Often during coaching sessions, coaches observe and impart knowledge from the side of the pitch – what are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
Joe Sargison, FA Youth Coach Educator, provides an insight into where to coach from during a game-like practice session.
The advantages are: you are out of the way of the players and not necessarily perceived as being ‘in the thick of things’, you have an opportunity to see a wide range across the field and you have the potential to view action in both halves of the field.
The disadvantages are: you could miss opportunities to get close to individual players for the purpose of providing specific feedback relating to set challenges; you cannot always adopt the position-specific view point of the game through the eyes of the players in those positions (e.g. to work with a goalkeeper, it may be more beneficial to adopt a coaching position behind the goal); you may be too far away from the action and miss out on ideal opportunities to provide more bespoke feedback/communication to players positioned a good distance from the half-way point.
An alternative approach is to actively work on the pitch and within the action – what are the benefits of this approach?
There are a number of benefits:
1) It is an opportunity to experience the game/session from a different position and perspective – providing the chance to see pictures through the lens of the player.
2) A way of getting closer to the player to be able to offer ‘in the moment’ feedback, both to individuals and units/the team.
3) A chance for players to feel your ‘presence’ which could potentially help a coach maintain high standards in the activity.
How can this approach help increase ‘ball rolling’ time and more activity for the players during practice sessions?
I believe there is a real artistry to adopting effective coaching positions that can help a coach provide impact for players. I am interested in the decision-making process and mechanics behind the selection of coaching position:
– WHERE is the most effective place to be for maximum impact?
– WHEN do you need to physically (mechanically) make your move to get there in good time in order to impact player performance?
– WHY is it even important to be aware of these elements of coaching position in the first place?
I believe that gaining a clearer rationale behind these elements will enable a coach to appreciate the value that adopting effective coaching positions can have to support player development in a number of ways.
One way is with ‘ball rolling’ time, where a coach may have the ability to allow the session to flow more often to hit high percentages of player activity. I believe coaching positions and an understanding of the mechanics of coaching positions (as explored above) are absolutely key to obtaining high ball-rolling percentages whilst ensuring that players are being stretched and developed within the activity.
What are the key considerations for coaches who are going to work in this way? How do you begin to ‘sense’ where to coach from?
Experience is crucial and that comes from practice and experimentation, with specific reflection. I also think it is useful to discuss your approach/methodology with the players, to gather their feedback and to ‘frame up’ your rationale for doing what you’re doing. I think the response of players and experience all help a coach gather a ‘sense’ of what is highly effective. However, there will always need to be versatility as player decisions and situations are never exactly the same.
When selecting coaching positions, I think it is important to be as tight and relevant to your objective as possible in all situations. For example, if I have set an individual challenge for a centre back to figure out when to drop and when to squeeze, it may be relevant to work 10 yards behind him/her, to see what they see (most importantly what is going 50 yards away from the ball with the opposition ball carrier) to be able to make a more informed professional judgement on their decision-making, and to be close enough to
offer encouragement and regular/on-going feedback and support.
What are your top five tips be for coaches who want to coach ‘within the game’?
Start with WHY?
What is your rationale for coaching within the game?
WHAT and WHO do you need to be able to see in the game?
HOW and WHEN will you get into those specific positions to see those people?
To summarise, coaches must always consider:
1. WHY?
2. WHAT?
3. WHO?
4. HOW?
5. WHEN?
Further to consideration of these five points, the coach should have a clear picture of the players he/she wishes to support in a session. They should also have a good appreciation of the areas of the field where much of their game will take place and can therefore plan ways and timings to adopt positions to start working with these players.
With further appreciation of the full spectrum of coaching styles (observation and feedback, trial and error etc..), the coach can consider structuring challenges/coaching points in ways that have maximum impact and that can be offered to the player/s without having to stop either the game or the other players too often.
Maybe start with trying this out with one player in the first session and with experience, reflection and practice, the coach can being connecting with more players.
Article courtesy of The FA Bootroom
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