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. —…
youth coaching
The question this week comes from Jean-Pierre through the PDP Slack Community. He asks: “What is the best way to run a session with a lot of players?” 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…
In this Masterclass Discussion Dave Wright sits down with motivational researcher and rugby coach, Jonny McMurtry. Jonny discusses his research into motivation and participation in youth sport. Jonny and Dave cover a number of topics including athlete motivation, autonomy supportive environments, talent identification and coach behaviour. This is another fascinating discussion around psychology and youth development not to be missed. Show Notes 0:00 – 2:00: Introduction and upcoming Rugby World Cup predictions 2:00 – 5:35: Background in Rugby and coaching 5:35 – 8:04: Why player…
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….
What motivates young people to play sport? Why do some players like Zlatan Ibrahimović and Yannick Bolasie play the way they do? In this Masterclass Discussion, Dan Wright sits down with PDP Lead Researcher James Vaughan to discuss some of the complexities of player motivation. James has been studying motivation in football and shares some of his research to help football coaches working in the the youth development space. Big topics like Self Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation and social-cultural influences are discussed. Image Source: Pexels
The question this week comes from an anonymous grassroots coach: He asks, “Should I recruit stronger players?” 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 membership…
The question this week comes from Percy via Facebook Percy asks, “At what age do we coach defending?” 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…
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
The question this week comes from Joe via Facebook: “Is it OK for a young player to commit a professional foul?” 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…
In this Masterclass Discussion, FA National Women’s Coach Developer, Amy Price shares her unique approach to player development with Dave Wright & Dan Wright in a highly engaging conversation. Amy shares research on how coaches can use the principles of video game design to engage young players in their own development, setting challenges, designing tasks and encouraging problem-solving. Amy outlines how players can take ownership of the task and you can ‘level’ up the challenge as you go. This is essential viewing if you want…
In this PDP Live Session, FFA Coach Developer & Academy Coach, Anthony Frost demonstrates a whole-part-whole practice which focusses on 1v1 finishing against the goalkeeper. Anthony shares three components which allows the players opportunities to finish on the back of quick build up and running with the ball. Anthony then demonstrates how to use a small sided game to get repetition of finishing and through the second component of the practice, ramps up repetition before allowing the players back into a directional small sided game.
How can you make your environment as positive as possible? In this Masterclass Discussion, Positive Psychology expert, Lara Mossman joins PDP Editor, Dave Wright for an in-depth discussion on positive psychology in coaching. Lara is one of Player Development Project’s founding contributors and is a world-class expert in the area of positive psychology in coaching. Dave and Lara tackle some common misconceptions around psychology, discuss what positive psychology is and how coaches can apply it. The conversation also covers what an autonomy supportive environment actually…
In this Masterclass Discussion, PDP Editor Dave Wright is joined by Head of Specialist Coaching & Lead In Possession Coach at The FA, Aaron Danks. PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright also joins the discussion for a fascinating conversation on youth development. Aaron is a holder of the UEFA Pro License, he spent over a decade at West Bromwich Albion Academy and was part of the England U20 coaching staff who led the team to World Cup success in 2017. We dive into Aaron’s personal coaching…
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…
The question this week comes from Sarah, via Facebook. “How do I get to know my players?” 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 membership…
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…