Basic Coaching Principles
Friday, 03 August 2007
The keys to becoming an effective coach are to be organized, keep things simple, and be as clear as possible. After you have planned your practice session you should make sure that each player understands their role in achieving the teams’ objective. The following are some simple guidelines to help you run a better practice:
Develop a Practice Theme
Each practice should have a theme or two that your players will work on. You should limit the theme to one or two topics so that the players are not overwhelmed. There is only so much they can learn in one practice. It helps to understand the topic you are trying to teach so do your homework. Read books, watch videos, and talk to other coaches so that you can be better prepared. Your practice plan should progress from simple to complex.
Analyzing Practice
Once you have instructed your players you should make sure they are applying the lessons you are trying to teach. Try to coach from an area where you can see the whole field and don’t just watch the ball and the immediate play. You should constantly scan all the players and their reactions to the ball so you can correct mistakes outside of the immediate play. Try not to correct too many mistakes that are outside of what you are trying to teach. Remember the theme and stick to it.
How to Start and Stop Practice
There are many times when you are observing practice that provides you with good teaching moments. It is important to be able to stop practice at those moments so you can point out a specific lesson that the players can see. The following are tips to help you stop and start practice effectively:
-Let your players know that the signal to stop and start will be
-Use a whistle or the word ‘freeze’ to stop play and ‘play’ to start the game
-Instruct players to stop immediately and stay ‘frozen’ until you direct them
-Walk through coaching points slowly and gradually build to game speed
-Minimize the amount of stoppages and make your coaching points brief
Warming Up and Cooling Down
It is very important that your team gets in the habit of warming up and cooling down together. Not only does it help to prevent injuries and prepare your players physically for practice it also good for team bonding. Try to vary the warm ups and cool downs each sessions. You can mix and match your practices with a running warm up (speed work, running form drills, stretching, etc) and a technical warm up (ball control drills). The amount of time spent warming up and cooling down will depend on the age of your players and the weather conditions. Younger players (especially under 9) will not need too much time warming up but it is still good to develop good habits.
Selecting Teams
When selecting teams you shouldn’t let your players pick because often times the same player will be picked last and that will create a negative experience for that player. It also takes longer for players to choose teams since they can be indecisive. Have an idea of what players you want together for each drill. If you know your players’ abilities you will be able to pick teams that are fairly matched and create better competitions. Use training vests to distinguish teams from each other.
Quality Service
Often times it’s the person throwing the ball that is making the mistake and not the player performing the task. You should teach you players how to serve the ball to their teammates. Each player should know how to roll the ball on the ground, and throw to specific parts of the body (foot, thigh, chest, and head). This is not a difficult skill to teach since most players are skillful with their hands but it’s often overlooked by coaches. A simple demonstration usually solves any serving problems.
Using Restricted Games
Restricted games are when you disallow certain movements during the run of play. For example during a possession game you can limit the amount of touches to three so that your players have to play quickly. Using restrictions like this encourages your players think while they are playing the game. Make sure though that the restrictions you are using are game realistic and practical for the abilities of your player. Here are some ideas for restricted games:
-Limited touches
-Specific play before scoring (overlap, give and go, etc)
-Specific way to score (from a cross, long range, etc)
-Specific number of passes before shooting
-Transitional (every player has to be over the half field line to score, etc)
Develop a Practice Theme
Each practice should have a theme or two that your players will work on. You should limit the theme to one or two topics so that the players are not overwhelmed. There is only so much they can learn in one practice. It helps to understand the topic you are trying to teach so do your homework. Read books, watch videos, and talk to other coaches so that you can be better prepared. Your practice plan should progress from simple to complex.
Analyzing Practice
Once you have instructed your players you should make sure they are applying the lessons you are trying to teach. Try to coach from an area where you can see the whole field and don’t just watch the ball and the immediate play. You should constantly scan all the players and their reactions to the ball so you can correct mistakes outside of the immediate play. Try not to correct too many mistakes that are outside of what you are trying to teach. Remember the theme and stick to it.
How to Start and Stop Practice
There are many times when you are observing practice that provides you with good teaching moments. It is important to be able to stop practice at those moments so you can point out a specific lesson that the players can see. The following are tips to help you stop and start practice effectively:
-Let your players know that the signal to stop and start will be
-Use a whistle or the word ‘freeze’ to stop play and ‘play’ to start the game
-Instruct players to stop immediately and stay ‘frozen’ until you direct them
-Walk through coaching points slowly and gradually build to game speed
-Minimize the amount of stoppages and make your coaching points brief
Warming Up and Cooling Down
It is very important that your team gets in the habit of warming up and cooling down together. Not only does it help to prevent injuries and prepare your players physically for practice it also good for team bonding. Try to vary the warm ups and cool downs each sessions. You can mix and match your practices with a running warm up (speed work, running form drills, stretching, etc) and a technical warm up (ball control drills). The amount of time spent warming up and cooling down will depend on the age of your players and the weather conditions. Younger players (especially under 9) will not need too much time warming up but it is still good to develop good habits.
Selecting Teams
When selecting teams you shouldn’t let your players pick because often times the same player will be picked last and that will create a negative experience for that player. It also takes longer for players to choose teams since they can be indecisive. Have an idea of what players you want together for each drill. If you know your players’ abilities you will be able to pick teams that are fairly matched and create better competitions. Use training vests to distinguish teams from each other.
Quality Service
Often times it’s the person throwing the ball that is making the mistake and not the player performing the task. You should teach you players how to serve the ball to their teammates. Each player should know how to roll the ball on the ground, and throw to specific parts of the body (foot, thigh, chest, and head). This is not a difficult skill to teach since most players are skillful with their hands but it’s often overlooked by coaches. A simple demonstration usually solves any serving problems.
Using Restricted Games
Restricted games are when you disallow certain movements during the run of play. For example during a possession game you can limit the amount of touches to three so that your players have to play quickly. Using restrictions like this encourages your players think while they are playing the game. Make sure though that the restrictions you are using are game realistic and practical for the abilities of your player. Here are some ideas for restricted games:
-Limited touches
-Specific play before scoring (overlap, give and go, etc)
-Specific way to score (from a cross, long range, etc)
-Specific number of passes before shooting
-Transitional (every player has to be over the half field line to score, etc)
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