The Art of Coaching | Social Corner

Hello everyone and its good to be back writing again. I have been busy for a few weeks with the football season up and running and apologies to all for the delay in the article. In this article I will share about the Social Corner of the Long Term Player Development System (LTPD).

SOCIAL CORNER

It is important that we recognize the importance of social development when working with young players. They need to feel safe and have the opportunity to practice in a safe enjoyable environment.

As a youth football coach, you need to ask the following questions to yourselves and self evaluate

• Are your sessions welcoming? How do you treat your players? What sort of environment do you create at training / during games?

• Are mistakes something we use as a tool of learning or an excuse to shout at our players?
• How do we develop relationships through football and how do our players learn this? What are the values and how are these reflected in behavior?
• Do we show respect, and how do we develop self respect and respect for others?

In this article, we will try to focus on how to develop an enjoyable session for both the player & coach. For me, PREPARATION is the key for any successful coaching session. The coach needs to have a Plan A, Plan B and even a back-up Plan C in his sleeves.

PREPARATION

• Plan your session – think about space, equipment and numbers.
• What is you session looking to achieve? – Have clear outcomes.
• Be flexible – Plan for the unexpected, and never assume anything.

You might have planned a very good session and reached the training ground only to realize that there are less footballs and bibs available / kids didn’t show up / muddy unplayable surface. So you need to come up with new ideas that might workout using your creativity.

GETTING STARTED

• Check your area and players – health and safety.
• Make sure your instructions are clear – check understanding.
• Get the groups working quickly.

When the youngsters arrive do they sit and wait for you, or are they on their feet with the ball practicing? The more you get players to take responsibility for themselves, the better it is for their development.

UP AND RUNNING

• Stand back and observe – don’t always observe from the same place.
• Are they doing what you want? If yes, give positive feedback.
• Are you challenging the players? Do you have to make the session easier or more challenging? Can you differentiate within the group?

STOPPING THE GROUP

• Have a clear signal – maybe a whistle.
• Know what you are going to say before you stop the group.
• Think about your position – can you see everyone? Is there anyone behind you? Is the sun in players’ eyes? Can they all hear you?
• You don’t always have to stop the whole group – you could work with a small group or individual if necessary to help or increase the challenge.

DURING THE SESSION

• Keep observing.
• Feed in the top tips.
• Provide positive feedback.

END OF THE SESSION

• Review with the players.
• Get feedback.
• Reflect and evaluate.

I hope these tips will help you in conducting an enjoyable coaching session with your players. In Social Corner (Part-2), I’ll share ideas about supporting and challenging your players, adding fair play, code of conduct and respect within your young players.

As promised in the previous article, below is a video for you to download. The featuring video is from the new injury prevention programme developed by FIFA’s Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC). The exercises have 3 levels of increasing difficulty to improve strength, balance, muscle control and core stability and can be easily integrated into a daily routine. It has been scientifically proven to cut injuries by up to half – if performed correctly and regularly.

The continuing support from you readers has been amazing and would like to say thank you to all. Please leave your feedback and suggestions in the comments section.

Justin Jose writes for FootballKerala.com

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Sunday 19 December 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.