuss ten of the most common mistakes made by new coaches — and how to avoid them. Transplanting Approaches from Other Teams It’s tempting to observe the best professional teams and attempt to replicate their approaches. But we must account for our environment; factors like culture, the players we’re working with, and our collective aims all underpin the most effective…
Failure
How can sport help build resilience in people? Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University, Dr. Martin Turner shares some examples of failure and success in sport from football, golf and tennis outlining the value of learning from these challenges as players and coaches. Sport has been called a natural laboratory for examining the psychology of human behaviour. It is also a perfect place to learn and craft how to respond to life’s adversities. Sport, as in life, provides many highs and many lows for…
Pressure is part of sport. So how can coaches help players embrace or reduce this significant psychological factor to enhance creativity and freedom when performing? Psychologist and Lecturer at Staffordshire University, Dr. Martin J. Turner shares examples and research in this area. Prior to the 2018 World Cup, Jurgen Klopp, the coach of Liverpool FC, suggested that the media could help the England’s men’s football team by reducing the pressure “a notch or two”. He told journalists to “maybe take the numbers 1966 [when England last…
Failure is crucial in human development. Whether as a coach, player, parent or another vocation, embracing failure as part of a journey towards improvement is crucial in the learning process. Reed Maltbie shares his views on the importance of understanding the role of failure in development. What is the other side of failure? Have you ever pondered what is on the other side? Most of us will fail. A lot. We will stumble through our entire lives like a baby learning to walk. Hopefully using…
Talent ID is a topic that polarises opinion. In recent years, professional clubs have begun their search for ‘talent’ at a younger and younger age. Mark O’Sullivan examines the talent identification landscape and questions whether the process is merely a survival of the fittest. According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, organisms which are better adapted to their environment tend to survive longer. Does the environment we create influence the selection process and favour those that possess attributes that give them a temporary advantage while at…
Old school player development tells us, ‘winning is everything.’ The problem with focusing on performance outcomes though, is where does that leave us when we fail? What happens when we lose a match, a tournament or face rejection from a squad? How can we bounce back? Professor Carol Dweck from Stanford University has extensively researched success and discovered that our mindset matters. Players with a growth mindset are more likely to achieve in the long run because they embrace challenges, persist through obstacles, believe they…